Ankur Arora True Story
Kathrine Selvage
Ankur Arora Murder Case is a 2013 Indian Hindi medical thriller film directed by Suhail Tatari and written and produced by Vikram Bhatt. The film stars Arjun Mathur, Tisca Chopra, Kay Kay Menon, Paoli Dam. The film takes up an urgent and disturbing issue of death during surgery and is based on a real-life incident where a boy dies on the operation table due to medical negligence.[3] The shooting of the film started after nearly one year of research and similarities to real life are in this case, not coincidental.[4]The movie released on 14 June 2013 and made a profit of 2.5 Crores approximately. It was declared semi hit.
Dr. Romesh Sharma is a young medical intern who dares to dream. He is in awe of Dr. Viren. Asthana, the Chief Surgeon of the Shekhawat General Hospital. All he wants is to be like him. He lives with Dr. Riya Srivastava, his co-intern and the love of his life.
Together with Ankur's mother Nandita Arora, Nandita's friend Ajay Shetty, their lawyer Kajori Sen, Dr. Romesh sets out on a turbulent journey to fight for what is right. A fight for justice against his mentor, the hospital and the love of his life who is initially against him for the fear of ruining her career and future. It is revealed that Kajori is in a relationship with her opposing lawyer who tells her to keep the case hanging and only blame the hospital overall, not Dr Asthana specifically. She does the same in the court but soon finds that she is pregnant with his child. As she informs him, he orders her to abort the baby. Romesh spots them together and with Nandita he goes to her house, only to find her lying ill due the abortion pill. They take her to the hospital and she promises them that she will fight for Ankur. Turns out, that all the necessary evidence against Dr. Viren Asthana is destroyed or literally snatched. Dr. Riya, who witnesses the operation, and Rosina D'Costa (Khushboo Kamal), a ward nurse in the hospital who had informed Dr. Asthana about Ankur eating some biscuits before the operation, also lie in court. The next day Riya goes to Dr Viren Asthana to sign for leave, she tells him that she lied, cheated with the credibility of her profession and her self respect is questioning her. A heated argument between her and Dr Asthana follows in which Dr asthana labels himself to be the god who should be forgiven for the mistake he has done. It is revealed in the hospital the next day that Riya had actually Shot the confession outburst by Dr. Viren Asthana on her mobile and presented it to the court. The case ends upon their favour and Dr Viren Asthana gets arrested. In the last scene, Romesh and Riya reunite and Nandita is shown remembering her memories with Ankur.
The movie received mixed reviews. Subhash K. Jha gave the movie 4 stars and said, "Indeed The Ankur Arora Murder Case is a far cleverer, wiser and relevant film than most of what we get to see these days. Bursting at the seams with acting talent director Suhail Tatari's restorative drama hits us where it hurts the most. The conscience."[6] Meena Iyer of Times of India gave it 3.5 stars. "Tatari is a winner in his choice of a subject. The story that has been researched from a true life incident does provide meaningful insights about the medical fraternity and facilities. However while the film is an eye-opener on medical skullduggery, it fails to become cutting edge cinema because the screenplay-offers few surprises." said ToI.[7] Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express said "Pity because this could have been a medico-legal thriller with teeth." and gave it 2 star.[8] Tushar Joshi of Daily News and Analysis gave it 2 stars. "The film engages you in the beginning but loses steam because of a its weak execution." wrote Tushar Joshi.[9] NDTV Movies gave it a rating of 2.5.[10] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 3 stars.[11]
The Ankur Arora Murder Case which has been billed as a medical thriller based on a 'true story' isn't actually that and is according to one reviewer a rather bad remake of the Paul Newman-starrer The Verdict. The reviews suggest that it's a movie about the death of a young patient caused due to medical negligence and the victim's mother's quest to find justice for her son.
It has Kay Kay Menon starring as the reputed surgeon Dr Asthana who goofs up by operating on his patient suffering from appendicitis even though the patient's stomach wasn't empty. This particular scene where it's implied that the child had eaten a few biscuits from a well-known biscuit brand which sued Vikram Bhatt's ASA production Pvt Ltd for infringement of copyright and also for displaying their product in bad light. Bhatt's camp responded by claiming that biscuit lying next to the boy doesn't constitute infringement, that the boy dies due to medical negligence and the company's allegations were unfounded.
Anyway legal hassles in the real world aside, the film mainly deals with legal tangles in the reel world when the child's mother takes the doctor to court for medical negligence. The film throws up two interesting medical questions: Also Read
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The most common danger of having food in the stomach during a surgery is aspiration (when the food in the stomach is thrown up while the patient is unconscious and paralysed due to the anaesthetic). It then enters the wind pipe and enters the lungs causing suffocation which can lead to pneumonia or death.
According to a Hospital Administrator, if doctors are aware of a patient's condition and do not cancel the surgery then it is considered negligent on the part of the doctor. By law it's the doc's responsibility to ask the patient they've eaten anything, whether they suffer from any allergies and most surgeries get cancelled due to these reasons.
"Ankur Arora Murder Case" is a medical thriller film based on a real-life incident where an eight-year-old boy dies due to medical negligence in a hospital. The low-budget film doesn't feature any big star cast.
Subhash K. Jha of IANS writes: "The 'Ankur Arora Murder Case' is one of the most gripping moral dramas in recent times. The deftly crafted script raises the question of right and wrong in the medical profession without getting peachy or hysterical. Somewhere, Dr. Asthana's medical arrogance connects with each one of us who has in one way or another encountered deadends in healthcare.
"Many portions of the pacy plot would seem excessively racy. The post-interval helping seems specially eager to seek out unexpected twists and turns. And that's fine. The idea of making a film on medical ethics is to ensure that audiences' participation in the proceedings never flags. To that extent, director Suhail Tatari (who earlier directed the gripping thriller 'My Wife's Murder'), keeps the large array of conflicted characters in a constant state of self-questioning anxiety. It's cinematically a terrific space to be in. Tatari explores that space with intelligence, sensitivity and some charm.
"The performances in both the first-half (the medical drama) and the second-half (the courtroom conflict) are all supremely poised. The actors assume brilliancy without getting compromised by the need to shine. Tisca Arora's bereaved mother's act is so real and restrained! She gives us goosebumps when after her son's death, she gets busy on her smartphone to fob off the terrible reality of the tragedy.
"Indeed, this is is a far cleverer, wiser and relevant film than most of what we get to see these days. At a time when Bollywood is raining bubbles and effervescence about 'jawaani deewanis' and 'yamla paglas', this sobering clenched disturbing medical thriller comes as an invigorating cloudburst."
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV writes: "It is a well-meaning, proficiently crafted and competently acted drama about the wages of medical skullduggery. But Ankur Arora Murder Case fails to make a strong enough case for itself.
"The film's lack of vitality stems from factors that are embedded in the comatose screenplay, which has neither much sting nor any imagination. For one, the title is a dead giveaway, as a result of which one large chunk of the film is completely predictable. The audience knows a death is on the way and that it is going to lead to a 'murder case'.
"The first half plays out largely in an upscale medical facility; the second unfolds in a rather sterile courtroom where two lawyers who share more than just a profession square off against each other in what turns out to be a dreary legal contest.
"The script follows a simple logic: if it's a woman, she must be a real tough nut. The problem with Ankur Arora Murder Case is that promises much but delivers little. The manner in which director Suhail Tatari handles the narrative is commendably earnest up to a point. He proffers no cheap thrills.
"The script, too, sticks to its primary concern and eschews formula-ridden set pieces. The film also throws in plenty of medical procedures and terminology, suggesting that a great deal of homework has been done."
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama writes: "After attempting erotic thrillers and murder mysteries, Vikram Bhatt delves into the realistic zone with ANKUR ARORA MURDER CASE, which tackles the issue of medical neglect. Besides, this film goes beyond the issue of medical negligence. What happens when justice is denied to the victim's family? Vikram and director Suhail Tatari take the spectator from inside the operation theatre to a courtroom, where an eminent surgeon is tried for medical recklessness.
"Reportedly based on a true incident, ANKUR ARORA MURDER CASE focuses not just on the negligence in the operation theatre, but also throws light on the justice mechanism in our country. Come to think of it, a film like ANKUR ARORA MURDER CASE acts as wake up call for many a doctor or those associated with this profession/medical lobbies, besides making the spectator cognizant of the fact that we ought to have a dedicated procedure for speedy disposal of such cases.