The Girl On The Train REVIEW: Parineeti Chopra stands out in a remake which doesn’t disappoint

Directed By
Ribhu Dasgupta

Cast
Parineeti Chopra, Kirti Kulhari, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Avinash Tiwary

Streaming on Netflix

Bollywood Bubble Rating

In the times when remakes sound exhausting and redundant, The Girl On The Train starring Parineeti Chopra as the protagonist will make you, sigh, in relief. The Girl On The Train, released on Netflix, is the Hindi remake you perhaps won’t detest but will look forward to. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, the film is a Hindi remake of the 2016 Hollywood film starring Emily Blunt and also stars Kirti Kulhari, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Avinash Tiwary in pivotal roles. The 2016 film itself was based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel by the same name.

Lifting the plot from the original book and the movie, Ribhu has added our local flavour to the story, making it relatable and refreshing. What helps Ribhu is the outstanding performance by Parineeti Chopra along with the supporting cast. But, we will come to that later.

The Girl On The Train is about Mira Kapoor (Parineeti Chopra), a criminal lawyer who suffers from amnesia and is an alcoholic. After suffering a miscarriage and feeling cheated by her then-husband Shekhar (Avinash Tiwary), now divorced Mira is trapped in a loop of lost memories. While she is lost and aimless, Mira is caught in a web of more mystery after being accused of murdering Nusrat John (Aditi Rao Hydari). Headlining the investigation into the murder is Dalbir Kaur (Kirti Kulhari). With all the evidence pointing at Mira, how will she prove herself innocent, is she innocent or all of this is a figment of her imagination? While the first half of the movie is sort of predictable, the last half an hour adds an effortless element of surprise which is reviving. We won’t reveal the spoilers but you definitely have to watch it to find out.

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What works for the movie:

Many things work for the movie. First, Ribhu has very intricately written the psychological thriller which makes it difficult to leave the movie midway. The screenplay works for the film, the location looks authentic. Apart from that, the freshness induced by Ribhu when it comes to the climax is definitely a bonus. Even if you have watched the 2016 original film, trust me, the Parineeti Chopra starrer promises to offer more.

The performances by the cast elevate the narrative. Parineeti as Mira is stupendous. There are scenes where her frustration, angst, pain, and all of this together are palpable. Parineeti is in her full form as Mira and surely stands out. The Girl On The Train presents Parineeti like never-before. To me, I am instantly reminded of Zoya (Parineeti) in Ishaqzaade where I found her raw and terrific. In the past, Parineeti has mentioned about making wrong choices but this definitely isn’t one.

Aditi, though has a relatively small role, plays her part to the T. Kirti Kulhari as Dalbir is refreshing and stern. However, there are times when you find her trying too hard to come across as a detective but on second thoughts, maybe that was the intention. Coming to Avinash, he surely leaves a mark with his earnest performance as Shekhar. His performance is noteworthy throughout.

What could have been better:

The background score for the movie works but two songs in the first half of the movie seemed forceful to me. However, we must mention that Matlabi Yariyan definitely tugs at your heartstrings. I felt the movie is a little slow-paced and could have easily been 10 minutes shorter. The film starts off slow but is all guns blazing once you get through the first half an hour.

If you are looking for a good Hindi psychological thriller, give The Girl On The Train and the girl boarding the train, Parineeti, a chance!

The Girl On The Train is currently streaming on Netflix.

Also Read: The Girl On The Train: Parineeti Chopra requests fans to not give out spoilers; says, “It ruins our hard work”

Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

You can also reach me on – https://twitter.com/filmybugB