The story of the deceitful Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb has always been a captivating one to say the least. This movie by its trailer looked captivating and mind you, the story is wonderful. But alas, even the best of can sink into a mire if not executed properly and that’s what sums up the whole movie in a single sentence.
There is every ingredient necessary for success - a great story, some stellar performances, some good songs, some chilling twists and turns but even after it all, the movie ends up to be mediocre thanks to some over imaginative direction that makes the viewers nothing more than a confused lot. The amateur director’s maiden venture throws promise but takes it away before you can even taste it, the lack of experience and maturity stares at you throughout the movie.
The plot revolves around a top cop(read cunning businessman) trying to unravel the mystery behind a real estate tycoon thus entering the dark underworld of Delhi. His quest takes him to various places and make him realize the dark side of life which is laced by deceit, revenge , lust and greed. His quest leads him to an even more darker secret. But after knowing that can he work on his mission with his conscience intact? Will he be successful at it? Will both of them survive? Sorry for the titbits but the movie will answer your questions now.
This is story of family one with a deeply rooted cop heritage and one with the blood of the underworld. It is great to Arjun Kapoor back after his Ishaqzaade performance which brought some fresh air. I did not expect him to take on such a role leave doing it well because you cannot expect a one-movie actor to do two very contrasting roles at the same time but to my surprise the actor does his job well but he is yet to find a firm footing, but now expectations from him will be high from his next movie. Sasha Agha on the other hand gave a very mediocre performance. Sasha Agha on the other hand gave a really mediocre performance which totally depend on an awful lot of skin show. There are some scenes where she went overtly emotional which was completely unwarranted. Given that it is her first movie I cannot blame her completely but it is the directors fault who did not use her properly. Prithviraj who had a horrible bollywood debut in Aiyya comes to his fore and has given a performance apt to his name. He is brave enough to use his accent which I felt was funny but that doesn’t make his performance any less interesting. Jackie Shroff as Yashwardhan has molded all the years if experience within his character but the standout performance of the movie has come from the veteran Rishi Kapoor, the actor does all the justice to his surname and his performance dwarfs the others by a huge margin. If you are planning to go for the movie, which you otherwise shouldn’t then he is the reason to watch. The veteran shines on the screen. We have all the different kind of women in the movie played by Amrita Singh, Deepti Naval and Tanvi Azmi, even though all have done a good job, the director inability to make them do justice to their character shows. They are reduced to being pawns in the plot which is a disaster.
The songs and the background score are apt for the plot but they too end up to be as mediocre as the direction. The lack of subtle variety in the track is disappointing which shows the lack of planning by the makers of the movie. The placement of the songs and the overtly colorful imagery makes the movie feel like an chicken tikka gone awfully spicy even though you expected something ’tikka’. The lyrics are interesting but will not suit the masses nor can be chartbusters.
The direction as I have already mentioned a few times earlier is tad too boring and very under prepared. And I happened to see the movie after eating some under cooked junk food which made the matter worse (just kidding). The cinematography is a little to over the top and looks like they were high when they shot it.
Verdict - The plot and the acting are in place but the foundation is broken. Go for the movie only if you have time to spare this weekend otherwise you can chuck it. I’m sorry for Arjun, though he did well he sinks with this ship. My rating - 2.5 / 5