The Buckingham Murders: Money lessons you can learn from Kareena Kapoor Khan’s latest thriller

Kareena Kapoor Khan alone carried the film Jaane Jaan (2023) on her capable shoulders despite support from good actors like Vijay Verma and Jaideep Ahlawat. This time she plays a grieving mother/cop who puts away the killer of her son and seeks a transfer to a smaller town. But small towns like Wycombe in England are like tinder, ready to get set off for religious reasons and yes, cricket. But Jaspreet Bhamra, played beautifully by Kareena Kapoor finds herself transferred and into a kidnap turned murder case.

What money lessons can be learnt from this film?

When things look too easy, investigate further

Since Jass is new to town, her senior Hardik Patel does all the work. He is rough on her verbally, but after a night of searching for the missing child, he sends a tired Jass and the other cops home. He knows the town, and finds the initial suspect and his accomplice easily. The boss may be convinced but Jass has questions: how did the accomplice confess so easily.

Sometimes, an opportunity to make money easily just lands in your email or through a friend who insists that you too invest in the scheme because it is better than the invention of sliced bread. You are tempted because you need the money and the scheme would make a huge difference because you have a big expense coming up.

As always, remember that when things seem to be tied up quick and easy, then there must be something more to it than it seems. Does your friend benefit from getting you to invest in the scheme? Is it a pyramid scheme? Why are they promising more than handsome returns? Always ask questions. Perhaps your friend is also unaware, perhaps he is not. But before you invest, find out everything about the scheme. Be like Jass. Question everything.

Learn how the politics affects your investments

The small town of Wycombe has an immigrant population that seems to be on the edge. Even if they are divided over religion, the fallout between Daljeet Kohli and Saleem Chaudhary is about their trucking business. Does Jaspreet’s senior Hardy (Hardik Patel played by Ash Tandon) have other reasons to put away Saleem’s son? Is there really a divide between the Sikh and the Muslim community in that small town?

The red herrings are so many, an ordinary viewer might just be relieved that Jaspreet solves the murder of the missing lad. However, the smart investor watching the film will approve of Jess who finds a support system to understand the new town she has moved to. When you invest in schemes that involve anything offshore, you must be extra careful. Even if you are investing in currencies, you must make an effort to know the geopolitics in order to see if your investment in currencies is stable. So get the right advice from your money manager before you invest your hard earned money.

If it’s a murder mystery solved, or if two lovers are united in a rom com, the audience is happy that the popcorn flick has been ‘paisa vasool’. But when you spot a coffee cup suddenly appearing in Jass’s hands in the middle of a search, or we never really find out who was supplying the drugs, or when the police boss of an English town - a country where people get killed over a footie result - asks why there's such rivalry over cricket (a fact that is never used in the movie!) you wonder why we have such flimsy scripts when an actor like Kareena Kapoor is willing to fight to set things right. So save some more hard earned money and watch this film on Netflix. That too for Kareena Kapoor Khan.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.