2016 kicks off with a tale of intelligent revenge and redemption featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Aktar in leading roles with Aditi Rao Hydari, Manav Kaul, Nasirr Khan, Murli Sharma and a special appearance by actors, John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. There’s a general rule chess, which states ‘If you find a good move, look for a better one’. Roughly based on this thought, the film’s screenplay takes the viewers through a range of emotions in the film.
Danish Ali (Farhan Akhtar) is a police officer who is grieving his daughter Noorie’s death after she gets shot in a gun-fire exchange between him and some terrorists. Burdened with the guilt, Danish even contemplates suicide. His wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydari) too blames him for losing their daughter and distances herself from him.
Due to his recklessness as a father and police officer, Danish is suspended for a span. In the interim, he meets a thought-provoking personality; former chess master Omkarnath/Panditji (Amitabh Bachchan). He is a wheel-chair bound Chess champ who has lost the game of his life. Panditji’s wife is killed in an accident where he loses his legs but his fate gives him a bigger jerk when his young daughter Nina dies a mysterious death.
Panditji soon approaches Danish to look into his daughter’s death case. She is claimed to have died after falling from the staircase at Welfare Minister Izaad Qureshi’s residence. Panditji suspects that it is a murder and soon Danish journeys onto this investigation. During this investigation, Panditji is attacked by a shadowy man named Wazir. The rest of the story unravels Nina’s mysterious death and uncovers who is Wazir.
Two talented people Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi work on the script of this film yet it is mediocre and very predictable and the basic plot of Wazir is actually quite interesting but lack of careful detailing ruins the ability to let the story grip you as viewer.
Farhan Akhtar as Danish, he does a vivid job. He splendidly emotes being broken down and suicidal to being so driven by friendship that he can even kill for it. Akhtar delivers a brilliant performance. Amitabh Bachchan as Pandit Omkarnath does a phenomenal job. His fellowship with Farhan looks natural and they make up for some of the best scenes in the film. His dialogue delivery impresses us the most – after all he is the best!
Aditi Rao Hydari has a small role in this story and she is expressive enough in the scenes that require her to emote as a grieving mother. Manav Kaul who plays the character of the welfare minister fits the bill perfectly. He is an actor one can count on even in a smaller screen presence. Neil Nitin Mukesh scares you with his evil antics. He does not have much screen time but the scenes that he features in are fairly remarkable. John Abraham is completely wasted in the film with a character that has no detailing. His cameo hardly makes a difference to the story.
In a film like this, where the story plot is the mainstay, there is hardly any space for music but subtly introduces music into a heavily story based film. The music makes no impact but works within the story. Wazir is well neatly edited but the story isn’t strong enough to make a lasting impact till the climax. WAZIR boasts great performances and a fresh concept.
Rating: 6/10 | 3 Stars
