The Buckingham Murders Review: Kareena Kapoor’s Star Power Reigns, Until Ranveer Brar Steals The Spotlight

The Buckingham Murders Review: Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer drama takes its time, slowly draws you in instead of going for big, flashy moments.

The Buckingham Murders review: If you've watched any of Hansal Mehta's films, you know that the filmmaker has a knack for narrating a tale gently and thoroughly. With delicate hands, he tries to untangle the threads, being mindful not to tug too hard to cause them to come loose and fall all around. In the crime drama ‘The Buckingham Murders’, starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, the same strategy doesn't seem to work. 

The intricate premise of the crime drama turns a gun violence incident into the narrative's starting point; a single mother gets entangled with the investigation after her child is killed in the brutal act. Jaspreet (Kareena Kapoor Khan) has a stern demeanour and channels her emotions by immersing herself in work, but the woman is filled with anger, grief, and anguish.

As you witness Kareena's character make an effort to lead a regular life after the devastating incident, her senior's statement—"May no parent ever have to outlive their child"—seems to ring true. The unsettling flashbacks of her child make the audience feel her suffering, and every time you watch her put on her earbuds to listen to her child's voice, your heart breaks a little bit.

The Buckingham Murders: A gripping and layered crime drama

Jass willingly moves to a different city in an attempt to leave the haunting past behind, but she is drawn back into the swamp by a case concerning a missing kid and an innocent suspect. But this time, she manages to unravel the not-so-watertight case rather than getting sucked into the chaos. Even if some of her peers try to trick her into believing it's a simple act of revenge for their own personal gain, she continues to investigate the tricky case. 

After the 10-year-old Ishpreet Kohli goes missing, his anxious adoptive parents, Preeti (Prabhleen Sandhu) and Daljeet (Ranveer Brar), find themselves in the middle of another turmoil. Following a search, the police find him dead in the front seat of a car in a park. Superintendent Miller, played by Keith Allen, gives Detective Sergeant Jasmeet the case.

Having recently arrived at High Wycombe and unaware of the town’s dynamics, she swiftly begins to look at the task as a chance to move past her own sorrow. The investigation is headed by Detective Inspector Hardik "Hardy" Patel (Ash Tandon), who dismisses her suspicions and comes to the conclusion that the 19-year-old son of Daljeet's former business partner, Saquib Chowdhary (Kapil Redekar), is the murderer.

Kareena Kapoor steals the show in The Buckingham Murders

In Mehta's most recent release, Kareena Kapoor—who has proven herself as a director's actor—brings her A-game again as a grieving mother. She showcased a broad spectrum as an actor, from her role as a bubbly and flamboyant teenager in 'Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham' to her portrayal of a single mother shielding her child in her digital debut, ‘Jaane Jaan’. The seasoned actor proves with ‘The Buckingham Murders’ that she broke entirely from the reputation she used to set up an acclaimed acting career. In her role as a British-Indian detective, Jaspreet Bhamra, caught up in a complex case involving a child's death, gives an impeccable performance.

Jass and the whirlwind of emotions that overwhelm her are the primary focus, but Ranveer Brar, who plays a mourning father, flips the script and quickly catches up with Kareena's on-screen presence. In his latest appearance, the chef-turned-actor, who showed off his acting prowess in the anthology film ‘Modern Love: Mumbai’, steps it up. Brar is one of the supporting cast members who does an outstanding job of portraying the misogynistic patriarch of the family; with such performances, he can easily outshine any professional actor. 

The Buckingham Murders final verdict

The steadily paced drama, penned by Raghav Raj Kakker, Kashyap Kapoor, and Aseem Arrora, doesn't blow up but instead draws you in slowly. But 'The Buckingham Murders' is so crammed with material that it barely has time to flesh it out during its nearly two-hour duration. The film, which revolves around parenthood, communal divides, murder, grief, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ prejudice, takes on more than it can handle. Owing to the limited run time of the plot, Hansal Mehta, who shined with his Netflix series 'Scoop' by neatly placing his cards, didn't have as much room to work with this one.

Nevertheless, the crime drama is truly captivating and definitely worth a couple of hours spent at the theatre, even though it might not be on everyone's must-watch list.