There's murder, betrayal, sex and a mountain of lies. In short, you can't look away. But as it happens too often in Hindi cinema, the energy takes a beating post-interval.

All the darkness comes laced with humour. Raghavan takes you to the edge of the seat with the pulse racing, makes you keep guessing even as you are chuckling.

It's Tabu who runs away with the show. Raghavan's greatest misdirection was to make us believe that this film was about anything or anyone else.

The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary - but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.