Guns, mafia, thriller, and action — Hindi film industry has, for years, revolved around these tropes but often the premise is much like an old wine in a new bottle. Luckily for director Shravan Tiwari’s Aazam, the writing and its world building shine the brightest. It always helps when ever-so-reliable Jimmy Sheirgill comes in with all guns blazing.
While the movie’s first half piques interest, the second half stutters. However, there is enough going for the film to keep the audience hooked till the end.
Aazam is set in the dark underbelly of Mumbai focusing on a power struggle in play after Nawab Khan (Raza Murad), the mafia don, is on the death bed. After much deliberation, it is decided that Anya Shetty (Vivek Ghamande) shall take over Nawab’s position. It triggers a chain reaction as Nawab’s son Kadar Pathan (Abhimanyu Singh) and Javed (Jimmy Sheirgill), Nawab’s confidant hatch a plan, which would force them to cross all boundaries. In its 128-minute runtime, the film chases the question of who will be Nawab Khan’s successor, and to what extent can one go to succeed.
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A Jimmy Sheirgill show
While the film takes place on one day, the narrative shifts pace as it delves into the past and bounces back to the present in several scenes. The non-linear pace of crafting the film covers up for its shaky direction, in parts. Tiwari deserves a pat on the back for taking up the unconventional crime thriller, but the screenplay could have been tighter and sharper had all technical elements come together. Tiwari, the writer, got much ahead of Tiwari, the director.
If the film’s writing impressed, the jarring cinematography, background sound, and production design disappointed. If only there was a control button to lower the sound or completely switch it off in some scenes. Of late, filmmakers have developed an unexplained fascination with deafening acoustics.
Sheirgill rarely falters on-screen and his performance in Aazam is nothing less than perfect. He is one of the few actors like Irrfan Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Prakash Raj, or Pankaj Tripathi, who always have something to offer regardless of their screen time or the quality of writing. As Javed, Sheirgill channels his complexity subtly without making him look boring. Even when he doesn’t use words, he says so much.
Abhimanyu Singh is also successful in leaving an impact despite limited time in front of the camera. Indraneil Sen Gupta is a surprise package in the film. The role and his portrayal as DCP Ajay Joshi are unlike anything the audience has seen before from the actor. It also helps when the dialogues are fleshed out well.
However, it is worth pondering over why there were no substantial female characters. Forget playing second fiddle, there is no notable female role in the entire film.
All in all, Aazam is writer Tiwari’s win. It may not be the best thriller film of this year or a theatre watch. But it surely deserves the applause and attention that films like Aazam often get on streaming platforms.