The Stoneman Murders

The Stoneman Murders
Movie poster for The Stoneman Murders
Directed by	Manish Gupta
Produced by	Bobby Bedi, Sheetal V Talwar
Written by	Manish Gupta
Starring	Kay Kay Menon, Arbaaz Khan, Vikram Gokhale, Rukhsar
Music by	Siddhartth-Suhas
Editing by	Sanjib Datta
Release date(s)	13 February 2009
Running time	115 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi

The Stoneman Murders is a 2009 Indian film based on the real life Stoneman serial killings that made headlines in the early 1980s in Mumbai. The hapless victims of the mystery killer, who was never caught, were footpath dwellers in Mumbai. They were stoned to death in their sleep. The movie weaves fiction around reality in an attempt to provide answers to the questions around the case. The Stoneman Murders was director Manish Gupta's first full-length feature film.

Plot

The serial killer is dubbed 'Stoneman' by the media has just claimed his fifth victim and the case is still of little interest to the Bombay Police. But to suspended sub-inspector Sanjay Shelar (Kay Kay Menon), this killer poses an opportunity. Sanjay hopes to track this killer down and thus, possibly find an entry back into the police force. With the secret aid of his patronizing superior AIG Satam (Vikram Gokhale), Sanjay takes up the arduous process of tracking this killer down. But the official police investigator of the case Inspector Kedar Phadke (Arbaaz Khan) clashes incessantly with Sanjay as both of them, separately, delve deeper into the case. Sanjay on the other hand is determined to find the stoneman. He takes the help of his informer. His wife Manali (Rukhsar) is upset with him and thinks that he is having an affair with another woman. Sanjay goes on with his investigations. One night someone throws a stone inside Sanjay's house through a window. Manali thinks it to be the mischief of some boys of the locality but Sanjay feels it is the stoneman. Another night the stoneman tries to kill a beggar sleeping on the roadside but is saved by Kedar and some patrolling policemen. Sanjay and his car is spotted by Kedar that night. Sanjay finds that his investigation house has been visited by the stoneman as sees vermilion spread everywhere.

Sanjay contemplates a possible danger to his wife asks her to leave for her village. He rushes to the station to get her rail ticket where he encounters the killer but before he can catch him Kedar shoots him thinking him to be the killer. Sanjay escapes and the incident brings him closer to his wife. He suspects the killer to be a policeman who is a tribal performing an impotency ritual and asks the informer to tell this to Satam. Kamle (Virendra Saxena) turns out to be the killer and attacks Sanjay, but both are saved by the police. Kamble is arrested and the matter is closed. In the end it is shown that the man with a voice similar to Satam is performing a ritual and asks a person to give him nine offerings of humans and this time to kill people in Calcutta.

Cast

• Kay Kay Menon as Sanjay Shelar - a hot-headed suspended police sub-inspector who decides to unofficially investigate the case in the hope of getting back into the police force.
• Arbaaz Khan as Inspector Kedar Phadke - the official investigator who is more interested in winning against Sanjay than in his assignment of tracking down the killer.
• Vikram Gokhale as AIG Satam - Sanjay's senior who comes to Sanjay's aid by unofficially letting Sanjay continue his investigation and try to save his job.
• Rukhsar as Manali - Sanjay's wife.
• Virendra Saxena as Kamble

Production

The research that went into the scripting of The Stoneman Murders involved an intensive search for old newspaper articles dating back to 1983 (when the killings actually took place). The director Manish Gupta and his team combed the Asiatic Library, the Government Archival Library at Elphinstone college, the Times of India Archives and the Archival departments of Indian Express, Maharashtra Times, Navbharat Times and other newspapers. Prior to this, the preliminary research done by the director was over the internet where a few articles about the Stoneman had been posted recently. The dates obtained from the internet were later used to carry out the more detailed research in the libraries and newspaper archives.

Prior to the shooting of the film, the director and his team visited nearly all the known murder sites like - the area surrounding Tilak Hospital in Sion, the Gandhi Market near King's Circle, the area outside Matunga Police station, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road in Wadala and one small street in Lalbaug. The visits to these sites were consciously made late at night to enable the creative team to absorb a feel of the area and the eerie late night ambience, which was later recreated in the film in terms of location selection, photography and the general styling of the film.

The production team had to re-create the look of 1980s Bombay despite the fact that cars, shops and advertisements had changed. The pavements where the murders took place were made of black tar unlike the multi-coloured jigsaw shaped tiles of today. This restricted the shooting in myriad manners. For the wide shots of pavements, the unit often had to cover half a kilometre of pavement with black tarpaulin sheets to achieve the look of a tar footpath. One modern car or hoarding would ruin the authenticity of the entire scene. So the unit often waited until late night before rolling the camera since they needed all modern vehicles to clear off the roads. But often some vehicles remained parked on the road. These again had to be covered by black tarpaulin sheets. Likewise, the neon hoardings and contemporary advertisements were hidden by old 1980s style advertisements and film posters that were sourced out painstakingly by the Art Director from obscure raddi shops.

The sound design of the film was also done after thorough research. Hit film songs from the period depicted in the film were used along with famous radio jingles and TV commercials of that era.

Reception

Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave the film a 3 star rating out of 5 and praised it for its gripping story and taut performances. "The film has an ample thrill quotient with the shadowy frame of the stoneman flitting across on one hand and the police department, specially Arbaaz Khan, holding the renegade cop, Kay Kay Menon, as the prime suspect. Once again, Mumbai and its alleys which turn sinister by night, tower prominently as the perfect backdrop of a film which boast of some high-tension moments. But the real lure is Kay Kay's full bodied portrayal of the trigger-happy cop who is wedded to his duty, yet doesn't mind a bit of black money."

Nithya Ramani from rediff.com praises TSM: "Writer-director Manish Gupta does a wonderful job in telling the story, which has a very realistic touch. Despite being a murder mystery, Gupta avoids gore and bloodshed, and makes it visually appealing. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, occasionally sending a chill down your spine."

Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India gave the movie a 2.5 out of 5 and said, "Overall, The Stoneman Murders is an honest portrayal of 'what could have been'. But it's not as gripping as it should have been. Nonetheless it's a novel concept and worth a watch…for Kay Kay, if nothing else."

External links

• [link removed Official site (Kaleidoscope Entertainment Production)]
• The Stoneman Murders at the Internet Movie Database
• Overall reviews for The Stoneman Murders @ Virtuachai