T-Series Films and Almighty Motion Picture’s Starfish (UA) is the story of an extraordinary diver who works in a dredging company. She is haunted by incidents from her past. How she finally confronts her enigmatic past and unearths some truths form the crux of the story which then sees her discover herself.
Tara Salgaonkar (Khushali Kumar) is an expert diver who works for Martin’s (Pawan Shankar Pandey) dredging company. She is often haunted by her past. The episodes of the past traumatise her as she is clueless about some things but she wants to know it all. When she does meet her mother’s (Vidya Malvade) friend, Leslie Fernandes (Daksh Ajit Singh), she is shocked to learn something about her mom who had died by suicide. Does Tara make peace with herself or does she not?
The film is based on author Bina Nayak’s book, Starfish Pickle. The story is a bit unusual and so is the backdrop (dredging, deep sea diving etc.). The screenplay, written by Akhilesh Jaiswal and Aditya Bhatnagar, is engaging but it is also confusing at times. The drama often leaves the viewer wondering what is happening. Of course, things are clarified from time to time, but it does irritate the audience to be confused so often. The ending is also confusing as it is not clear to the viewers whether Arlo (Milind Soman) is speaking lies or the truth. Having said this, it must be added that the drama still manages to engage the audience. Akhilesh Jaiswal and Aditya Bhatnagar’s dialogues are alright.
Khushali Kumar gives a good account of herself in the role of Tara Salgaonkar. Ehan Bhat is quite nice as Neil. Tushar Khanna looks handsome and performs ably as Aman Sharma. Milind Soman lends fair support as Arlo. Vidya Malvade has her moments as Tara’s mother, Sukanya Salgaonkar. Jagat Singh Rawat is okay as Tara’s father, Ramesh Salgaonkar. Nikhat Khan Hegde is natural as Tara’s grandmother. Pawan Shankar Pandey makes his presence felt in the role of Martin. Sambhav Jain is alright as Kabir. Daksh Ajit Singh is adequate as Leslie Fernandes. Adiba Hussain (as young Tara), Luciano Ellul (as David), Peter McLean (as Jax), Catalin Bindu (as Henry), and the others do as desired.
Akhilesh Jaiswal’s direction is fair. Music (Sachet-Parampara, Manan Bhardwaj, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Khaalif, Oaff and Savera) is very melodious. Most of the songs are also hummable. Lyrics (Mellow D, Manan Bhardwaj, Ankur Tewari, Oaff, Savera and Medha Sahi) are meaningful. Amar Mohile’s background music is reasonably nice. Jim Edgar’s cinematography is lovely. The underwater sequences are beautifully shot. Underwater action sequence have been very well choreographed by Abigail Borg. Christopher Brian Ahearne’s production designing and Rabiul Sarkar and Swarup Das’ art direction are alright. Manan Sagar’s editing could’ve been better.
On the whole, Starfish is an engaging film and quite different from the usual potboilers, but its box-office appeal is poor, mainly because of lack of face value and absence of absolutely mind-blowing content. It will, however, find takers on OTT.
Released on 24-11-’23 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: alright. Opening: weak. …….Also released all over. Opening was poor everywhere.