Wazir (2016)
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Writers: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari
Strength: Acting, Action
Weakness: Direction, Story
Runtime: 102 minutes
Rating: 2.5/5
Plot: A grief-stricken cop and amputee grandmaster are brought together by a peculiar twist of fate as part of a wider conspiracy that has darkened their lives.
Review: Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer Daanish Ali (Farhan) loses his daughter while chasing terrorists. His anguished wife Roohana (Aditi) blames Daanish, who's about to kill himself in guilt-laden grief. Suddenly, he meets wheelchair-bound Pandit Omkar Nath Dhar (Amitabh), who teaches Daanish about chess, life, love - and revenge. Panditji's own tragic tale leads Daanish to investigate Welfare Minister Qureishi (Manav) - and then chase him furiously when brutal assassin Wazir (Neil) attacks Pandit Dhar.
Wazir is held together by Amitabh Bachchan who shows why he is the Grandmaster of this game. With sly glances and shy smiles, wry jokes and escaped tears, Amitabh carves a character, mesmerising you as he does Daanish, very competently played by Farhan who delivers intensity and gentleness. As pashmina-smooth politician Qureishi, Manav Kaul performs very admirably, adding to the movie's tension, its eerie quality, and its things that go bang in the dark.
With too many distractions - Aditi looks lovely but is constrained in a chiffon-clad role featuring more dancing than dialogues - the plot loses pace. When the movie picks up speed - action sequences in Delhi and Srinagar are terrific - you're on a
gritty edge. But when it over-indulges itself - its writers and editors are the same - the game slips into stalemate.
It's a pity because Wazir's lead performances, its glassy cinematography, its haunting sound design, work well. What this game needed was more attack, less defence, less repetition, more relentlessness.
Reviewed By Intisab Shahriyar
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