Movie Review: Naqaab

Update: Watch Naqaab here

Naqaab, for no known reason, was not among the hottest releases this year. That was quite surprising as it was coming from Abbas-Mastan, the makers of Khiladi, Baazigar, Soldier, Baadshah, Ajnabee, Humraaz and Aitraaz and it starred Akshaye Khanna and Bobby Deol for the first time after their super hit Humraaz. Sometimes you know the fate of the movie before it's released and going by the rushes Naqaab wasn't looking good. It's music also did not generate the kind of curiosity you would usually attach to a big movie.

Master story tellers Abbas-Mastan have somehow lost their way this time around. As Subhash K Jha puts it, on the one hand there's the ultra-hip super-cool Kiss- Miss Sophia (newcomer Urvashi Sharma) who lives in with Richie-Rich Bobby Deol and romances the Devil-may-Care Dude (Akshaye Khanna) and even runs away from her church wedding (ala Julia Roberts in The Runaway Bride). But get this contradiction. On the other hand when the clandestine couple Khanna and Urvashi break into a mela song, Abbas-Mustan (bless their suspenseful soul) do a quick dissolve with the camera to indicate to the audience that the song is a dream sequence. The problem with our cinema is, it takes on the mantle of the new millennium without knowing where it is going. In Naqaab, the female protagonist goes from being a flaky burger waitress in a Dubai restaurant to an unsuspecting actress in a reality film to a vengeful Mata Hari…to God knows what else.

"The most shocking thriller of the year". Yeah right! Shocking it is but not in the right way for the audience. Instead, the tagline may well turn out to be true for for the producer and the distributors!!! It's not at all intriguing throughout its run of 2 hours. There may be a few twists and turns but hello that's not enough for a crime thriller to work. Inspired by Dot The I, Naqaab fails to hold your interest. Editing by Hussain Burmawala is not up to mark. Music by Pritam is strictly okay. Actually songs looked better in promos. But they do not fit well in the narration.

Performance wise, Bobby Deol gets a meaty role in the second half to which he does justice. But then Bobby Deol is not that kind of an actor who can carry movie on his shoulders. And of late, haven't we seen enough of him already? How much can one bear him? These back to back releases - Shakalaka Boom Boom, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Apne and now Naqaab will not do good to his probably last attempt to salvage his career. Akshaye Khanna, we all know is a scene stealer but alas, there is nothing he can do here. You got to give him some good scenes. After all, what can an actor do if the script itself lacks the punch. Urvashi Sharma, makes a good bewitching debut. Good part is that she can hope to get signed on for some more movies to show "hidden" talent.

Naqaab, overall, did not work for me. Not Recommended! I can only hope that Abbas-Mastan return to their original form and dish out better stuff.