Aggar Movie Reviews

Some spice of BAAZIGAR, a touch of DARR, some flavor of MURDER, the aroma of DEEWANGEE and the topping of AKSAR - and lo, you have got a rather enjoyable dish of AGGAR ready to be served hot. Film maker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan had all this while promised that this film, second in the trilogy of his dramatic-thrillers, would be yet another entertaining product after AKSAR. He was right.

If there is one person who is going to benefit most from the film, it is going to be Shreyas Talpade. It is just unbelievable to see a teenager IQBAL(2005) graduating to a 30 plus psychiatrist in AGGAR with such remarkable ease. From his mature look to his formal clothing to his walk to his body language to his mannerisms to his facial expressions and especially his dialogue delivery - everything just turns out to be perfect for Shreyas.

It is just a perfect portrayal. Period. He uses his middle class guy next door looks to his advantage and knocks hard and strong at the doors of everyone who wishes to rope in an actor who is a game for a challenging/complex role.

It is with relative ease that Shreyas plays a rather complex role of a man who is considered to be a God when it comes to curing mentally disturbed patients. One such patient whom for whom he takes it upon himself to cure is Tusshar Kapoor who is accused of killing his girl friend [Sophie Chaudhary]. Someone who doesn't talk business at home, Shreyas has a glamorous wife [Udita Goswami], an owner of an event management company.

She plays the part of a woman who is forever tense. Tense because of her high stress work, lack of time from her husband, his unwillingness to discuss his work and a suspected infidelity. A chance encounter brings her closer to Tusshar and between themselves they find true love.

No, before you start thinking this AGGAR is an adulterous extra-marital drama, let me forewarn you that it is not. This angle is just one of the threads in this twisted plot that borrows the complexity of Hitchcockian thrillers. No, the film may not have the finesse of what one saw of Hitchcock but Mahadevan makes up for it with his sound story telling.

The film never looses sight of the plot in it's two hours duration; well almost. As mentioned above, the film starts off on a very positive note and stays on like that for around 30 minutes while establishing character graph. Without getting into unnecessary terrain for all this duration, there is a slight dip for a few minutes before things perk up again with Shreyas' revelation to Udita and her subsequent guilt pangs.

Moments after the interval do tend to get a little predictable (for a while) but dramatic handling of the subject keeps the interest leve on. What is unpardonable though is to see the best song of the film (Ke Bin Tere Jeena Nahi) coming at the most unwanted stage of the film. Just when you thought that the thriller element is at it's peak, the song takes the film's graph down.

There is a further dip when Shreyas and Udita decide (rather tamely) to begin a new life together but the re-introduction of Tusshar's character perks up the situation. Nauheed Cyrusi's entry into the plot only thickens it further from which the film only moves up with secrets coming out and skeletons tumbling out of the closet. Yes, there is a strong deja vu of the some of the films as mentioned at the beginning but Mahadevan's handling of scenes and fast pace of the film gives you a 'masala' entertainer to feast on.

After Shreyas, the actor who impresses most is Udita Goswami. As someone who handles her dramatic role without letting it go over the top even once, she looks glamorous rather than just being a recipe for lust. As an owner of a corporate firm, she sinks her teeth well into the character. Notable are her scenes during a well executed 'truth and dare' game with Tusshar, her anxiety around the interval and subsequent irritation with Tusshar.

For someone who looses his love to similar circumstances not just once but twice, Tusshar is decent. Though he is a little patchy when it comes to romantic moments, his best is reserved for the dramatic moments. Watch out for him when he becomes revengeful! Sophie is barely there for a couple of scenes, though she does justice to her part. One wishes there was more of her though. Comparatively, even Nauheed has a much larger screen presence and though to begin with there isn't much meat in her character, the latter stages of the film justify her character.

Film's background score, especially in the first half, is gripping though the soundtrack by Mithoon only stays on to be average. Picturisation of 'Sehra' is eye-pleasing.

Ananth Mahadevan comes up with a script which has it's USP lying in it's unpredictability. The sequence of events not just surprise, they even jolt you at a few places, courtesy some good writing which establishes the film from the opening scene itself. No wastage of audience time in unnecessary 'naach-gaana' or 'rona-dhona'. You know that you have come to watch a thriller; and it's a thriller that you eventually get to see from beginning till the end.