Wazir movie review: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar steal the gripping show!

New Delhi: Here's the first biggest release of 2016 – Bejoy Nambiar's directed emotional thriller 'Wazir'.

There are a few movies which manage to handle two extreme emotions at a time, fewer yet, movies that showcase almost impeccably, how one extreme tangent of emotion can make you overcome the other.

'Wazir' entails a similar tale – a tale of loss and victory. 

ATS officer Danish Ali (Farhan Akhtar) begins this story of vengeance with a blissful married life to wife Ruhana (Aditi Rao Hydary) and a daughter. When the daughter gets killed due to father's irresponsibility, we see the story taking a swift twist full of guilt and revenge.

The plot written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra is outstanding, matching this exquisite quality of the film is the top-notch performance by ace actors Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Manav Kaul. Although there are a few other stars – John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukhesh and Aditi Rao Hydary who appear only fleetingly.

You witness the winning aspect of the film when you watch the two major protagonists coming face to face, mingling in their little yet meaningful conversations, indulging in their chess-game strewn camaraderie. The two grip you with taut and intense exchanges, which show you the semblance the game of chess has with this movie, after all. Like the game of chess, life too, is about making the right moves, and like Panditji (Amitabh Bachchan) reminds Danish in one of the scenes, although there is a chance of undoing a wrong move in chess, life unfortunately, doesn't bestow us with this golden gift.

So Panditji (Amitabh Bachchan) and Danish meet and begin their chase for justice. They realize soon enough that although they differ a lot in their lives and age – they share a common grief – the pain of losing a dear one. After last year's constipated Amitabh in 'Piku', Panditji is equally commendable. He is intelligent and pained at the same time. And it is this ache of life, this revenge-driven approach of the two – that makes up for the rest of the story. Manav Kaul who plays the role of wicked politician is impressive here, and deserves a mention.

The script is slow, but considering the running time of the film, it never makes you feel tired. For a movie with such a tight script, thanks to Vinod, and soulful music by Shantanu Moitra, Ankit Tiwari, Prashant Pillai, Rochak Kohli, Gaurav Godkhindi and Advaita, movie barely puts you off in the entire run time.

Nambiar impresses us after 'Shaitan' and 'David' – although a few fight sequences could have been more unique and luscious to the eyes. The first movie of 2016 is here – watch if you like chess, Amitabh and Farhan – and ready to ignore the obvious, yet minor cinematic pitfalls.