Naam Shabana, India’s first spinoff, the making of a spy from the team BABY, has hit the theatres this Friday. Will it match up to the success of it's predecessor, BABY? Or will it fall flat? Let's analyse.
Genre :- Crime-Action/Thriller
Run-time :- 2 hrs 30 mins. *gasps* (I know, right?)
Cast :- Taapsee Pannu, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala.
Director :- Shivam Nair
Plot – Naam Shabana is the story of Shabana, her journey from being an aggressive girl who carries guilt and a dark past on her shoulders to becoming a spy for the intelligence agency of the country, BABY.
Direction and Screenplay :-
Neeraj Pandey has transferred the baton to Shivam Nair, as far as the direction is concerned. While Shivam Nair has directed the film, Neeraj has written the story. Does that mean bad news? Sadly it doesn't. Shivam Nair's direction is not perfect but commendable. It is the screenplay by Neeraj Pandey, that seems to be toying between two genres here: revenge and a spy thriller. While the revenge part is meted out in typical Bollywood style, he resorts to his own style when handling the thriller. It feels like two distinct films held together at the interval. The first half takes us back to the traumatic life of Shabana Khan (Taapsee Pannu) and her initiation into the Indian undercover counter-intelligence unit. The second half is about her first mission to nab a global arms kingpin which eventually turns out to be utterly predictable and disdain.
Naam Shabana isn’t as taut as the previous films written by Neeraj Pandey. It lacks the depth of A Wednesday, Baby and Special 26. Unlike his previous stints, even the most important operations, thrilling chases and edge-of-the-seat suspense sequences are predictable.
The plot consists of typical thriller elements like hidden dens, unidentifiable moles and surveillance systems, fist-fights and chases, violence and bloodshed. Except for the action and chase scenes, nothing manages to prevent the film from being dry and bland.
Editing and Cinematography :-
The editing by Kathikuloth Praveen is sharp but the songs, barring Rozana, completely stall the narrative. Amidst all the anti-terrorism and socio-political issues, the songs feel slapped on and jarring, although they are woven firmly.
Sudheer Palsane’s praiseworthy cinematography also fails to lift the storyline. There are countless slow motion sequences and bird's-eye view shots of the cities be it Vienna, Mumbai or Kuala Lumpur, but they fail to ignite a sense of awe.
Music :-
Shahaab Alam and Dharma Vish create a constructive and efficacious background score which helps in maintaining the thrill and excitement of the film.
‘Naam Shabana’ has Rochak Kohli and Meet Bros. offer you four strictly average songs, that are straight replicas of almost every template Bollywood song from recent times. Rozaana is the only song out of the lot which is of a fine quality.
The Highs -
▶ The Stunt-Action duo Abbas Ali Moghul and Cyril Raffaelli deserve an applause for making Taapsee seem lethal and powerful.
▶ There are some Baby references which manage to generate decent laughs, like: "Mantriji toh aaj bohot busy hain," the "conference" moment and Shuklaji's (Kher) dry humor ofcourse. There is also a dig at the mainstream fight sequence where both the hero and the villain rip off their shirts for a grave fight elicating chuckles. Smart.
▶ Later in the film, there is even a dig at corporates taking advantage of “free” mentality (Jio?). You could debate the point of view, but the writing brought a smile. You also smile as you wonder why only Shabana needed all this training while the male field agents got by with paunches.
▶ What I really admired that the makers mostly resisted giving her anything glamorous. The only thing that could be remotely called glamorous is that this seemingly middle class girl almost never wore the same set of clothes twice. *Winks*
The Lows -
▶ The biggest problem with the movie was the trailer. The trailer gave most of the plot, thus leaving the first half, dull and dreary.
▶ A conversation on Shabana’s religion (Islam) still has me scratching my head in confusion. The agency’s head recruiter and planner Manoj Bajpayee tells Shabana that her religion is a perk, that in contemporary times being a Muslim gives better access, opens many closed doors. How? The incredulous look refuses to leave my face. Did I misconstrue something here?
▶The film might appear radical enough to show a woman fight her way past the men but at the heart of things rests a very male, big boy world-view. I expected Taapsee to do an out an out mission on her own but you will be disappointed at how her encounter ends. Her scenes with Akshay are nothing but patronising and made me cringe, twice. Also, a big let down for me was when Tapsee's name appears below Akshay Kumar in the end credits although the latter just had a cameo. Tch tch!
▶ There are some underdeveloped lines like, “Main aapko zabardasti karte hue achcha lagta hoon (Would I look good forcing my way)?” Locker room jokes about a drunk boyfriend being a liability and a drunk girlfriend an asset (I don't understand how it was supposed to humorous).
Performances :-
▶ After giving a stellar performance in Pink, Naam Shabana is a progression as an actor for Taapsee Pannu. Her expressions, mannerisms and gestures in the Shivam Nair movie keep harking back to the sleeper hit of last year. Here you can see Taapsee showing off her martial art chops in spades and they are an absolute delight. Her portrayal of a badass woman, is alluring. Her altercation with the antagonist in the climax is a reflection of her fine acting abilities.
▶ With Prithviraj Sukumaran as Tony, the antagonist, it feels that the actor could have perhaps done a lot more with a better etched role. He has a striking personality but his character of Tony, a kingpin, is an inexcusable waste of Prithviraj's talent.
▶ Akshay Kumar has an extended cameo and he leaves no stone unturned to show off his prowess in martial arts and machismo.
▶ Manoj Bajpayee does full justice to his role but it would have been better had he been given some more material apart from playing the role of a human version of Siri.
*sighs*
▶ Anupam Kher as Om Prakash Shukla manages to tickle the funny bones with his tiny role of 15 mins.
▶ Danny Denzongpa as Feroz Ali Khan also makes an appearance and makes one wonder why he doesn't appear on screen more often.
▶ Taher Shabbir as Jai does fine. He manages to carry off the role of a boy next door quite well, although his delivery feels forced.
Watch o Not ?
Uhmm. Maybe. Maybe not. Watch it only if you want to see a completely kick-ass avatar of Taapsee. Her dedication and hardwork for the role is noteworthy.
Verdict : Don't go in with the expectation of watching a riveting action packed thriller like Baby.
Given the marvellous action sequences and terrific performances that were done well, the pace of the film could have been forgiven. But, it is difficult to forgive no pounding hearts in a thriller. When the protagonist feels too safe, nothing can make you worry about her, can it?
A Wise Word Makers?
Next time you make a film supposedly revolving around a woman, please do so because you have a great story to tell, not because female-led cinema is a hot current trend.
Ratings - 2.5/5
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