WAZIR-movie reviews and BO collections thread-1

Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hydari



Chess is a thinking man's game. So it's only fair to say that a movie that uses the sport as a main thematic motif should also adhere to that rule. To an extent Wazir tries. The operative word is tries'. The film and its thriller narrative are constantly trying to be seamless and smooth. It's not effortless; you can see director Bejoy Nambiar piggybacking on the efforts of his stellar cast - Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar. And as is the case with anything that's put together loosely, it all comes off with time. The second half nose dives with a vengeance. The only flashes in the dark are Bachchan's and Akhtar's performances. They make you stay.



Wazir starts off like a gritty and taut thriller. The slow motion stream of character build up in the beginning quickly turns into a violent and tragic outbreak. Farhan Akhtar's tough-cop character Danish risks the life of his daughter by carelessly driving her into a shoot out. That sets a tragic series of incidents into motion, throttling Danish's life into abject darkness and depression. His loving wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) distances herself and Danish has nowhere to go. That's when Panditji (Amitabh Bachchan) enters the scene. He's the rescue plan, the healer and also the man with ulterior motives. Panditji introduces Danish to the game of chess and to his own back-story where his young daughter died mysteriously at a Minister's house. The set up is brilliant. You can see a young and anxious cop getting too involved in the personal matters of an old man. There's a scene half-way through, when Farhan confronts the antagonist, Minister Qureshi (Manav Kaul). The intensity in their handshake and cold stares is frightening. At that point in the film, you anticipate a chokehold of emotions, drama and tragedy coming up. Pity, the second half fizzles out. The screenplay, in a bid to build up a surprise with a twist end, picks up the pace and loses out on detail. The conflict, the truth and the resolution all happen too conveniently. Farhan's character just goes through the motions.



The actors - Farhan Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan are the wazirs here. They're on the forefront and they're in top form. Mr Bachchan gives you a lesson in controlled and restrained acting. He's playing a physically challenged individual; his character is perpetually bound to the wheel chair. Just because he can't stand up doesn't mean he won't rise to the occasion. Mr Bachchan's performance is a master class in acting with just the face and the eyes. He makes you believe in the story. Farhan on the other hand is playing a character not-so-surefooted. He gets the nervous energy, the despair and the anger bang on. Whether it's slick action, heartbreaking sadness or exchanging wit with Mr Bachchan, Farhan is spectacular. The one reason you would want to watch Wazir, is these two super actors.




Going back to the chess allegory, this is a sport of patience and resolve. Yes, there are times when you can adopt break-neck speed, but even that requires meticulous and well-conceived planning. Wazir loses out because it tries to do too much without stopping. At 102 minutes it's a crisp and breezy film. But the tone and treatment deserved a longer spell, something more deliberate and arresting. Director Bejoy Nambiar and veteran writers Abhijat Joshi and Vidhu Vinod Chopra could've designed an outcome that was as complex as their characters. But predictability is the biggest problem with Wazir. If you pay enough attention to the first half, you'll instantly guess how the end will pan out. So you're sitting in a thriller knowing what's coming up. Even those who can't second guess the outcome, the climax is convenient and inane. The emotional depth and the complex character behaviour that engages you through the first half are slavishly abandoned for action-movie thrills. It's all well done. The production, the sound, the action is all top notch. But the writing is King of the game in a film. The technique is merely a pawn. You can sacrifice the pawns but not the King.