Wazir Reviews by Critics

Average critic ratings of other movies released in 2015

• Dilwale – 2.5 stars
• Bajirao Mastani – 3.2 stars
• Hate Story 3 – 1.7 stars
• Tamasha – 3 stars
• Prem Ratan Dhan Payo – 2.7 stars
• Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 – 2.6 stars
• Jazbaa – 2.6 stars
• Singh Is Bling – 2.3 stars
• Shaandaar – 2.2 stars
• Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon – 2.17 stars

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Wazir Review by Indicine

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Bejoy Nambiar seems to have foregone his visualistic style for an easier narrative that has been shot well. Wazir is a short thriller (runtime of 1 hour 42 minutes) which has some of the finest story building for any thriller in Bollywood but eventually comes short as it teethers towards the end. The revelations and the twists don’t leave the sort of impact that they could have. Eventually, it feels like an anti-climax as the buildup promised a modern classic. One major problem with Wazir is that it acts the way we expect it to work. It doesn’t surprise. And that coming from Bejoy Nambiar in itself a huge surprise! Wazir ends up as a disjointed failed enterprise.

Wazir Review by Bollywood Hungama

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Director Bejoy Nambiar, whose last film as a director was the action-thriller DAVID, returns to the silver screen with his latest flick WAZIR. The sad part is that the film falls flat, courtesy, the poor and aimless direction. Like his earlier film DAVID, WAZIR too falls under the category of ‘high on style, zero on substance’. WAZIR, which starts off on a promising note, starts losing its steam as the film progresses, because of too many dull moments in the film. The film suffers big time from the lack of able direction, unconvincing plot and for the want of a good and flawless screenplay. The film’s script is so convoluted that it leaves the viewers with more questions, rather than giving out answers! What one fails to understand is that how can the director afford to do many senseless things in the name of ‘cinematic liberties’. How can he explain the fact that, despite Farhan Akhtar being suspended from police service, he still carries a fully loaded gun and can ‘call for action’ as and when required and many such instances. All in all, WAZIR is a perfect example of a good concept gone wrong… terribly wrong.

Wazir Review by Shubha Shetty-Saha on Mid-Day India

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Like most of Bejoy Nambiar’s movies, this one’s quite stylish too. Fortunately, Bejoy concentrates on dramatic presentations of realistic scenes. What works against the film, however, is loads of groan worthy cliches, predictable storyline and worst of all, it also suffers from the common woe of most Bollywood thrillers; lack of subtlety. There is nothing left to audience’s imagination as the director goes about painstakingly explaining every move, every turn of the story. ‘Wazir’ is a good, one time watch.

Wazir Review by Srijana Mitra Das on The Times Of India

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It’s a pity because Wazir’s lead performances, its glassy cinematography, its haunting sound design, work well. What this game needed was more attack, less defence, less repetition, more relentlessness.

Wazir Review by Sreeju Sudhakaran on Bollywood Life

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First things first…the best aspect about the film are the terrific performances by the lead actors. Both Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan are stellar in their roles. Big B is brilliant in the scene where he reminisces about his dead wife, and also in the final scene. Farhan provides perfect foil to his senior costar, and he brings various nuances to his anguished performance. The film is watchable because of these two actors. Aditi Rao Hydari lets her eyes speak a lot, though she is saddled by a weak role. The first half has some tense moments, leading to the introduction of the mysterious Wazir (played by Neil Nitin Mukesh). Though they appear rather frequently and sometimes forced, the songs are pleasant to hear.

Wazir Review by Raja Sen on Rediff

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Wazir’s problem, then, lies not in the fact that it does what is expected from a thriller; the problem is that it does everything expected — which makes it a film that surprises little and adds up to nothing of consequence. The film is about a tough, reckless cop and a grizzled chess instructor bound together by tragedy, and as they become friends, they resolve to brave the storm clouds together.

Review by Shubhra Gupta on Indian Express

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There’s enough to watch in ‘Wazir’ despite its flaws. It reaffirms something we’ve always known: that there’s nothing to beat a plot-driven film (co-written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi). That the supreme importance in a thriller is to keep it going. And that strong performances are the pivot of any film: watching Akhtar and Bachchan joust and manoeuver around each other is this film’s high point.

Review by Kusumita Das on Deccan Chronicle

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A story that uses chess quite literally as a game and as a metaphor, we’d have loved to see it check-mate us. We’d have loved to lose to the storyteller and have all our guesses proved wrong by the time the end credits rolled. But sadly, this game leaves a lot to be desired.

Review by Lokesh Dharmani on Masala

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Bejoy’s films are shot very well. Sanu Varghese’s lens creates some beautiful frames shot mostly in dark, complementing the grim theme of the film. Overall, despite Amitabh’s gyan on pyar, ishq, mohabbat, despite him going overboard with his analogies between life and shatranj, the film doesn’t give you much insight into anything. It’s an emotional thriller with an ending that you can see from a mile yet is impactful. Watch it once. It won’t hurt.

Review by Manjusha Radhakrishnan on Gulfnews

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Actor Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a crippled chess champion in Wazir, declares towards the end that chess is a sport where the tool at a player’s disposal is their mind. I wish the team behind this thriller had put that theory in practice while creating it. Mind you, Wazir isn’t a terrible film. It may even mildly entertain you, but when you have accomplished actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and unorthodox young director Bejoy Nambiar, you expect fireworks from their collective moves.

Review by Jaidev Hemmady on Movietalkies

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Bejoy Nambiar liberally uses chess metaphors and we must say that the way the story unfolds is quite impressive, though at times, the director seems confused about whether he is making a thriller or a drama, because the plot does drag at times and one keeps waiting for the thrills as promised in the trailer. Also, the script does thumb its nose at logic at times (At one point of time, Danish gets suspended from duty but he still seems to have the entire police machinery at his disposal as and when he wants it, for example.)

Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror

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Director Bejoy Nambiar impressed with his aesthetic thriller Shaitan (2011), even though his David (2013) slipped through the cracks. But here, while the story would’ve seemed layered and full of twists in narration, what appears on the screen doesn’t relay the necessary thrill. What could be blamed for this is the insufficient screen time and writing invested in portraying the budding friendship between Panditji and Danish, for the forthcoming story to be believable.

Review by Manisha Lakhe on Nowrunning

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Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham have a scene each and you wonder why they are even in the film. Vidhu Vinod Chopra who is happy to take credit for the original story, should have been merciless when writing the script which goes on and on in the second half explaining itself. Sometimes it is smarter to let the audience use its brains.

Review by Martin D’Souza on Glamsham

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Farhan Akhtar outshines every other character with his taut body language and a performance that hits the high notes as suddenly as it drops to create that soothing melody on a saxophone. He lives and breathes Danish and is not able to shrug off the loss of his daughter. Everything he does is seen through this haze of his grief. Amitabh Bachchan as Panditji is good, but there is something missing in his performance that makes it brilliant. That fire of AGNEEPATH or that zeal of CHEENI KUM was needed in Panditji. Nevertheless, he engages the viewer with his moves. Both he and Farhan create some memorable on-screen scenes.

Review by Saibal Chatterjee on NDTVMovies

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The first half of Wazir is relatively captivating as the stage is set for the business end of the tale. However, post-interval, the film loses steam because it degenerates into a straightforward story of vengeance.

Review by Pallavi Patra on Zeenews

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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.

Review by Sweta Kaushal on Hindustan Times

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The film’s most interesting part lies in the fact that it is a revenge drama but the protagonists are not angry. They are cold-blooded in their devious planning and perfect implementation. In a remarkable deviation from the typical Bollywood style, Wazir’s characters do not delve into the sadistic pleasure of avenging a wrong but concentrate on the final target. Despite the smaller flaws and the slightly botched up ending, the film is definitely worth a watch.

Review by Ananya Bhattacharya on India Today

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Till the interval, Wazir makes it difficult for a person to breathe. The taut, gripping narrative has people on the edge of the seat, quite literally. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi’s screenplay is tight while the twists are being placed on the viewer’s way. It is in the second half that Wazir stumbles. There is a sense of haste in the way the film progresses, in the way Wazir falls into the predictability trap. One can unravel the knots before the film in front of him or her can. And that is a major problem for the otherwise-decent Wazir.

Review by Sonia Chopra on Sify

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Director Bejoy Nambiar (Shaitan, David) gives us an emotional, suspenseful film that mirrors the game of chess; however there are too many improbabilities to make this hit home. And that includes a sudden cameo by John Abraham who pops in just to assist our characters. In keeping with the spirit of the film, one could say this could’ve been a winning game, but let down by a few faulty moves. Well-played, still, for the Amitabh-Farhan pairing.

Review by Rajeev Masand on IBNLive

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Still, to be fair, the film doesn’t completely derail because Nambiar stages thrilling action sequences, and because the commitment of his leading men never flounders even when the script does. Bachchan is exceptional as the weathered senior, his eyes hiding a repository of grief and pain. And Akhtar, although saddled with a one-note part, brings unmistakable sincerity, his anguish palpable every time he’s on screen. Manav Kaul is very good as the inscrutable minister, and Aditi Rao Hydari leaves an impression as the fragile wife and mother struggling to cope. Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham appear in small cameos but neither is particularly memorable as a result of their carelessly etched parts. In the end Wazir is moody and atmospheric, and gripping for a large part. What it needed was a tighter script with fewer holes.

Wazir Review by DNA India

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Worth one visit for sure for AB Sr’s superlative acting and some ceetee-worthy dialogue (why don’t we write like this anymore?). As a thrilling drama, it has some bite, but as a suspenseful tale, it lacks teeth.

Wazir Review by Indiaglitz

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The intriguing chess and dance parts are nicely shot and keep will keep you interested. But to out bad luck, the above is the only good part about the film. Bejoy’s direction, the script and the screenplay nothing is worth mentioning. Being a thriller, there are no scenes where we could expect some suspense coming our way. The movie is predictable and does not manage to create the curiosity needed. The emotional sequences are mushy and extremely over the top. They come at a point where the whole plot seems to falls flat and the story become boring. A few action scenes and a few twists here and there are worth a mention. The first half is fast paced and maintains a story line, but has too many songs, and the second half is mere bewilderment. The sequences of chess and dance are interesting. In all, ‘Wazir’ is one game of chess, which will bore you to the core. However, it is only the players that make us sit through the course.

Review by Rima Bhatia on Bollyspice

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Closing remarks – Nambiar has done reasonably well with his third film. Wazir keeps your attention for the full hour and forty minute run time. Yes, the film has flaws. Every film has them it is just whether you can digest the number of flaws that are there. Would I recommend this film? Yes – but purely for the performances given by Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar.

Review by Meeta on Wogma

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That leaves us with a thriller in which can tell two of the main twists from a mile away and are willing to forgive the writing because of the performances. Until the revelations come in the worst form possible. Even so, for those of us who couldn’t guess the twist, Wazir might be well worth the watch.