– Ashwal Singh (New Delhi)
AIYAARY STORY: An Indian Army officer is obliged to track down his protege when the latter swindles and intimidates to obstruct the country’s government and army.
AIYAARY REVIEW: ‘Aiyaary’ has all the elements of a Neeraj Pandey flick. The honorable and conscientious officer Colonel Abhay Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) leads covert operations with the best of his unit. Things go downhill for him and his task force when Sidharth Malhotra’s Jai Bakshi – the sharpest in his unit – goes rogue. Abhay Singh has to tail him down while defending everything he believes in.
Like every other Neeraj Pandey flick, this movie also relies on strong character actors, which makes up the core element of the film. As presumed , the always reliable Manoj Bajpayee gives another satiating performance as an abiding officer bound by duty. He is the epicenter of the film and is believable as a man capable of going to great lengths to complete the task at hand. Although his intent to take down his own protege is clear, his intent while chasing Jai Bakshi is concrete.
Which leads us to Sidharth Malhotra, who is playing an officer who becomes disatisfied by the system he has sworn to protect. He brings a definite poise to Jai Bakshi, and is arguably compelling as a soldier whose skills put him one step ahead of his superiors. Rakul Preet Singh does brings a certain charm to her role gets reduced just as Jai’s love interest. Thankfully, their romance is not overstreched. Pooja Chopra has a promising start to her character Maya but her role is shortened to play a loyalist to Abhay Singh. Pandey’s favorites – Anupam Kher as Tariq Ali are underutilized and could have got better screen time. Although Naseeruddin Shah’s Baburao absent for the most part of the movie but he becomes relevant at a crucial point, where he makes up for his absence. Unfortunately, it comes a little too late in the film.
‘Aiyaary’ has a few mundane scenes that are too stretched and don’t contribute much to further the story or add to the characters. The complexity of the plot allows for some detailed portrayal, but the screenplay goes exorbitant and loses its pace. The film could have made a far more binding watch with sharp editing and minus of all the over hyped entries and exits. Those looking for thrilling Neeraj Pandey twists will be left a little disappointed but ‘Aiyaary’ has given various performances that echo louder than its bombastic score which alone make it a worthwhile watch.
Rating: 2.5/5
Watch the trailer here if you haven’t watched it yet:
