Aamir movie review. Review on Aamir

This genre(thriller) is my favourite genre, but few thrillers havemanaged to thrill me the way Aamir did. There was no hype surroundingthis film but it’s doing well even 10 days after its release. Thecinema hall was packed when we saw it on Sunday, and we had to buytickets in the fifth row from the from the screen. I haven’t seen sucha rush even for big budget films in recent times and this is alow-budget film(made injust Rs 5 crore but some say half the amount and director says budgetwas Rs 20 million.) It has a first time director(RajKumar Gupta), afirst time leading man(Rajeev Khandelwal, TV Star) as well as a firsttime cinematographer(Alphonse Roy) and a first time music director(Amit Trivedi). All brilliant.

There have been accusations that the film has been inspired by theFilipino film Cavite, but well, I don’t know as I haven’t seen Cavite.All I know is that this film was shot entirely in Mumbai and tackledissues that concern us in India.

*The treatment*

The movie reminds one of Satya ina way…because of the realism and the shooting technique employed in thefilm. The camera moves freely(hand-held) and we get to see everythingfrom almost every angle and the movement is smooth. The zooming in(close-ups) technique is used here too, like in Sarkar Raj, but the difference is immense. In Sarkar Raj it was clumsily done butin Aamir, the camera moves skillfully from close-up to long shot. Themix and match is just right…there is no doubt whatsoever that thecinematography is a work of art. Even if the story was inspired byCavite, this kind of cinematographic work is not possible to copy…itrequires great talent which Alphonse Roy has in plenty. Most of theshooting takes place outdoors(like in Satya), the camera capturinglife as it actually is…or perhaps one should say it captures the waylife moves. The editing(Aarti Bajaj) is tight but doesn’ttake away from the clarity…it’s just enough to keep the viewer on theedge of his seat.

The movie is shot mostly on the streets of Mumbai. The bystandersand “extras” seem like real people, as if the director has picked uppeople from the streets and hired them to do bit roles.

*The subject*

This movie is serious, fast-paced, and it is centered around the coreissue of terrorism. Aamir means “leader” and this takes on significanceas Amir proclaims that he is not a leader, nota hero, but an ordinary man who wants to live his life. A man who wantsto be left alone. But the end tells us that Aamir is no ordinaryman…that he is indeed a hero.

*The actors*

The movie belongs to Rajeev Khandelwal…all others are bit characters, mostly the villains. There is no romance and no leading lady.Khandelwal acts well, and even more important, his “look” is just rightfor the film. As for the look of the other characters - it wasabsolutely brilliant! It was as if the director actually took realpeople to act in his film.

*The story(no spoilers)

*The movie tells a story of the hunted and the hunters. Thedirector has handled the subject(terrorism) with great sensitivity andI thought with wonderful objectivity.

The film, which tells of the happenings of just one day, is entirelyfrom the point of view of the central character in the film - young Dr.Amir Ali(played by Rajeev Khandelwal). This creates the suspense. Wehave no idea why strange things are happening to Amir, why he is beingtargeted…after all he is just an ordinary middleclass person, althougha bright one. He has come up in life by getting scholarships andworking hard…and the story begins when he returns to India after astint in London. He wants to come back because he has a family…threesisters, a younger brother and mother waiting at home in Mumbai.

Amir is a Muslim and right at the start we are shown how Muslimsface discrimination at the airport checking counters. It annoys theyoung, fresh-faced Amir but well, this isn’t what the movie is about.It is not petty officials who will worry Amir….but people from his owncommunity.

The director wastes no time in getting on with the story. As soon asAamir steps out of the airport the drama starts and the pace doesn’tfalter for a minute! It is a roller coaster ride for the viewer…rightfrom the time when hapless Amir watches a motor-cycle zoom towards himand throw a cell-phone into his hands!

There is the slight question of the bright red brief-case and why it should be bright red…but I think that was symbolic.

*The locale*

The story takes place in the poor areas of Mumbai, Muslim dominated.Everything is shown just the way it is…we see it all unfold in darkalleys and filthy lanes, in overflowing gutters and smelly godowns, instifling rooms and over-flowing toilets, in the eyes of Amir and in theeyes of innocent children. There is so much realism that we can smellthe garbage on the streets and taste the oily chicken curry.

*Overview*

If you haven’t seen this movie, don’t miss it. Unless you don’t likethrillers or dark movies. But this isn’t really a dark movie, in thesense that it’s shot in broad daylight. And the music is good, but no singing. Just theme songs.