Aamir: A Missed Opportunity
Aniruddha Basu reviews Rajeev Khandelwal’s debut film Aamir (2008)
Aamir (2008)
The movie tells the story of a London-returned doctor Aamir (TV actor Rajeev Khandelwal in his film debut) who finds his entire family missing once he reaches Mumbai. What he gets is a cellphone with a voice at the other end giving him a series of baffling instructions that takes him right into Mumbai’s heart of darkness.
Given the rave reviews that Aamir received it is easy to believe that the film is a groundbreaking effort. Not really. In fact it is a mostly serviceable thriller that eventually bites off more than it can chew. Debutant director Raj Kumar Gupta has created a Mumbai that is compelling and easy to recognize, but populated it with characters who behave so abnormally that they possibly cannot exist outside the four walls of a movie screen. In fact, with the exception of the villain, ( a fundamentalist who, over phone conversations, tries to “reason” with our hero into becoming a jihadi), almost all the other major characters are either unnatural or simply unbelievable.
Consider the prostitute whom Aamir meets in a downtown hotel. Her hysterics here seem to be right out of a Ramsey production! Or the owner of the hotel, who keeps a deadpan face throughout a lame joke and then bursts into laughter for no apparent reason (is this supposed to be funny, or menacing?). Or most importantly Aamir himself who behaves childishly at times imploring the voice at the other end with such lines as “Mujhe abhi ghar jana hai”! And everybody whom Aamir meets seems to be looking at him with suspicion, distrust and menace. (And I mean literally everybody.)
Director Raj Kumar Gupta then makes the mistake of overemphasizing obvious moments with loud, overdone music and dramatic reactions. And though the central conceit of the movie is interesting, the proceedings become increasingly repetitive, as essentially the entire film is a cellphone conversation between our average hero and the fundamentalist.
Matters are not helped by Khandelwals’ performance as the hapless leading man. While looking just right for the part, as a sophisticated liberal Muslim, who becomes a stranger in his own city, the actor mostly wears a pained and confused expression on his face, making his performance strangely one note. It’s a dream debut role, considering the kind of romantic trash that other new comers seem to be doing, and Khandelwal tries hard, but does not succeed completely.
But the biggest issue with the movie is the climax. While there is a wholly unexpected twist involving a briefcase, Aamir’s decision at the end is not only baffling, but absurd and unbelievable. Without giving away spoilers lets just say that Aamir could have found half-a-dozen more practical ways to diffuse the crisis at the end, but that would not have had the same dramatic impact perhaps. The final 10 minutes is unnecessarily protracted and sentimentalized, leading to a climax which doesn’t ring true and does not make sense.
Having said that, one must applaud the director for showcasing what many would term the “real” Mumbai, a city of grime, slime and filth. A town so unforgiving that even city veterans have a hard time here, leave alone a hapless Aamir who cannot even navigate through the town by himself. Also commendable is Gajraj Rao as the manipulative extremist. He delivers a mix of menace and normalcy and it’s a potent combination, one that serves to make the character flesh and blood and not merely a symbol. And despite plot-repetitions there are a few moments of genuine tension between the two lead characters.
Aamir is not a complete washout. It’s an interesting effort that deals with a plausible and frightening premise. But Aamir will probably go down as a missed opportunity, given that the treatment does not match up to the film’s powerful premise.
My Rating: 
(8 votes, average: 3.13 out of 5)
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Aamir is a commendable effort by Rajkumar Gupta. The film is gripping, however, one can’t ignore the obvious loosened directorial grip running through the potential powerful moments.
Aniruddha, I think, your review is also a response to the reviewers who have talked about the film only in superlatives. I don’t know about these critics, but I found the film interesting. Yes, but as you put it, premise is more interesting than the film.
well….aamir is the perfect classy movie one could xpect to be the debut of such an awesm actor Rajeev.he did a commendable job n has proved the fact wrng,dat no 1 4m tv cud mak it big……i dnt care abt others….but ill gv it a 5 on 5…..love u rajeev…….
n i really mean dis……n d movie s jus 2 gr8 to b describd in wrdz…..no 1 cud hav neva xpectd….dat mumbai had sch dark side…..n dat s 2 shwn in an awesm way…….luv u rajeev, 3 cheers 2 u….ol d bst 4 ur future carrier..as i kno….u wud nw b flodded wit film projects…..n datz 4 sure….nm gonna watch ur next movie ,fst day fst shw…
‘Aamir’ is not bad at all. Craft-wise, the film is mostly bang-on - the sound and music design, the edit, the cinematography, the shot-taking, most of the performances - except maybe for the prostitute (played by Jhilmil), I didn’t find anybody else sticking out like a sore thumb. I also didn’t mind the often over-exaggerated background score - it works, I think. The opening Peggy Lee track is a steal. Using a jazz track to begin the film is a counter-point well used, I think.
It is obvious and apparent that Mumbai is a city that topples on its own filth but relentlessly moves on, to anybody who lives or has lived in this city for any given length of time - even if one doesn’t have to walk into a filthy toilet like Aamir Ali does.
The problem with the film is that thematically it is too simplistic and, while you are taken in by the grit of the visuals and the tactile nature of the way they have been cut and put together, by the time it is over and you are much stirred, you are also much disappointed that complexities of characters have just been tossed out. The premise is strong but the characters are mostly one-dimensional and the situations mostly functional. The layers are so apparently missing. Which is a pity!!…
Exactly Arindam. The situations simply carry the plot forward, and to that end they are not totally credible. Especially the ending, which sacrifices credibility for sentimental impact. And this is enough to make Aamir a flawed but well intentioned film. But yes, the music score is astonishingly good as is the innovative camera.
Good review Aniruddha!! I also feel that critics are deciding too much for the movie goers… the kind of superlative reviews they’ve given to AAMIR are questionable. No doubt the premise of AAMIR was excellent but premise or a nice idea itself can’t hold you for two hours. The film falters at the characterisations… as you said the characters are unbelievable. None of them(actually none of them…) behaves normally. Rajiv Khandelwal though delivers a decent performance but a better actor would have taken this role to another level.
And ya the positive point which you’ve forgot to mention…music. I loved the Qawwali MEHFOOZ…
But overall,AAMIR is a brave effort…
I found your review to be rather unrealistic. To begin with, I found not even one character to be unreal to the extent to which you mention. Whether it is the prostitute or the hotel owner, all characters were presented in a very balanced manner. None of the so called hysterics of the prostitute seem overdone or hammed or out of sync with the story. What is wrong with Aamir imploring the fellow at the other end? Given the circumstances he faces, he is bound to display a mix of reactions ranging from desperate requests to hysteric demands for freedom. I wonder where the repetitiveness in the movie was - it was just about 2 hour long. The background music significantly added to its overall impact. It was quite different from the usual library of tunes that are used over and over again in many of our films. Rajeev Khandelwal’s performance is very balanced (someone else might have gone on a hamming spree) and restrained. He fits perfectly into the character. The overall plot is excellent and the surprise element toward the last 15 minutes (just when one might have begun thinking that his ordeal may soon end) is the highlight of the movie. Also, I seriously wonder what other reaction from him would have been a more appropriate choice. Especially given that he had just 3 minutes to decide his fate and that too after a long day full of physical and mental torture? Should he just have disembarked the bus and run away? Don’t you think that he understood his escape would have only been temporary (once you cross that line, you can never return!)? Had he chosen to leave the suitcase on the road and run away, he knew that his family members would meet their end anyways and even his own escape would only be temporary. Could he have called the police? But he had just 3 minutes! And no phone to make a call with. And there was no escape for his family either. What part of this climax lacked credibility, I wonder.
Great Review!! I was terribly disappointed with the pointlessness of the film and the corresponding rave reviews. It seemed as if UTV had bought the whole bunch!! The basic premise is so awry its not funny. If you lift a film minus the core then what you get is a hollow version.. WHY did the terrorists select AAMIR?? if it was just a matter of planting a red suitcase what was the big chase about. they could have asked any of those 720 people he meets en route to do it..
Much Ado about NOTHING!!
Again..great review!!
Harsh,
“WHY did the terrorists select AAMIR?? if it was just a matter of planting a red suitcase what was the big chase about. they could have asked any of those 720 people he meets en route to do it..”
They may have wanted to have the suitcase planted in there without leaving behind proof that their organization was responsible for it. So they decided to entangle some common man into committing this act, by employing a whole series of clever pressure tactics. And getting this job done could have only been their short-term goal. Their ultimate aim might have been to persuade (or even entangle) a well-educated, decent common man like Aamir to actually subscribe to the extremist beliefs of their organization, or eventually become part of it.
“Great Review!! I was terribly disappointed with the pointlessness of the film and the corresponding rave reviews. It seemed as if UTV had bought the whole bunch!!”
I am not sure there is enough evidence to reach this kind of a conclusion. Attributing motives to people who hold opposite views isn’t the best thing to do.
Ajit,
What I had meant was the climax was simply not plausible. The most obvious impulse even in the split 3 minutes would have been to inform everybody in the bus that there is a bomb. Naturally the bus would have been vacated and at least no human lives (including Amir’s) would have been lost. Yes he may have lost his family. But then he would have been alive with a fighting chance to get at the villian.
As regards the prostitute and the hotel caretaker, in my opinion their performances were somewhat overdone (or maybe it was just bad acting). And as regards Khandelwal himself, well he has had a good begining and is definitely notches over many of these star kids. All he needs is range and I am sure that will come with time. He was defeated at times by the script where the dialogues and interactions with the fundamentalist got repetitive at times, making his performance seem slightly one note.
Harsh,
Yes it is unfortunate that most of the Indian critics tend to mimic each other. Praising Amir as a novelty is fine, but at least acknowledge its shortcomings! I have not yet seen the Korean film from which Amir is inspired, but what I heard is that that film explores the relationship between hero and villian more thoroughly.
I meant the Phillipino fim from which Amir is inspired, not Korean
I agree with Ajit upthread that the ending is not as implausible as you make it sound. Even if we assume that he could have informed the bus passengers, had the bomb defused, and called the cops - what sort of a future do you visualize for him? Do you think the cops would buy the weird story of being forced to do this? Where was the proof? He would have been labelled a terrorist and subjected to police torture of the kind subjected to the suspects after Black Friday. And he would have had to live with having killed his entire family. I saw his little smile in the end, when he looked at the thugs on the bike as saying that this was his deterministic step - that he was making his own kismat, which is why the villian looks shattered in the end - having failed in his objective of grinding Aamir down