Wazir   Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra Director: Bejoy Nambiar Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Aditi Rao Hydari Music: Shantanu Moitra, Ankit Tiwari, Advaita (band), Prashant Pillai, Rochak Kohli and Lyrics: Genre: Thriller Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance Film Released on: 08 January 2016 Reviewed by: Amodini  - Rating: 7.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review

Danish Ali (Akhtar) is an earnest policeman who is recovering from the loss of a loved one. Almost somnolent with grief, Danish meets wheel-chair bound teacher Omkarnath Dhar (Bachchan), who has also gone through a similar tragedy. They become friends, and when Dhar becomes the target of a stealthy enemy, Danish resolves to protect him. In the storyline, there is also a mix of politics, terrorism, and the threat of greater evil.

Wazir began well, so the first half is pretty tight. There is intensity to the scenes, and there was promise that this film would indeed deliver the goods. When all is explained at the end, the story looks amateurish, the premise a little too unbelievable - like it was written by someone not using all his God-given grey cells. And that's my biggest problem with this movie. Were that Wazir's story had legs to stand upon, this could easily have been one of the best films of the year.

I cannot fault Nambiar in his direction. Wazir is well-paced and builds up nicely. It also excels, mostly, in depicting its characters. Akhtar is marvelous as the dutiful cop, driven by guilt and grief. Hydari plays his katahak dancer wife, and she does well in the screen time she has - shades of beauty, and grief intermittent. Bachchan is generally a good actor, except in roles where he lets the Bachchan persona overwhelm the on-screen character. Unfortunately for us, this is one of those times. Last but not the least, I must mention Neil Nitin Mukesh who impresses even in his short role.

There is also great music here. "Tere Bin" is exquisitely picturized - all nostalgia and slow-mo, but that's not surprising since Nambiar does do well at these (remember Khoya Khoya Chand?) Then there is Tu Mere Paas. Also Atrangi Yaari, sung by Bachchan and Akhtar themselves.