Wazir the movie. Review on Wazir

In its 1 hour and 40 minutes of playing-time, Wazir gives us no time to stop and ruminate. The pace, though frenetic, never lacks in grace. Director Bejoy Nambiar, whose two films Shaitaan andDavid, are among my favourites in recent years, is a master of the craft. His visual aesthetics are completely affiliated to the characters' innerspace. Since neither Mr Bachchan nor Farhan's characters have much to celebrate or feel happy about, the film is shot, by cinematographer Sanu Verghese, in dark brooding shades that suggest a tragic malfunction in the way God and politics work in our country.

The spot of sunshine in the otherwise dark and mood-drenched Wazir is Aditi Rao Hydari, who glows on the screen every time she appears. But this is not her film. The narrative remains fiercely focused and fastened on the Bachchan-Akhtar equation creating through their characters a cruel game to death that destiny plays on the most undeserving. Mr Bachchan's grieving character humours himself to stay alive. He is Anand, from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film, 40 years too late.