Using tools like newspaper headlines, radio announcements and television bulletins to root this mostly surreal film in reality, Vishal Bhardwaj delivers his oddest film yet, that is also sadly his weakest.

I exit the theatre tiptoeing gingerly through treacley blood, past the fallen corpse of my expectations. That, ladies and gents, is Susanna’s seventh casualty. And it’s the only one that hurts.

For me, 7 Khoon Maaf was a disappointment.

On the whole, 7 Khoon Maaf is for the elite audience in the big cities only. The general masses will reject it. Given its good recoveries from non-theatrical sources, it may not entail huge losses but its theatrical business will be far from exciting because of its highly class appeal. Distributors who have bought the film’s rights at fancy prices would stand to lose.

This unfortunately, is a disappointing giving from the Vishal Bhardwaj house. For the most part 7 Khoon Maaf fails to live up to the otherwise exquisite and honestly different genre of films that Vishal always tends to throw our way. For a director who has promised to be different, this is awfully lackluster and disengaging. You can’t help but question if, in fact, Bhardwaj has lost the spark he once possessed because this film cannot ask for maafi from us.