A Simple Murder – Dark but Quirky

A Simple Murder is now streaming on Sony Liv. With Zeeshan Ayyub in lead, the show boasts of a very interesting plot and versatile cast. With Vijay Raaz’s voice as narrator, the show is a 7 episode situational dark comedy.

Plot

A Simple Murder starts with Manish (Zeeshan) as a struggling entrepreneur who is looking for an investor for his business idea. His wife Richa (Priya Anand) is the one who is running the household and is frustrated with him.

Richa is over ambitious and wants a lot of money, her dream is to have a bed of money. She is in an affair with her boss Rahul (Ayaz Khan), who again is in love with another girl, and that girl is in love with ex Army man turned assassin Amit Sial.

And then there is Panditji (Yashpal Sharma), who is an underworld don, and has Sial and also Sushant Singh working for him as contract killers. Panditji gets a contract from a minister, for killing an eloped couple and this is where confusion starts.

As fate plays, Panditji confuses Zeeshan as the contract killer and gives him the money. Zeeshan in confusion kills another girl, and takes 5 crores which she had with her.

This irks Amit Sial, who is in love with the killed girl and Himmat Singh (Sushant), who was supposed to be hired by Panditji and both of them get on the mission to get to Zeeshan.

In A simple Murder, a lot of more complexities crop up when police starts its investigation of that murder, and Zeeshan now meets that eloped couple.

In this confusion and comedy of errors the show goes ahead. The rest of the show deals with how Zeeshan gets out of this mess, did he reunite with his wife, what happens to the other contract killers (Sial and Sushan), and what happens to Panditji and the eloped couple.

The Hits

A Simple Murder, as the name suggests is not so simple and that is the most endearing part. The writing of the show is very fine, it’s engaging and has many witty lines and scenes.

The casting of the show deserves a special mention and almost every character fits the part. Zeeshan Ayub has finally got a chance where he can showcase his talent as a lead. 

The direction of the show is very good and it maintains a good pace along with lots of twists and turns, without losing the underlying humour.  There is always something happening and the show manages to keep a continuous smile on viewers’ faces.

The other subplots are very well woven into the narrative and nothing looks out of place. With the actors like Amit Sial, Yashpal Sharma and Sushant Singh show sets high expectations which it finally fulfills.

The Misses

Not Many. 

Though in the last couple of episodes, some sequences feel like a bit of a drag, but somehow given all that layers earlier, this is acceptable.

Performances

A Simple Murder has top notch performaces from most of its actors. Zeeshan Ayub as Manish 

is excellent and perfectly fits the role of a frustrated loving husband. He gets a chance to carry show on his shoulders which he does effectively.

Sushant Singh is excellent in his limited role as Himmat Singh and was good to see him on screen after a long time. Amit Sial, who has now become a mandatory inclusion in any web series shows why he is so much in demand. He is excellent as Santosh.

Yashpal Shama is excellent as Panditji, so is Priya Anand as Richa, a nagging and greedy wife. Ayaz Khan is ok as Richa’s boss Rahul.

Special mention to Gopal Dutt, as idiotic but honest Inspector, he gets some very good scenes and dialogues and does full justice to it.

FFC Take

Overall, A Simple Murder, unlike the name suggests is a comedy of errors with some every good performances and multi layered writing. With just 7 episodes, the show is a tight one, with enough humor and twists to keep you hooked. 

Topped up with some excellent performances, this show is worth being on your watchlist.