‘Aurangzeb’ review: Brings alive a real estate saga

Gayatri Sankar

It must have indeed been a task for filmmaker Atul Sabharwal to bring alive a real estate saga, enveloped with corruption and the greed for power, on celluloid. A Yash Raj Films’ production, ‘Aurangzeb’ is one film that throws light on the dark underbelly of the National Capital Region that is popular for being notoriously powerful and rich. ‘Aurangzeb’ gives a fictitious visual reference to how humanity could be put to shame for wealth and power. ACP Arya (Prithhviraj Sukumaran) belongs to a family of police officers and has great respect for his paternal uncle Ravikant (Rishi Kapoor), who had raised him as his own son. Ravikant has a loving family- son Dev (Sikander), also a police officer, his wife (Deepti Naval) and a daughter who is also married to a policeman. Arya seeks Ravikant’s help to remove the blot on the image of his late father (Anupam Kher), which he had suffered following an encounter. Before dying, Arya’s father informs him about his second wife and son Vishal (Arjun Kapoor). Arya is deeply influenced by his father’s belief - Sapnon se apne bade hote hain… (Our loved ones are dearer than dreams). And hence sets out on a mission along with his uncle Ravikant to give justice to his step-mother Veera (Tanvi Azmi) and brother Vishal. With this, the story picks up pace. Yashwardhan (Jackie Shroff) is a gangster who runs a huge real estate business in the region and has an affair with Neena (Amrita Singh), who is also his accomplice. His son Ajay (Arjun Kapoor) is a spoilt brat who has seen nothing but wealth in his life and seldom understands human emotions. Sasheh Agha is in love with Ajay and hence doesn’t complain of his brash attitude. So how these two tracks coincide is for you to watch, but here’s digging into the performances that will leave you spellbound right from the start to the end. After a rather unimpressive start to his Bollywood inning in ‘Aiyya’, Prithviraj has been able to bounce back with élan. The Malayalee actor has an awesome Hindi and all that a hero ought to have in order to rank among the elite league. With this film, Prithviraj has indeed announced his arrival loud and clear. Arjun Kapoor in his dual roles as Vishal and Ajay has done a commendable job. Grey-shade characters look tailor-made for this young actor and this new kid has a long way to go. After playing the treacherous Rauf Lala in ‘Agneepath’, veteran Rishi Kapoor here comes across as an actor par excellence who can still carry the fate of a film on his shoulders. Welcome back Jackie Shroff and Amrita Singh- is the word! The two actors have pulled off fine performances. Sikander too will leave you mighty impressed and wondering as to why he is underused in Hindi cinema. Sasheh Agha is bold in the film but will need meaty roles henceforth to prove her acting prowess. Coming to direction, Sabharwal does go weak and faulty in certain areas, but his efforts are indeed worth applause. It is never easy to fictionalise tales of corruption and gangsters on the silver screen. The dialogues are apt and have the right amount of punch that is required. The film keeps you intrigued until the very end, but the climax does give a fair idea about what would draw the curtains down. Nonetheless, the ensemble cast will lift the credibility of the film even higher with its performance. ‘Aurangzeb’ is a film worth a watch for all its complexities!