The Stoneman Murders fails to leave any significant mark on the audiences. The movie is about serial killing, which is, first of all, a strange crime in India. But actually, the plotline comes from the real life footpath stoning incident in the early 80s in Mumbai. Manish Gupta, the writer-director of the movie, has crafted the right ambience of anarchy, yet has failed somewhere while dealing with such a gruesome subject.

 

The periodicity (of1980s) is made known through common things like songs and films. Like at one point, a prostitute addresses the hero as 'Rajesh Khanna'. The atrociousness of the numerous-murder crimes is more or less confined to showing pictures from the newspapers or glimpses of lying bodies on pavements. Rukhsar is also put through a completely senseless bare-backed scene. It appears so senseless that a dance-bar item number appears rather more situational. The editing could have been better.  

 

Kay Kay Menon, as always, has been good at his act, but by the time he cracks the case; one becomes hardly interested in the gloomy tale. In fact, the cop-and-criminal chases in poorly-lit subways and railway stations fail to give goosebumps. The trench reaches the zenith with the exchanges between the suspended cop Kay Kay and his screen wife Rukhsarappear more like that of a radio skit than a film and where marital dispute is a critical clue to the murderous plot.

 

Arbaaz Khan, as the rival of Kay Kay in the police department, has nothing much to do.Despite the loopholes, the movie has succeeded in living-up to its suspense-thriller genre. Vikram Gokhale has acted well in the regular authoritative role. Whilst the mystery of the case remains unanswered, the credit to the film lies in its smart narrative that cinematically answers the mystery behind the murders and also explains how the case still remains unsettled in police records and public eye till now. In general, the subject of mass murder on the streets of Mumbai made no impact and left the audiences cold.