I'm not a fan of the 2016 version of The Girl on the Train. I had a lot of issues with that film but this version manages to be even worse than the original.
The Girl on the Train follows Mira Kapoor, a divorced lawyer struggling with alcoholism who takes the train and looks at a couple's life through the window. One day she notices something shocking leading her down a dark path.
I may dislike the 2016 film but this version makes that film look like a masterpiece. I don't even know where to start with this trainwreck of a film. First of all, I hated the structure of this film. I didn't like the structure of the 2016 either but at least it gave some depth to the characters and maintained a dark tone throughout. The narrative here is so messy. Characters are barely developed here and the changes made by Ribhu Dasgupta were totally unnecessary. The addition of new characters and subplots were poorly executed. There were so many sequences down to the smallest of details which made no sense. There is a scene where Parineeti Chopra is talking at a support group in Hindi which makes no sense as there were people from other nationalities around her so how would they understand what she's saying. Even the way phones are used looks so fake. If you're familiar with the GUI interface of WhatsApp then you'll know how fake the interface looks in the film. It requires less effort to use the real one so why waste time creating a fake one? It's details like these that really annoy me.
The actors really did not stand a chance with how bad the script is. Parineeti Chopra tries but ultimately fails. Emily Blunt brought a level of subtlety to the role which made it look realistic. Chopra ends up being too dramatic and borderline cartoonish. Aditi Rao Hydari is wasted due to the lack of development to her character and the same can be said about all the male roles. Kirti Kulhari is also underutilised. The script is filled with awfully written dialogues that take away from the seriousness and is unintentionally laughable. Like the 2016 film, this film is also very dull and has a lack of suspense which is sad considering this is meant to be a thriller.
Ribhu Dasgupta's The Girl on the Train is an absolute mess. There is so much wrong with this film that I'm actually struggling to think of any positives. It's filled with poorly developed characters, plot points that make no sense and contains no thrills. Was it necessary to remake this story in India? I don't know but all I can say is this film is a complete failure.
