Naam Shabana | A Nice Bollywood Movie | Personal Reviews

In recent times if any female actor got a chance to prove her acting metal after Vidya Balan, then she is definitely Tapsi Pannu. Of course, there are many newcomers who got meaty roles in their career including but not limited to Yaami Gautam, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt and others. Though Tapsee’s transformation is quite evident.

We didn’t found her a scene stealer in Chashme Baddoor and we mentioned it in our reviews for the same. But then we liked her small role in Baby. We loved a scene very specifically when she without help of the hero overpowers a villain, which is a rare kind of a scene in Bollywood movies. Pink of course belongs to her and she performed good there. And she became more bankable actor (come on, the commercial movies are made by targeting box office success as one of the required parameters) and got the title role in the film Naam Shabana.

We were curious to watch this movie since very long and we have expressed our desires when publish this movies we are keen to watch list.

Let us take a bird’s eye view to the plot of the movie:

Book Plot:

Two agents working for Indian Secret Service were chasing a dangerous criminal name Mikhail. Somehow the things go wrong and Mikhail not only overpowers them but brutally kills them.

Shabana Khan is a young intelligent middle class typical Indian girl, who lives with her mother. She is interested in sports and in fact quite good Judo fighter. She wins many championships at college level. Jai is a friend of Shabana who loves her from the deepest heart. Shabana also knew the feelings but never confirm her status. On one fine day when they spent their evening together, both of them confessed their love for each other and were on the ninth cloud.

However when returning to home, things went wrong when a few youth tried to have a tussle with them. Jai was urging to let it go but the fighter in Shabana irked her to respond. The incident result into death of Jai.

Shabana tried hard to get heard by the police and get justice for her late friend. However she was responded coldly by the police. The reason was definitely the corrupt officers were sold out to the well-connected criminals.

Shabana, despite of all these was not ready to back off. At the same time she was contacted by Ranvir Singh, a senior intelligence officer in Indian Secret Service. He informs Shabana that Shabana was being watched by her team and he can provide a way to take revenge against the criminals as her reason is just. The only thing he want in return is Shabana’s commitment to work for the country. Shabana accepts the deal and the chase begins.

What happens later on is better to explore on screen.

Naam Shabana is spin off movie for Baby film. Shabana was a character in that movie which was comparatively small.

Naam Shabana is full fledged film on the character and it is explored well. Well, some of the things go quite hypothetical at some extent, but that is what it happens in a movie, especially, the spy movie. We see many larger than the life stuff in James Bond movie, which we by all our senses know that is not possible in real life but we enjoy it. Same way, some scenes here fall in that category. But the movie is a perfect thriller and it remains true to it’s genre.

Neeraj is associated with many films including A Wednesday!, Special 26, The Royal Bengal Tiger, Baby, Rustom and M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. So we know how good he is at executing content. He is good here as a screenplay writer. Shivam Nair’s direction is good. He is in complete control of the movie. We are looking forward to see more films directed by him. We sincerely hope that such director don’t get sidelined like Mani Shankar, who is an ace director, but we don’t see many films by him.

In terms of acting Tapsee got a good role and she makes full out of it. She also underwent for Karv Maga (a self defence technique invented by Israel Armed Forces) and it is visible on screen. Virendra Saxena is good in small role. Anupam Kher makes his presence felt in cameo. Akshay Kumar get extended cameo here, which he fluently executes.

Manoj Bajpai is a seasoned actor and he does justice to his role. Danny is there in a cameo and he have the charisma desired. Pruthveeraj got the role of antagonist and he acts upto expectations here. There are other actors (for example the trio who is going to capture Michel, but got executed by him instead) who are good. Zaakir Hussain an his fellows gave some comic relief even in tensed environment.

Background music of the movie is upto the mark. There was no chance of having typical Bollywood film songs, but wherever placed it fits the situation. The movie have almost no extra scenes and the credit goes to the editor.

The locales (both Indian and abroad) are quite interestingly and thoughtfully finalized. Nothing looks out of place here. Also seeing real life middle class homes and locality (where Shabana lives for example) and characters (like the one played by Virendra Saxena) in the movie makes feel good.

If you want to see a good thriller, you can definitely go for it.

Did you watch the movie? Or Are you planning to watch it? Which part of the movie you like the best? What is the most effective scene of the movie according to you? Is there anything you want to share about this movie or this article? Are you going to purchase it when available on DVD? Do not hesitate, go ahead and leave your comments below. And yes, do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.