Aurangzeb

There are many gangster movies lately. This new addition is more engaging than some others I have seen. The lead characters are well written and the story has a decent plot with not many loopholes. The movie starts slow but picks up pace very quickly. However, in this movie, like many others, the good guys do not die even when the entire gang is shooting at them. This Bollywood touch gets unintentionally comical. But overall, the movie was enjoyable.

The backdrop of Gurgaon real estate is new. I have wondered when will someone come up with a story around the real estate boom that Gurgaon has seen.

Arjun Kapoor acted well in both his roles. Prithviraj was intense. Rishi Kapoor had the Haryanvi touch in his dialogs in the first half, in the second half it was lost (weird). Jackie Shroff was mellow and didn't look like the emperor that he was supposed to portray. He looked like a sad old man.. May be this was the intent. Sasha Aagha had nothing much to do in the film. Why was she there again? Wish there was more of Deepti Naval, her role seems to have been chopped.

"Kingship knows no kinship"- This ideology of Mughal king Aurangzeb defines the theme of YRF's latest 'Aurangzeb' (AZ). A directorial debut from Atul Sabharwal (writer of films like 'Phir Milenge'), Aurangzeb is a typical Indian masala entertainer from Manmohan Desai school. It is sprinkled with all sorts of spices viz. action, crime, drama and beau-coup DE skin-show. Not delving much into details of storyline et al, here are the highlights of the movie:

• Performances: Stellar work from most of the veterans and new-age stars is the biggest hallmark of AZ. If you think this is an Arjun Kapoor movie, you are mistaken. Despite a double-role (as evident from trailers), it is actually Prithviraj Sukumaaran (Malayalam actor of Aiyya fame) and Rishi Kapoor who steal the show through their out-of-the-skin portrayals of characters. Prithviraj is so accurate in his accent and mannerisms, it's hard to digest that he's a Southern import. Rishi Kapoor is a chameleonic surprise with every scene! Arjun too is good in both the roles. His toothy smile, give-a-damn attitude and rugged look is a carry forward from Ishaqzaade. Debutante Sasha Agha (daughter of Pak singer-actress Salma Agha) is pure glam doll (acting comments – not applicable). Could not help to mention her striking resemblance to Amrita Puri. Amrita Singh is in her normal shrewd avatar while Jackie Shroff is endearing in the limited role assigned. Nice to see the couple reunited after the 90's hit Aaina! Tanvi Azmi does a Nirupa Roy while Deepti Naval and Anupam Kher play a cameo.

• Plot & execution: Set in the real-estate mafia gullies of Gur-gaon (city), the film takes you through the lives of a real-estate king, judwa brothers, good & bad police officers, lots of blood-shed and gives a glimpse of what cooks behind the shining express-ways in our country. The narrative is adept and implementation smart. While the first half sets the stage, the second half is about execution and pace. Dilemmas (choice between sapne and apne) of the main protagonist have been well captured while shrewd ambitions of the 'actual' Aurangzeb are awesomely enacted.

• Music: Even with less songs in the movie, Vipin Mishra and Amartya Rahut are ordinary. Barring the pacy Barbaadiyan, no other song leaves impact. However, background score is good.

• Flaws: Despite the high-voltage drama, AZ does have its share of flaws and bloopers. The movie could have been a little less complex and dialogs a little less-filmy.

In all, Aurangzeb is a crisp, pacy action drama Bollywood got to see after long time. Dunno why YRF did not promote the film much! To know 'Who is real Aurangzeb in the movie?', watch it, and watch it till the end! You won't be disappointed.

watched AURANGZEB ...intelligent plot filled with good Thriller n Drama within digestible ratio of Action...this flick gives the feel that Bollywood is really growing up(after 100yrs!)...its cast embedded well with the script n with their up to the mark acting n fare share of screen time...story is close to the reality of today's police n corporate world with a little exaggeration(does't look fake)of the events you/we see in the TV news nowadays...I won't ruin the thrill(of it) by telling its plot...all you should know is its a complete sensible entertainment(how it should always be) & thus its a _MUST WATCH

Atul Sabharwal Directed 'Aurangzeb' is a fairly interesting crime-thriller, that works primarily for the Superb Performances it offers by its attractive star-cast.

'Aurangzeb' Synopsis: A lookalike of a thug is sent into a gangster's family by the police, to gather information on the gangster's doings. This sets in place a chain reaction of complications and increasingly uncontrollable events.

'Aurangzeb' begins well, but loses pace mid-way. The narrative is riveting in the first-hour, but the second-hour lacks the power to keep hooked. Reason? The drama is stretched & the climax is ordinary. Atul Sabharwal's Screenplay has some fabulous moments, but could've been stronger nonetheless. His Direction, on the other-hand, is technically superior. Cinematography is top-class. Editing is crisp. Art Design is eye-filling. Music is average, while The Background Score is marvelous.

Performance-Wise: Arjun Kapoor impresses in both the parts. He plays the good-guy ably, but convinces immensely as the filthy-mouthed thug. Prithviraj Sukumaran is excellent, his performance stands out. Rishi Kapoor & Jackie Shroff, like always, are perfect. Debutant Sashaa Agha looks alluring, but needs proper grooming as far as acting is concerned. Tanvi Azmi is wonderfully restrained. Swara Bhaskar, Deepti Naval & Amrita Singh do their bits well. Sikandar is decent.

On the whole, 'Aurangzeb' is certainly a watchable film.

AURANGZEB is a action/thriller film directed by Atul Sabharwal, starring Arjun Kapoor (in a double role), Sasha Aagha, Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor & Prithviraj.

The film revolves around two families; a family of policemen and one of policemen. Yashwardan (Jacki Shroff) is the king of real estate empire and holds illegal rackets along with his son, Ajay (Arjun Kapoor). The police are trying to arrest them, however, whenever they do something illegal, they leave no evidence. Soon, they find out that Ajay has a twin brother, Vishal (Arjun Kapoor) and Inspector Ravikant (Rishi Kapoor) and ACP Arya Phogat (Prithviraj) decide to take out Ajay and replace him with Vishal, so that Yashwardan doesn't suspect anything. Meanwhile, they torture Ajay into telling them all the secret's of his father's empire.

By the time the trailer of Aurangzeb came out, it was all Bollywood was talking about. Everyone expected a lot from it, including me. The star cast was real grand with class actors, including Arjun Kapoor who had proved to us that he had what it takes to be one of the big stars. I advance booked my tickets for Aurangzeb and went inside the cinema with great expectations. Little did I know that I was entering a movie full of twists and turns. The movie started off real well explaining everything in detail. It took about 3 scenes to get onto the real plot. It just showed the background of the characters which I feel is a real good introduction to the public. As the movie progressed, the plot and everything was all good, but the film was lacking that certain 'something' that a crime/thriller film needed. It had me engrossed but I kept feeling that something was missing. The intermission left me with something to think which is what every Hindi movie does.

The second half started and I'm going to be extremely honest with you, but it was just really really confusing. It comes to a point where you don't know what's going on. It's like you are just watching the movie trying to understand what's happening; which you eventually will if you are paying good attention. The climax was quite good and the way the film signed off was good as well.

One more point about Aurangzeb is that its not all action and thrills. Normally films like that would be real dark, but the director manages to add some comedy at places here and there through Arjun Kapoor's characters.

Honestly, I felt Atul Sabharwal did quite a good job directing the film but his script wasn't quite perfect. There was no need for so many twists that the audience can't even make count of. And it felt as if he was trying to fit in so many things into just one movie.

The acting in this film is finesse with great actors in this one. Prithviraj acted extremely well as a police officer, compared to his role in AIYYAA. Rishi Kapoor had a different role which was good to see after his role as the menacing Rauf Lala in AGNEEPATH. Jackie Shroff's acting was also real great as a negative character. Sasha Aagha was extremely unneeded, and you can even tell when an actress is added just for the looks and really can't act.

And now after talking about ALL that, I'm going to jump onto talking about the next best thing about this film and that is ARJUN KAPOOR. Yes. This actor is the next big thing, and from his debut in ISHAQZAADE, I'm sure everyone knew that he would emerge as Bollywood's biggest and he has proved that again in Aurangzeb. His role was similar to that in Ishaqzaade, however I feel he can only do roles similar to that. But if he just works a little bit more I'm sure he will be able to do any role. His second role as Vishal didn't quite suit him, but I'm sure that if he works a bit more on it, he will be able to convince all of us that he can do another honest role like Vishal. His acting was just fantastic and according to me, even though there were so many other great stars in the film, he just outshone them all with his double role.

Apart from that this film does have a bit of flaws. It doesn't have as much action as expected and only focuses on the drama part of it. And lastly, it is lacking that punch which we expected. It has all the elements of an action/thriller film, expect for that certain thing that just prevented me from enjoying it completely. And because of that, Aurangzeb is quite forgettable, after say, 1 day. Arjun Kapoor's acting does stay with you, but the trailer is more memorable than the movie.

Overall, I would rate Aurangzeb a 6.5/10, because of the plot and the acting that played a great impact on the film. It was a fun time, but it lacked the punch and didn't live up to the hype it created.