Aurangzeb Review

One Line Review: An entertaining thriller which could have been much better.

Positive Points: Fast moving story, shocking twists and turns, character performances, music

Negative Points: Half-baked direction, dragged climax, average editing

Plot: 'Aurangzeb' revolves around only one theme that 'Kingship knows no Kinship' and there can be only one Monarch. The story is an underbelly of the real estate business in developing towns in India.

The story runs in the background of Gurgaon, the most happening city of the country. It narrates about Yashvardhan Singh (Jackie Shroff) a real estate businessman who is involved in many illegal businesses in a disguise of real estate development. Yashvardhan has a son Ajay (Arjun Kapoor) who is his top crew member and leaves no evidence behind after a job is done. DCP Ravikanth (Rishi Kapoor) is well -versed with all the unlawful businesses of Yashvardhan. Ravikanth decides to know all the secrets of Yashvardhan's business. He along with his team, his nephew ACP Aarya (Prithviraj) and his son Senior Police Officer Dev (Sikander Kher) kidnaps Ajay. The Police detain Ajay and torture him so that he will spill out the beans about Yashvardhan's all the unlawful trades and his business partners. Police send Ajay's lookalike Vishal (Arjun Kapoor) to his place in a camouflage of Ajay to find out all the evidences against Yashvardhan. They want to know the clandestine of Yashvardhan's flooding black money.

Meanwhile Vishal and Ajay get shocked to know that they are twin brothers but got separated years ago. Now, the police take an undue advantage of these twin brothers for their own selfish ambitions of power and money.

Will the brothers unite for a good cause or will they get dominated by the injudicious diplomacy of the police?

Direction And Other Technical Aspects: The director Atul Sabharwal has taken an old spice to garnish his dish. He has taken an age old tried and tested concept of a double role. The story of Aurangzeb moves rapidly and leaves you stunned at some moments. But the director has presented the half baked dish with lots of garnishing which disappoints the audiences. Actually Atul has tried to show so many things simultaneously in a short span and created a mess. The first half is rapid and with lots of twists and turns. But the second half becomes lengthy and predictable. The climax is dragged to some extent. The story is excellent with impressive performances by all the actors but it is not that convincing. Seems like the director is armed with a killer story and excellent performances by the cast but Atul Sabharwal came with the mediocre presentation which is disappointing. Camerawork is fine. Editing by Niraj Voralia could have been better.

Performance: Rishi Kapoor who loves to do versatile roles has showed his excellence once again. He perfectly portrays the role of an ambitious cop. He is the one who steals all the attention of the audience with his stellar performance. His dialogue delivery is just awesome. Malayali star Prithviraj who previously could not earn success in 'Aiyyaa' gives a memorable and solid act. Other supporting cast Jackie Shroff, Sikander Kher and Amrita Singh also suit in their respective roles. Other ladies like Deepti Naval, Tanvi Azmi and Swara Bhaskar are shown in the limited roles but marked their on screen presence. Debutante Sasheh Aagha who plays Arjun Kapoor's girlfriend looks good but needs lots of grooming for acting and dialogue delivery. Anupam Kher's cameo is notable.

Finally our leading man Arjun Kapoor who gave an impressive performance in 'Ishaqzaade' gives a splendid performance in his double role. He lives up to the expectations. His face and eyes speak naturally. The young man is surely a dark horse in the race of Bollywood's finest actors. The Kapoor's lad surely has a bright future in the industry due to his mesmerizing and natural performance.

Music: The music director duo Vipin Mishra and Amartya Rahut have given a good music to the film. Specially 'Barbaadiyaan' is electrifying and 'Jigra- Fakira' is melodious. The background score also suits the storyline.

Final Verdict: 'Aurangzeb' is surely an entertainer. Watch it for thrilling story and the fabulous performance of Rishi Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor .