The Xpose movie review: Doesn't expose but exploits the 60's era

The Xpose is cordoned by sleaziness, one-liners and music but it ends up in derision by its viewers.Stars- Himesh Reshamiya, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Irrfan Khan, Sonali Raut, Zoya Afroz, Anant Mahadevan, Adil HussainDirector- Anant Narayan Mahadevan Music director- Himesh ReshamiyaThere is one saying in Bollywood, which we think most of you will agree with, ‘either sex sells in Bollywood or superstar'. And what emerges here is that the actor-turned-director Anant Narayan Mahadevan couldn't afford the superstar but surely he could bring in the former quotient in his flick.Starting from Zeenat Aman's infamous transparent sari scene in ‘Satyam Shivam Sundram' to bikini clad Parveen Babi in 'Yeh Nazdeekiyan', ‘The Xpose' has a plethora of sensuous and seductive recreations but the film ends up exploiting and mocking the intimacy that possessed a class during the bygone era.The flick, painting the 60's era, predominantly covers the sleazy side, the style of to-die-for stars and their tantrums beside a mystifying storyline, which pretends to be too mysterious solving a murder case.The director has to understand that the cordon of sleaziness, one-liners and music can't protect the weak screenplay but surely it can end up in derision by its viewers.The flick opens with a crematory ceremony of Zara (Sonali Raut) a Bollywood actress. Present there are all the suspects or could be said the lead cast of the flim starting from an angry cop-turned-actor Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshamiya), music director and singer KD (Honey Singh) director (Anant Narayan Mahadevan) and actress Chandni (Zoya Afroz) among others.The flick then takes you to the flashback when two Chandni and Zara's flicks were all set to hit the screens on the same date. Their infamous rivalry is the talk of the Tinsel Ville and so their flicks Reena Mera Naam and Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal of Chandni and Zara respectively, are also being looked upon as who will win the box office battle.At a glitzy post-award bash at a five-star hotel, Zara is murdered. Now who among all is the murderer, Ananth exposes this unkempt mystery in ‘The Xpose'.Ananth, who acts as an onscreen director and off-screen director, doesn't quite match up to the execution with the 60's style investigative murder mystery. He mostly uses sleaziness of the actresses and dialogues, besides a good narration. Had it been relevant to ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai' in context to the dialogues inspired by the late era, the flick would have been a decent replication of the dramatic Bollywood flicks, loved by the movie buffers. However, not all dialogues appear naïve.Most of them suit Himesh as he ties hard to make those one-liners look effective but he couldn't help the story and the screenplay (by him) which is as skinny and made-up as he himself is in this flick.The narrator Alec D'Costa, played by influential actor Irrfan Khan, exposing the dark underbelly of the Bollywood and unmasking its larger-than-life superstars, couldn't paint the blemishes in this flick. The suspense along with the twists and turns look forcibly created. Though, we digest the tantrums of the actors of the 60's but since we are talking about that era which was mostly considered as prudish for actresses its hard to seen them as sex-symbol as implicated in this flick. Like this and numerous factual flaws we can only expect a few decent performances to savour.Himesh, as he said in his interviews, he was serious in his acting this time around, stand to his words. It's not a perfect one but surely improved and his best performance so far.Sonali Raut, may have put too much of wet skin on display, while sitting in the temple in the flick, but she could not make her mark as a good actress.Zoya Afroz was to give a good competition to Sonali's character and she could be termed as a better companion in the flick. She excels in most of the scenes.Honey Singh, as debutant actor, isn't Pran here. But surprisingly whatever he gets he excels in with his attitude and humour.Anant is decent in his act but the same couldn't be termed for his direction. Irrfan and Adil Hussain are wasted in their cameo appearances. Even after watching this flick we are still guessing what were they doing in there?Songs by Himesh Reshamiya are loved by the music lovers but background score is not great.I'll go with two stars for ‘The Xpose' which doesn't expose but exploits the 60's era.