Kurbaan - Movie Review

Cast - Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Diya Mirza, Om Puri, Kirron Kher

Ratin - ***1/2

Director - Rensil D’Silva

Producer - Karan Johar

Music - Salim-Suleiman

It’s been quite a wait. After all, ‘Kurbaan’ had many a reason to wait for. First, it is a Karan Johar production treading on something it had never stepped before; second, it is Rensil D’Silva’s first directorial venture after writing films like ‘Rang De Basanti’; third, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor promising an enthralling love story in the film; and fourth, a film on international terrorism does generate interest – none necessarily in the descending order of preferences.

To talk of it, the subject is quite a safe bet for a directorial debut, given the nationalistic feelings it guarantees to evoke in the audience. The difference and the winning chances of course lie in the way it is done, or the difference thereof. Rensil, the writer that he is, tries weaving in everything that he can to get the film emote well and at the same time not look clustered. He has love, he has a pregnant lady, he has a devastated lover, he has deceit, he has revengeful intentions and he also has the greater good! But his attempts could not make us look away from the fact that ‘Fanaa’ and ‘New York’ had similar characters, though placed in different situations.

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Ehsaan (Saif) and Avantika (Kareena) are professors in Delhi who fall in love, get married and decide to move to the US, where Avantika used to stay before coming down to India due to her father’s ill health. Things get darker as soon as they land in the US with Avantika discovering a different shade to the people around her. The director immediately takes us to what we thought would be a surprise till the end, revealing what Ehsaan is up to. A reporter called Riyaz (Vivek) stumbles in the midst of all these activities as he loses his girlfriend. From hereon there is an intense drama and some thrilling moments strewn here and there.

As mentioned, the story does not grip you as completely new. You might find it hard to shake off the ‘Fanaa’ and ‘New York’ images from your mind, both being such huge films. But it is hard to point out faults nonetheless. The first half, post the merry love story, actually grips you. The excitement rises considerably towards the climax with very well done scenes. However, the last five minutes are where you might feel like – enough, end it now!

 \‘Kurbaan’ rates A – grade when looked at from a departmental point of view. Camerawork, music, performances are all worth a check. There is this sequence when Saif walks up the staircase of a bar and goes up to a man to kill him – the whole scene is one shot and yet it is remarkable how the cinematographer manages not even a single shake! Music wise, Salim-Suleiman stand their ground as one of the best background composers we have; except the last few minutes when the director probably intends to recreate the despair of tragedies like ‘The Mist’, but it does not work here.

On the scale of performance, Kareena Kapoor excels, be it the scene where she is unsure about love or be it the scene when she is unsure about the man she has been staying with! Vivek comes in with a performance which justifies his talent. Let’s hope the film gets him back to action after being out of luck for quite sometime. And Saif Ali Khan holds you with his steely stares. There is this scene when Saif takes away a gun from a trembling Vivek and he does it without an ounce of his usual style. Well underplayed!

Overall, ‘Kurbaan’ is a film that stands as ‘well made’. It has everything in place. But then, it does miss something. Or maybe we have been too used to comedies of late. Keeping that aside, ‘Kurbaan’ demands a watch. It delivers on thrill.

PS: Kareena kissing, so is Vivek!