Reliance Entertainment and Vinod Chopra Films’ Wazir (UA) is the story of two men whom destiny unites. It is a suspense thriller.
Daanish (Farhan Akhtar), a police officer happily married to danseuse Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari), loses his little daughter, Noorie, in cross-firing with dreaded terrorist Rameez (Nassir Quazi). Ruhana holds Daanish responsible for their daughter’s death and so, cracks develop in their relationship. Daanish is also distraught and seeks revenge by killing Rameez.
Pandit Omkar Nath Dhruv (Amitabh Bachchan), who has lost his legs below the knees, teaches chess to children. He is a widower who has just recently lost his grown-up daughter. Although the daughter’s death is dismissed off as an accident at welfare minister Yazad Qureshi’s (Manav Kaul) residence, where she had gone to teach the minister’s little daughter, Pandit Dhruv is convinced, the minister had murdered his daughter. He keeps visiting the police station in a bid to get justice for his deceased daughter but is saddened when he is told that the file has been closed as the death was a mere accident. Pan dit Dhruv used to teach Daanish’s daughter, Noorie, chess when she was alive.
Panditji and Daanish become friends after the death of their daughters. Daanish sees substance in what Panditji feels about the welfare minister’s role in his daughter’s death. Incidentally, the welfare minister projects himself to be the messiah of peace. Daanish promises Pandit Dhruv that he would secure justice for his deceased daughter. Panditji, meanwhile, tries to play peace-maker between Daanish and wife Ruhana.
One day, Panditji confronts the welfare minister face-to-face, something which doesn’t go down well with the minister. Soon, Wazir (Neil Nitin Mukesh) seeks revenge on Pandit Dhruv for having dared to confront minister Yazad Qureshi. He attacks Panditji and destroys the chess boards in his house. Panditji is shaken but will still not give up.
Wazir keeps making telephone calls to threaten Pandit Dhruv. He calls Daanish on his cell phone to inform him that he would soon kill Panditji. On his part, Daanish wants to meet Wazir and bring him and the welfare minister to book.
Soon, minister Yazad Qureshi goes to Kashmir. Panditji is also preparing to leave for Kashmir to extract revenge, even though Wazir has threatened to kill him.
Will Daanish allow Panditji to risk his life and go to Kashmir? Does Daanish meet Wazir? Who is Wazir? Does Panditji get to extract revenge? Or does Daanish get the murderer to book? Who is the murderer? Is it welfare minister Yazad Qureshi? Is he or is he not the messiah of peace? What is his past? Is there any co-relation between the accidental death of Noorie and the death of Panditji’s daughter? Does the tension between Daanish and Ruhana ease?
Vidhu Vinod Chopra has written an interesting story even though, it must be added, it is meant only for the class audience. The track of Wazir (Neil Nitin Mukesh), when the suspense is revealed, will serve to confuse the audience other than the class audience. Having said that, it must also be said that the twist in the climax is lovely and least expected. Abhijat Joshi and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s screenplay targets only the class audience. The screenplay is engaging but, at the same time, it is slow in the first half after the initial few reels. The second half is faster and more dramatic. Bejoy Nambiar, Natasha Sahgal and Shubra Swarup are the script associates. All in all, the screenplay would engage the class audience but not find much favour among the masses. Abhijeet Deshpande’s dialogues (with additional dialogues by Gazal Dhaliwal) are very good.
Amitabh Bachchan is outstanding as Pandit Omkar Nath Dhruv. He acts with aplomb and his facial expressions are a treat to watch. He is absolutely terrific. Farhan Akhtar does a very fine job as police inspector Daanish. Aditi Rao Hydari looks pretty. She doesn’t have too many dialogues to mouth but she makes her presence felt with a meaningful performance. Her costumes and jewellery are lovely. Manav Kaul plays welfare minister Yazad Qureshi effectively. Neil Nitin Mukesh is pretty impressive as Wazir. John Abraham adds star value in a special appearance. Anjum Sharma lends able support as Daanish’s colleague, Sartaj. Seema Pahwa is brilliant in a brief role. Prakash Belawadi leaves a mark as the police inspector. Nassir Quazi is alright as terrorist Rameez. Murali Sharma has a tiny role. Nishigandha Wad is okay.
Bejoy Nambiar’s direction is very good. He has handled the subject with the sensitivity that was required. Music (Shantanu Moitra for ‘Tere bin’ and ‘Maula mere Maula’; Rochak Kohli for ‘Yaari’; Ankit Tiwari for ‘Tu mere paas’; Advaita for ‘Khel khel mein’; and Prashant Pillai for ‘Tere liye’) is melodious though not very popular. The songs sound good in the film even though they are too many of them. Lyrics (Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Swanand Kirkire, Gurpreet Saini, Deepak Ramola, Manoj Muntashir, Abhijeet Deshpande and A.M. Turaz) are weighty. Rohit Kulkarni has done a fine job of the background music. Sanu John Varughese’s cinematography is lovely. Bindiya Chhabriya and Narii’s production designing and Prasanna Karkhanis’ art direction are appropriate as per the demands of the script. Javed-Aejaz’s action and stunts are nice. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Wazir is a well-made film but meant for the class audience in the big cities mainly. It will do fair business. Recovery of cost and even generation of profits should not be a problem because the producers have recovered 60% of the investment from sale of satellite rights alone.