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The Perfect Murder (1988 film)

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The Perfect Murder
Directed byZafar Hai
Written byHRF Keating
Based onThe Perfect Murder
by HRF Keating
Produced byIsmail Merchant
StarringStellan Skarsgård
Naseeruddin Shah
Ratna Pathak
Madhur Jaffrey
Amjad Khan
CinematographyWalter Lassally
Music byRichard Robbins
Release date
  • 1 July 1988 (1988-07-01) (United Kingdom)
Running time
90 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
India
LanguagesEnglish
Hindi
Budget$0.5 million[1]

The Perfect Murder is a 1988 English-language Indian film directed by Zafar Hai and produced by Merchant-Ivory. The film is based on the 1964 novel The Perfect Murder by British crime fiction writer HRF Keating and stars Naseeruddin Shah as Inspector Ghote, the leading character in Keating's novels. Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård as well as many noted Indian actors such as Madhur Jaffrey, Amjad Khan, Dalip Tahil, Ratna Pathak, Annu Kapoor and Johnny Walker appear in the film.

Plot

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Police Inspector Ghote lives a middle-class life in Bombay along with his wife, Pratima. He has been employed with the Bombay Police for many years. His wife is generally disgruntled and wants a better life. He is assigned to investigate the deadly assault on a Parsi man named Perfect, who is the Secretary of Lala Heera Lal, a wealthy man with underworld links. Inspector Ghote commences his investigation and is displeased when his superiors ask him to work with a Swedish Forensic expert, Axel Svennson. Axel is thrilled to get a closer look at the working of the Bombay Police, but realizes that Ghote may not be one of their best police officers. When their friendship develops, he gets invited to Ghote's house, and meets Pratima. Their investigation, though prima facie simple enough, takes them through turns and twists that both had not expected - including corridors of power and corruption - and finally to the conclusion and the unmasking of the culprit(s) behind this incident.

Cast

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Reception

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DVD Talk said, "It's all very cute, but as with much of the humor in The Perfect Murder, we're never sure we're fully understanding the joke."[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Merchant Ivory Productions Budget vs US Gross 1986-96". Screen International. 13 September 1996. p. 19.
  2. ^ "Perfect Murder, The". DVD Talk. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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