Movie Review - Nazar

Presenters: Mahesh Bhatt and Sevy Ali
Producer: Mukesh Bhatt (Vishesh Films)
Director: Soni Razdan
Cast: Meera, Ashmit Patel, Koel Purie and Vishwajeet Pradhan
Music: Anu Malik



Is there any need to point out that Bollywood has always been taking inspiration from Hollywood from the outset? 'Yes' - absolutely no need at all, as our own Bollywood does it with aplomb! Vishesh Films' latest outing, Nazar is an apt and fresh example of it. Bhatts' Nazar is an open inspiration drawn from a Hollywood flick Eyes of Laura Mars (featuring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones). No harm in taking inspirations from world's gigantic industry or from any corner of the globe. But doesn't it look better if the outcome is convincing on screen? Soni Razdan's directorial debut sinks in undoubtedly on lack of knowledge in terms of writing, as the narrative ruins the upshot on the canvas.

The movie does fetch the huge crowd to the cinema halls due to Pakistani actress Meera's presence on the show in a pivotal role (who makes her Bollywood debut with this project) and her controversial kissing sequences with her costar Ashmit Patel, which have been making news on the front pages of every publication in country and across the border. But within next some days, the impact will ebb away and the multiplexes soon turn out to be vacant when the gossips are churned out amongst the movie buffs that the film is mundane with a weak script (the film makers must learn it that a healthy script is the main ingredient for a delicious recipe to get the whopping number of audience in theaters and make them sit till the finale).

A stage show artiste Divya (Meera) lives an isolated life after the death of her parents. One night, she encounters an accident, which turns her life upturned. Suddenly she starts seeing visions of frightening murders. As the story progresses, she comes across Rohan (Ashmit Patel), who is a Special Investigating Officer handling the case of serial killings of bar dancers. His colleague (Koel Purie) refuses to accept Divya's whodunit story and calls it as illusion. But it is Rohan, who utterly believes in Divya and fastens his belts to solve this case. Amidst all happenings, both begin to love each other and this troubles Divya's doctor Tarun (Aly Khan), who openly admits his love feelings to her.

Neither does Nazar try to paste the cinegoers to their seats in the first half nor in second. The subject of killings and getting visions is not new to our Hindi audience but if the writers nonetheless thought of writing a film on it, they could have used their heads to make it unblemished. There are some flaws in the script i.e. Divya sees the victims, the locations of the murders and the weapons in murderer's hand but why doesn't she see the killer's face and why she gets to see it only in the climax? And the other major flaw is that the killer knows about Divya's visions right from the beginning but no step is taken by this killer to eliminate Divya and this work too (like Divya) is attempted in the end - why? Today's viewer is not a kid nor is it a kid's movie!


The movie aficionado concentrates very carefully on every single portion of the film. And remember, the present viewer has grown up with watching movies, so can watch the movie critically. The identity of the murderer does shock and comes up as a big surprise element but the reasons that prompt to do the killings are not believable at all. Although the movie is laced with few songs but they are melodious. Pointing the needle at their placement on the flow, many look forcibly put into the narrative especially the one that is a love song (the title track 'Mere Dil Mein Raho').

The debutante director Soni Razdan handles the direction with brilliance. Cinematography is effective and looks catchy in eerie scenes. Anu Malik's composition is mellow. The whole fare revolves around Pakistani actress Meera who does a fine job particularly in scary sequences but fades the acting segment in some frames also. Ashmit Patel is just about okay. Currently he is found focusing more on his looks than his acting prowess. Ashmit should know that it is acting that finally helps in staying - not the looks! Koel Purie does a meaty job. Aly Khan (the actor who fully takes advantage from his bigger eyes) dins in intelligently. Vishwajeet Pradhan, Neena Gupta and the rest of the cast is routine.

A ham-fisted script will certainly harm the movie's business at the box office. On the whole, Nazar is an ordinary show.