Forensic is both a loose remake of the Malayalam movie of the same name and a review of it. Director Vishal Furia’s Hindi version improves on the original film’s best elements – a gruesome crime, shocking plot turns, fleet pacing – but also contains an equally preposterous twist.

Young girls are going missing on their birthdays in Mussoorie, only to turn up as mutilated corpses. Police officer Megha (Radhika Apte) reluctantly accepts the services of Johnny (Vikrant Massey), a forensic specialist and her ex-boyfriend, in investigating the crime.

Megha and Johnny are linked in another way too: their older siblings used to be married until they were separated by a tragedy. Johnny’s brother Abhay (Rohit Bose Roy) has been unable to meet his daughter Aanaya (Harbandana Kaur) as a result.

Like its source material, the ZEE5 release proposes that you suspend disbelief and go along with the flow of events. Megha’s troubles increase when the corpses continue to pile up even after the arrest of the supposed kidnapper. Johnny’s forensic sleuthing and a few convenient developments nudge him and Megha towards the culprit.

Vikrant Massey has fun playing Johnny as a debonair and irreverent investigator. He’s certainly more relaxed than poor Radhika Apte, playing the overwrought working woman yet again.

The cast includes Prachi Desai as a psychiatrist and Vindu Dara Singh as Megha’s loyal deputy. The ending suggests a franchise in the making. Hopefully the plot of the next film will be more convincing?

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Forensic (2022).