It is rare when a movie-song possesses you more than the
movie and it either keeps on playing itself inside of your mind or comes out
through your humming. But there is no way stopping it. This soothing song –
Tere Bin - is a delicate stream of silken, romantic lyrics voiced by sugar combo
of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal. It begins as the movie begins and while
ending it makes sure of taking away the smiles you had while it was on. Not
because the movie is terrible, but it slips into a serious plot.
Danish Ali (Farhan Akhtar), an Anti-Terrorism Squad officer, has a happy life with his wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) and his daughter until the daughter gets killed in an inadvertent gunfight. Danish revenges this by killing the goon responsible for his loss and gets himself suspended. Already a guilt-ridden father and a blamed and neglected husband, he gets bumped into a master chess-player, Pandit Omkarnath Dhar (Amitabh Bachchan). Danish finds an empathetic friend in Pandit who is a sharp brain with a wheelchair-bound body, appearing a wise man despite his own dilapidated life. While teaching Danish chess and life-lessons emanating from it, he lays his case of bringing justice to his daughter who he firmly thinks was murdered by a politician. Danish buys into his theory after a gentle probe. He promises to save him when Pandit gets life-threatening warnings from Wazir (Neil Nitin Mukesh), the hired toughie of a politician. Danish takes this to his heart a bit too much as a personal challenge. He wears a fanatic resolve and leaves Ruhana uninformed who has barely forgiven him under Pandit’s wisdom. May be he fears that given his track record, there is no chance in hell she would allow him to prove himself a hero. He then goes hunting for a politician for his chess-buddy’s justice and protection. The obvious gets thrown up as a surprise, elaborated liberally to ensure the audience gets it, but trust me, it is tiring, at least in some stretches towards the end.
The performances of the leads are impeccable and hold the movie together despite their characters are forced by the fragile script, especially in the second half. Farhan is fantastic as a failed father, Aditi is good in her quiet role of a heartsick mother. Bachchan is as good as his character in the game. It pains me even to think of the necessity of roping in John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. The movie seems to have been made to bring out suspense, I gather. If you ask me whether to watch this or not - my ultimate reaction will be that of the politician in the movie when he is asked about Wazir! - Don’t know what to say. But when I picture those sincere faces of Farhan and Bachchan, who put their best to make the movie really work, I would say, go watch it once, for them.
Danish Ali (Farhan Akhtar), an Anti-Terrorism Squad officer, has a happy life with his wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) and his daughter until the daughter gets killed in an inadvertent gunfight. Danish revenges this by killing the goon responsible for his loss and gets himself suspended. Already a guilt-ridden father and a blamed and neglected husband, he gets bumped into a master chess-player, Pandit Omkarnath Dhar (Amitabh Bachchan). Danish finds an empathetic friend in Pandit who is a sharp brain with a wheelchair-bound body, appearing a wise man despite his own dilapidated life. While teaching Danish chess and life-lessons emanating from it, he lays his case of bringing justice to his daughter who he firmly thinks was murdered by a politician. Danish buys into his theory after a gentle probe. He promises to save him when Pandit gets life-threatening warnings from Wazir (Neil Nitin Mukesh), the hired toughie of a politician. Danish takes this to his heart a bit too much as a personal challenge. He wears a fanatic resolve and leaves Ruhana uninformed who has barely forgiven him under Pandit’s wisdom. May be he fears that given his track record, there is no chance in hell she would allow him to prove himself a hero. He then goes hunting for a politician for his chess-buddy’s justice and protection. The obvious gets thrown up as a surprise, elaborated liberally to ensure the audience gets it, but trust me, it is tiring, at least in some stretches towards the end.
The performances of the leads are impeccable and hold the movie together despite their characters are forced by the fragile script, especially in the second half. Farhan is fantastic as a failed father, Aditi is good in her quiet role of a heartsick mother. Bachchan is as good as his character in the game. It pains me even to think of the necessity of roping in John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. The movie seems to have been made to bring out suspense, I gather. If you ask me whether to watch this or not - my ultimate reaction will be that of the politician in the movie when he is asked about Wazir! - Don’t know what to say. But when I picture those sincere faces of Farhan and Bachchan, who put their best to make the movie really work, I would say, go watch it once, for them.
