Naam Shabana

A very weak movie by Neeraj Pandey. Had high hopes from him before going for this one, after what he has delivered in the past - Baby, Special 26 & A Wednesday. It seems that the makers just wanted to earn a little more money with help of Baby's fame. Very loose script. Really bad acting by Tapsee Pannu. Reused the characters of Baby, but none of them getting any screen presence except Akshay.

A spin-off of the 2015 film Baby, 'Naam Shabana' is a mostly crisp & decent action film, that rises on the strength of Taapsee Pannu's heroic performance. The usually under-utilized actress is kick-ass in titular role & offers the much needed punch to the proceedings.

'Naam Shabana' Synopsis: Shabana teams up with Indian Agents to take down her boyfriend's murderers & an international arms dealer.

'Naam Shabana' has an engaging first-hour, where Shabana's turn from a simpleton to a vengeful young-blood offers sharpness. The second-hour is a bit less engaging, but things remain crisp. In fact, the first-hour is more about Shabana's origin & why she turns into an Indian spy, while the second-hour focuses more on a conniving international arms dealer (Prithviraj Sukumaran), who Shabana is assigned to take down. I wish the Writing remained strong in the second-hour, as there was genuine potential here. Nevertheless, the film is consistently watchable.

Neeraj Pandey's Screenplay has a winning first-hour, but an ordinary second. Shivam Nair's Direction is sleek. Cinematography is well-done. Editing remains to the point. Art & Costume Design are fine. Action-Sequences are sharply choreographed.

Performance-Wise: Taapsee, it is! The actress is in top-form here, delivering her best performance in a Hindi film to date. Also, her skill for action/stunts, is commendable. Of the rest of the cast, the ever-reliable Manoj Bajpayee scores, while Akshay Kumar has a blast in a strong supporting role. Prithviraj Sukumaran is okay as the villain, while Shiva Dagar leaves a mark.

On the whole, 'Naam Shabana' is a showcase of Taapsee's talent. Watch it for her, if nothing else.

I like these kind of movies where they take a character and try to build upon that. The character played by Tapsee seems to be tailor made for her, and she does full justice to it. I agree there are songs in the movie which could have been just edited away as the pace of the movie is quite good and keeps you interested and you are left off with the feeling, what the heck are the songs doing here.

was hoping for more acting from the character portrayed by Pritviraj, but that again seems to be hurried

Overall a good one time watch. Hope they don't make another one named 'Naam Om Prakash Shukla' :)

"Baby 2015" raised the bar of Indian Cinema with its taut, exhilarating and tight screenplay. It had a lot of new elements which made it an amazing film and it was another feather in the cap of director Neeraj Pandey. "Naam Shabana" is a prequel to "Baby" which depicts how the character of Tapasee Pannu was included in the Agency.

A comparison with Baby is a sure thing here but Naam Shabana disappoints. It could not transport the expectations "Baby" inflicted because of its weak screenplay and execution of the subject matter.

It takes at least 45 minutes to get the grip of the plot and misses the point repeatedly. The production value was not as good as "Baby" had. We understand that it is an entirely different movie than "Baby" however when we had already witnessed an astounding movie, the judgment is inevitable.

Tapasee is a very good actor and has done the job tremendously, the extended appearance of Akshay Kumar adds a worth to the movie.

Overall you can watch this movie for Tapasee, do not expect it to be a tense thriller like "Baby".

Worth watching for Taapsee. She looked perfect for the role (9/10). Prithviraj is ok. Akshay bad. Script has too many loose ends. Movie not as good as Baby.