╚»╚»★ WAZIR★«╝«╝Amitab Bachchan★Farhan Akthar ★ Bejoy Nambiar Film - January 8th Release ||

Wazir movie review: Farhan Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan's chemistry steals the show
Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hydari's Wazir is a signature Bejoy Nambiar film.


Ananya Bhattacharya
New Delhi, January 8, 2016 | UPDATED 14:38 IST
Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari, Manav Kaul, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Ratings: (3/5)

Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hydari's Wazir is a signature Bejoy Nambiar film. Not sure if the phrase can be used for a director who has only a handful of films to his name, but you get the drift. The slickness, the edge-of-the-seat quality, the darkness. Wazir is replete with the chiaroscuro that is so Bejoy Nambiar.

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Wazir opens with Tere Bin. With Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal's voices in the background, ATS officer Daanish Ali's (Farhan Akhtar) picture-perfect life is presented to the audience. Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) and Noori, Daanish's dancer wife and daughter, form the other pivots of this happy family.

On their way to work a certain winter morning in Delhi, Ruhana and Daanish stop at aghungroo-repair store in Connaught Place, and the former walks in. Daanish sees a terrorist the ATS (Anti Terrorism Squad) has been tailing for a while, and chases him. In the shootout that ensues, Noori and Daanish both are shot. Daanish loses his daughter, his wife refuses to stay with him, and revenge for his daughter's death is all he can think of.

In the process, he crosses paths with Pandit Omkar Nath Dhar (Amitabh Bachchan), a grand master who lost his legs and his wife in a car accident. Panditji and Daanish strike up an unusual friendship, joined by their thirst to avenge the death of their respective daughters. Panditji holds minister Yazaad Qureshi (Manav Kaul) responsible for his daughter's death, while the state machinery sells a different story to him. Thus begins Daanish's mission to go check-mate on his friend's enemies.


Farhan Akhtar nails his Daanish in his first film as an action hero. The actor breathes life into his character, making Daanish someone a person can relate to. Be it burying his own daughter with his own hands or sharing a vodka-chess game with Dhar, Daanish is the fulcrum of this story. For his part, the ever-dependable Amitabh Bachchan is spectacular, despite the occasional moments where he seems to falter. His Omkar Nath Dhar is a character that has one in awe of him. Wazir is more enjoyable because of the chemistry between the two male leads than anything else.

Aditi Rao Hydari brings vulnerability to her Ruhana. Her eyes make it easy for a person to sympathise with and feel for the mother who has lost her child and cannot forgive her husband. Hydari has to her credit several strong sequences. Wazir has Manav Kaul and his stage background to thank for the brilliance with which he essays his Qureshi. The aquiline nose and his eyes have people hating him from the moment he appears on screen. Neil Nitin Mukesh is menacing in his one scene. John Abraham, in his special appearance, plays his part well.

Till the interval, Wazir makes it difficult for a person to breathe. The taut, gripping narrative has people on the edge of the seat, quite literally. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi's screenplay is tight while the twists are being placed on the viewer's way. It is in the second half that Wazir stumbles. There is a sense of haste in the way the film progresses, in the way Wazir falls into the predictability trap. One can unravel the knots before the film in front of him or her can. And that is a major problem for the otherwise-decent Wazir.

Wazir has so many in-the-dark shots that after a point you feel whether Bejoy Nambiar is obsessed with the lack of light. Even during the day, Nambiar's world has the overwhelming sense of gloom and danger.

The music is soothing. Tere Bin and Maula stand out among the rest.

In a nutshell, Wazir is a commendable attempt by Nambiar. Watch the film for its performances.