OyeG Review

First things first, Kurbaan keeps up the promise of being a thriller. Without wasting much time, this love story with a backdrop of terrorism keeps the audience hooked to its proceedings.

Avantika (Kareena) and Ehsaan (Saif) are professors at Delhi University. The bond over coffee and conversation (a la KJo style); and soon land up in New York as a married couple. They move into their home-sweet-home with conservative Muslims as their neighbour. When a next door woman pleads Avantika to help her save her life, hell breaks loose. What follows next, is a series of incidents that sucks Avantika into a vortex of danger and intrigue.

Direction

Writer-turned-director Rensil D’Silva, who has penned films like ‘Aks’ and the widely acclaimed ‘Rang De Basanti’ , scores big time with this intense film as his directorial debut. He is successful in keeping the audience glued to their seats without blinking an eye. A few scenes like the one just after Kareena and Saif’s steamy love-making and the one where she serves coffee to Vivek Oberoi stand out.

Story/Script

Barring a few loopholes, Karan Johar’s story is an impressive take on terrorism that is close to reality, thought-provoking and instills the soul. The screenplay is engaging and not marred by predictability, that’s what makes it an edgy and gripping tale. A discussion on whether Muslims are in wrong doing or the US powers is effectively blended in the sequence of events. However, it does have its share of clichés in form of “hamare bachche ke liye…” and “masoom aur begunah ki jaan”.

Performances

Saif delivers a hard-hitting performance and his getup in the film is very much in sync with his character that of a Muslim guy who is in full control of his emotions and ambitions. A teary, sans makeup Kareena puts forth a powerful performance but we would prefer Bebo in a glam avatar any day. We wonder why Vivek Oberoi was missing from the promos when he plays a well-etched role for a major part of the film. Vivek pitches in a sincere performance, but we doubt if ‘Kurbaan’ will do what a ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ did for Saif. As for others, Nauheed Cyrusi and Dia Mirza pack in decent special appearances.