Directed by: Atul Sabharwal
Ratings: * * 1/2
Sometimes, The Poster of a film tells you the complete story of a film. The Tagline in Aurangzeb's poster says "Son", "Brother", "Successor", "Emperor". And the Tagline is given on Arjun Kapoor's body who also plays a Double Role in the film. So you get to know the suspense of the film automatically.
Aurangzeb also draws many inspirations from Indian films and Hollywood films as well. Don, Trishul, The Departed, The Devil's Double would be the right examples to name a few. The film's story is also not unheard. Way back in 80's and 90's, Film makers have attempted this story in various screenplays.
Yashvardhan (Jackie Shroff) is a real estate developer and his family in Gurgaon known for illegal works. Due to Yashvardhan's top crew member Ajay (Arjun Kapoor) who leaves no evidence after a job is done.
The head of Police Department Ravikant (Rishi Kapoor) discovers Vishal (Arjun Kapoor) who is a look alike of Ajay. The police department then captures Ajay and torture him and sends out Ajay's lookalike Vishal to Yashvardhan. Vishal joins the crew and becomes an informer, while Ajay is being tortured into snitching all of Yashvardhan's business secrets.
But the destiny has few dark secrets which are about to explode.
Jackie Shroff (After a long period of time) is a treat to watch on the big screen. He is very good as the Powerful and Scheming evil gangster. Rishi Kapoor is awesome as a no nonsense Police Officer for whom the "Duty" comes first. Arjun Kapoor rocks once again with his superb performance in both the roles. Prithviraj Sukumaran is very good as the cop who is quiet and calm and never loses his balance. Amrita Singh is amazing and powerful. Rest of the cast is equally good.
Atul Sabharwal who has directed and written the film as well shows his command and power over the film in the first half. The first half is full of twist and turns and surprises, But the second half goes totally wrong and haywire. It looks as the second half was made for the sake of just completing a film. As i pointed out in the beginning of the review, The film becomes very predictable in the second half where you start to feel you have seen this film before.
The camera work is very good and goes with the flow of the film. Production value is good as well being a film from Yash Raj Films banner, No compromise has been done here. The Editing required lots of cuttings. There are some unwanted scenes which doesn't have an explanation in the second hour.
Musically, The film is just okay and the songs will not appeal to the masses. The background score is good.
Aurangzeb is a film which gives you a feel of old wine in a new bottle, If you are still planning to see the film, Please don't keep any high expectations from the film. However, Aurangzeb stands out for actor's performances.