Film: Naqaab

Director: Abbas- Mustan

Producer: Ramesh S Taurani and Kumar S Taurani

Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Bobby Deol, Urvashi Sharma, Vishal Malhotra, Vikas Kalantri, Raj Zutshi

Rating: 1.5/5

Does it have the twist and turns? Sure it does. Is it the most shocking thriller of the year? Well of course; especially because you walk in seeking thrill and you end up laughing your guts out (isn’t that shocking enough?). Holding you attention through the first half, having you anticipate for the thrill, the film spills hilarity in the second half until the end.

The premise for the thrill is the intermingled life of three characters. Sophie (Urvashi Sharma) shifts base from India to live in Dubai. She lives in with Karan (Bobby Deol), a multi millionaire, who is soon to be her beau. In a pre wedding festivity, dancing with Vicky (Akshaye Khanna), she realizes her affinity towards him. Soon they begin going out on occasional dates, but this distressed damsel cannot seem to forget her multi millionaire innocent fiancée, who is waiting for her back home. On the D day, walking the aisle, dressed in white she realizes things are not right. She speeds away, without any explanations, only to return to Karan the following day to provide a loose one.

A distressed and traumatized Karan, with no place to turn to, befriends death. What follows is the questioning of belief, sentiments, emotions and a startling truth.

Now the basic plot is simple, but the frivolous details are beyond belief. The gasp comes at not what is revealed but the fact that it could be something as banal as what they say. Once the major clue is thrown at you, it really isn’t difficult to pick up the pieces and put two and two together. The climax in particular is perhaps something you would have figured out as soon as the characters begin spilling the beans.

The one aspect that could have made the film a good watch would have been the dialogues. Sadly they are they are precisely what you end up chuckling at. The shallow explanations hit you hard and this is probably what shocks the most.

A few other shocks are the partially developed characters, while some have a background. We are led to believe the rest have no other work in life than to be excited in frivolous indulgences, mainly a handy cam. 

What saves the film is the well shot locales and the Dubai excursion. The camerawork and cinematography is good. Even the editing is well done. The film though not filled with the thrill you would have wanted it to contain, flows cohesively without tangents that take it into another realm. Though the music plays a significant role, it really does not do much for the film, the excitement it could have brought seems absent.

Shocks don’t just stop with what is told. Even the characters don’t fail to distress with their performances. Debutant Sharma sobs and laughs, but fails to deliver any impact. After the good acts in Apne and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Deol’s depthless character has him deliver a bitter performance. Khanna is great in parts and OK in a few others. The additional characters that have nothing much to do, manage to disappoint well. Kalantri, Malhotra and Zutshi in their minute odd roles do nothing for the story.

Barring the sour shocks, this film has nothing much offer. Its Box office do cannot be expected to be great. This film might just about manage to do fair business in certain centers, but nothing shocking per se.

Naqaab is shocking and the disguised intentions will have you sniggering.