Arya, an honest Gurgaon-based police
officer, sets up a coup in which he replaces a pivotal member of a gang with a
look-alike. However, the coup goes kaput!
Although the cast members (Arjun Kapoor,
Prithviraj, Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor, Sikander Kher and Amrita Singh among
others) have delivered stupendous performances and the cinematography is
first-rate, the film falls flat owing to its convoluted screenplay. The writer
tries to mix up too many sub-plots and twists, making the film a very complex
and an exhausting affair.
Gurgaon-based police officer Arya
(Prithviraj) has to choose between following his late father’s (Anupam Kher), who
was an honest policeman till fate did him in, ideals and his uncle Ravikant’s,
who is an opportunistic head of the police department, crooked ways. Arya
chooses the middle path and ends up facing terrible consequences.
Vishal (Arjun Kapoor) is a simpleton living
with his widowed mother (Tanvi Azmi) in a far-off town in North India. The
mother has faced a lot of troubles in trying to get away from her turbulent
marriage, leave one of her children behind, and bring Vishal up for so many years.
Vishal joins hands with Arya and his uncle to help eliminate a very powerful
gang reigning in Gurgaon. This gang, led by Yashvardhan (Jackie Shroff), is
running havoc with multiple corporate deals and abundant money laundering.
Yashvardhan has an errant son Ajay (Arjun Kapoor), who happens to look exactly
like Vishal.
How the stories of all these characters intertwine
is what ‘Aurangzeb’ is all about!
The characters in this film are very well-etched.
Arjun Kapoor effortlessly plays an irresponsible and a conniving ruffian (Ajay)
with élan, just like he did in his debut film ‘Ishaqzaade’. However, he
surprises with his charming performance as the innocent, harmless man caught
amongst rogues (Vishal). The man displays great range playing these two diametrically-opposite
characters.
The veterans Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor
and Amrita Singh too, deliver top-notch performances. Sasha Aagha delivers a
passable performance, playing Arjun Kapoor’s love interest. Her real moment of
reckoning, though, is when she belts out the foot-tapping ‘Barbadiyaan’. She is
an amazing singer, and should definitely sing more often in the future. As far
as performances go, the pick of the lot is Prithviraj. Be it the body language,
dialogue delivery or the acting, the South actor enthrals and how! His
character is the least-complex among the entire cast, and perhaps that helped
the way it transcended on to the big screen.
It is the story that lets the film down. ‘Aurangzeb’
has too many plots, sub-plots, characters and side-characters. The action
scenes have been very well-executed, and the premise of the film, based on the
real estate-police nexus, is extremely interesting. However, when logic goes
out of the window, no amount of slickness can salvage the product.
Director Atul Sabbharwal directs well, but
his writing leaves a lot to be desired. ‘Aurangzeb’ is full of crests and
troughs. However, the latter outnumber the former.
Shivom
Oza
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