Kurbaan Reviews
A Curious Hybrid of a Terrorist Thriller
- Nov 20, 2009
- by Apurva - Official Reviewer
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When the producers of Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, the costume designer of Bunty Aur Babli and the stars of Jab We Met and Love, Aaj Kal decide to make a baby with noir writing talent like Rensil Dsilva (who also directs this film) & Anurag Kashyap (Dialogue), the result is a curious hybrid of a terrorist thriller that tickles the funny bone more than it thrills.
Kurbaan scores with an excellent soundtrack, some neat production design and some exquisite camerawork but refuses to rise above a potentially interesting storyline that scratches only the surface of the volatile Islamic fundamentalist climate of today’s world. The film is riddled with hackneyed stock dialogues that were oft repeated in post 9/11 films like Khuda Ke Liye & New York and offers no insights into the world of terrorism.
Ehsaan Khan (Sail Ali Khan) woos Avantika (Kareena Kapoor), a fellow college professor in Delhi. Two coffees and one song later, they are in love. When Avantika learns that she must move back to New York to pursue her teaching career, Ehsaan whines about how doomed long distance relationships are and to her surprise offers to move with her to the Big Apple. Before you can say ‘Waiter where’s my Coffee?’ Ehsaan asks for Avantika’s hand from her worried looking father who 'naturally' opposes the Hindu-Muslim union. But a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le jayenge like line from the goateed professor Ehsaan wins him his bride and the instant coffee couple soon find themselves shopping for a house in New York. Without much effort, Ehsaan bags a job to teach (lo & behold) a volatile subject like Islam in the Western world at the same college that Avantika teaches.
If only the rest of the film unfolded this quickly.
The Asian neighborhood that the caffeine couple moves into has a strange and conservative Muslim family that makes a beeline to befriend the duo. Three young men have ‘terrorist’ written all over their costume & make-up design & take orders from Bhai sahab (Om Puri looking like a tired bull frog) and his wife- the matriarchal Aapa (Kirron Kher in an erratic Afghani accent that sounds suspiciously Punjabi). Three hijab clad daughters in law also hang around the place, occasionally serving dinner. But Avantika is oblivious to anything being amiss. Only when the panic stricken daughter in law played by the animated Nauheed Cyrusi lands up at Avantika’s doorstep, claiming that she may be killed and needs help, does Avantika begin to suspect foul play in theneighborhood. Her dead pan husband tells her not to get involved in other peoples affairs but surely, in true thriller fashion, Avantika decides to investigate the sudden disappearance of the panicky daughter in law all by herself.
One cold, scary night, she sneaks in alone into the house of the strange neighbors and overhears (conveniently) that they are dreaded terrorists plotting a massive 9/11 type of attack. If this shocker were not enough for one night, she also stumbles upon a not so subtle clue, the body of the missing, panic stricken daughter in law, wrapped in some bin liners. Of course, as in most such scenes the heroine is sure to scream and Avantika does just that. What follows is an uneven paced mayhem that sometimes defies logic and often induces boredom but always wishes that the makers had thought harder on how to make the screenplay less simplistic.
Sample this: A terrorist on the FBI’s most wanted list who looks identical to his pictures in their possession does a day job teaching Islamic studies in a prominent university and draws no attention. An FBI sleuth rises from the debris of a bombed-to-smithereens railway station and walks his way out to prove the invincibility of the Hollywood actor. Terrorists planning a covert train bombing suddenly begin shooting at a traitor team member in the middle of a crowded train without anyone raising an alarm. One of them even alights at the next station and not a single policeman makes an appearance letting the train loaded with Bollywood terrorists continue its journey. Nevertheless, the editor courageously drags this ‘terror attack’ movie for close to three hours of screen time, often making the viewer wonder if it was worth the Kurbaani of a 250 rupee multiplex ticket.
Kareena Kapoor is the strongest player in the film. Even though she has moments of multiple reactions & over acting, she proves her mettle as an expressive character actor and comes across as a sincere performer. Saif Ali Khan plays the part in a somewhat understated manner. His muted performance seems limited by the writing, where his motives are kept hidden from the audience through most of the film. Even though he and Kareena clearly share good chemistry, it is uncertain till the very end what he feels for her and this may prove to be the greatest undoing of the film. Vivek Oberoi hams his way right to the end. He walks in & out of each frame like he is in a James Bond movie spoof, over stating everything, drawing attention to himself without a shred of subtlety. It would be safe to attribute a great chunk of our involuntary laughs to Oberoi’s two dimensional portrayal.
Even though there are emotional odes to the plight of the Afghani people and sermons about the cruelty of the oppressing white man, the story fails to touch the heart. One feels little sympathy for the victims or for the terrorists. Weak American actors play the cops investigating the terror attacks, leaving the story telling sadly one sided.
Kurbaan has traces of brilliance especially in its camerawork by Hemant Chaturvedi and music score by Salim Suleiman . ‘Shukhran Allah’ used cleverly in the background and performed passionately by Salim Merchant & Sonu Nigam is superb. Besides a few well performed scenes by Kirron Kher & Kareena Kapoor there is not much to hold you to your seats. So weak is the screenplay of Kurbaan that we thought the interval scene of the film (at around 90 minutes) was the climax scene. Alas it was not- we impatiently sat through a second half of gunshots, diffused bombs, gory flesh wounds and cinematic idiosyncrasies that stirred no emotion.
Kurbaan has its heart in the right place, but required more sacrifices in the research & development department. If you are planning to watch it do manage your expectations.
Kurbaan - Though well made but surprisingly similar to New York.
- Nov 20, 2009
- by Bobby sing - Official Reviewer
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Dharma Productions, known for its well planned movies and remarkable success ratio returns to the screen with a strong thriller supported by a fiery star-cast and an eye catching promotional campaign. The controversial posters in the news and the secrecy regarding its story plot surely helped in creating a buzz for the movie before its release. So everybody was forced to expect yet another well made movie from Karan Johar’s production house with a unique kind of storyline never told before on the screen.
But the final outcome has got a completely different story to tell which also raises many questions on the cut-throat competition between various big banners of the industry. Undeniably, “Kurbaan” is a well crafted thriller with its brilliant direction and visibly grand production values. It has its own worth seeing moments along with some superb thought provoking sequences relevant to the current scenario in the western countries. But the real shocking revelation is its story plot which is strikingly similar to “New York”.
In fact it’s like Kabir Khan and Karan Johar got hold of a similar idea and then wrote two different scripts with minor changes as per their own film-making styles.
In order to prove my point, here are the similarities between the two movies, which unfortunately would also reveal the storyline of “Kurbaan”.
1. “New York” has got two students (John & Katrina) falling in love with each other and later living a happily married life abroad. Here John plays a muslim character who is secretly working for the pride of his religion and planning a big disaster in the city.
In “Kurbaan” instead of students there are two professors (Saif & Kareena) in the college, who fall in love with each other, get married and settle abroad in order to lead a happy life. Here Saif plays the muslim character who is a wanted terrorist in disguise and also planning for a big disaster in the city.
2. In both the movies the lady of the house (Katrina or Kareena) doesn’t know about the real identity of her husband which is later discovered by her as a shock of her life.
3. “New York” has Neil Nitin Mukesh working on a secret mission, who enters John’s gang with a different identity and tries to catch him before the big disaster planned with the help of FBI.
In “Kurbaan” there is Vivek Oberoi who after losing her love in a bomb blast plans to enter Saif’s gang with a different identity aiming to get him behind the bars with the help of FBI.
4. “New York” has Irfan Khan playing the role of an FBI officer helping Neil, whereas in “New York” the role is not that significant played by a foreign actor who is talking with Vivek on phone in the climax.
5. In both the films, the new entrant in the gang is given a test to pass where he is asked to shoot an unknown man just like that without any reason.
6. Both the movies have a similar sequence where a gang member from the extremists group panics when few policemen start searching his car and ask him to get out. In both sequences the man loses his life due to the unexpected emotional reaction.
7. In “New York” John suspects Neil talking with someone on the phone and then takes away his phone saying that no-one will use any phone from now on.
In “Kurbaan” Om Puri suspects Vivek talking with somebody on phone and then takes away his phone again saying that no-one will use any phone from now on.
8. Both the movies gradually move towards a big disaster planned by the terrorist in the end which also results in their leader getting killed by the police. Both John & Saif get killed in the climax in strikingly similar circumstances.
In short, if you have seen “New York” then you have already seen “Kurbaan” in a different version. However both the movies hold their own distinctive merits due to their respective talented directors. “New York” was more definitive and expressive in its characterisation, romance and songs. On the other hand “Kurbaan” is more intense, exciting and well executed as a fine thriller with some creditable performances by all the three leading characters.
Saif once again delivers a polished performance as the terrorist. Kareena gives him tough competition with a superb portrayal of a helpless girl caught in the web of terrorism. Vivek also shines bright after a long gap in his important role of an informer cum reporter. Dia Mirza looks ravishing in her few scenes. Om Puri is top rate as usual but the most impressive supporting act comes from Kiron Kher in the role of an angry muslim lady ready to fight for her revenge.
Unexpectedly the musical score by Salim-Sulieman is not up to the standards of Karan Johar productions with no particular song standing out with its melody. But, Cinematography clearly gives the movie an international look by all standards. It also seems that the movie was specifically made for the overseas market and metro cities. There is heavy use of English language in the movie with one particular scene of a seminar having conversations going on in English for a good period of time.
Writing also has got too many flaws in it with things moving on very easily without any complications. For instance, two mature professors go on flirting with each other freely in the staff room and class rooms within the college campus (which was like the creative liberty taken for a ride). Saif easily gets Visas for abroad without any hassles and he even gets a professor’s job in the foreign university just like that. Kareena takes out the bullet out of Saif’s wound in few seconds and even applies stitches to it like a pro. There are shoot outs going on and people moving fearlessly holding a gun in the tube train with no trace of any policemen around. Even the hot bed room scene between Saif and Kareena looks like deliberately added later on and also seems to be edited in a great hurry. It lacks the warmth as one recalls in the similar scenes from “Parinda” and “Dayavan”. Hence at some places the execution goes too filmy, far below the expectations from a Dharma Productions movie.
However, what impressed me the most were the well written, explosive dialogues in the script which may be taken as offensive by many. They surely had the truth spoken in the most blunt way ever on the Indian Silver Screen. In short, director Rensil D’Silva undoubtedly proves his command over the medium with his noticeable directorial debut, but I am still confused why they made a movie on the same storyline of “New York”. With a different story plot it surely could have been the finest thriller of the recent times.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
(by bobbysing from www.bobbytalkscinema.com)
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An Ok- OK Movie
- Jan 3, 2010
- by Jasmine
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Kurbaan has a good story line but alas fails to impress. Full marks to Kareena kapoor for actingbrilliantly in the movie.
best
- Dec 10, 2009
- by Kesha
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best kisses
Good one!!!
- Dec 9, 2009
- by Arathy
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Kurban was an average movie...it was good...!!!
Kareena was just superb...she looked really beautiful!!!
Kurbaan
- Dec 5, 2009
- by Geeta
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Cast: Saif Ali Khan (Ehsan Khan/ Khalid) , Kareena Kapoor (Avantika), Vivek Oberoi (Riyaz Masood) and Om Puri (bhai jaan); Kiron Kher (Aapa)
The movie is a 7 on ten for me..! thoroughly entertaining!! u'll not regret buying a ticket for this one!
Avantika (kareena) comes to India from USA to take care of her Dad, bumps into Ehsan (Saif) at the college...no time wasted ,,,, they fall in love. Avantika gets an opportunity to go back to the USA; and the too good saif agrees to leave everything behind and go with her. (she never bothers to ask him about his family... the father also.. just about object the marriage, but gives in too soon.). truly they could have done some thing about this.
Avantika and Ehsan come over to the USA..Ehsan find a job at Avantika's college. They move into Indian neighborhood. are invited for dinner over by the neighbors.
Avantika mentions to Ehsan about the husband hitting lady from the neighborhood house. ehsan asks her to keep away from their family life and just relax. Avantika stops by to meet Salma's friend Rehana a reported and talks to her about the beating up and stuff; Riyaz (Vivek) who is also working at the news agency offers to help but once rehana is back from her Iraq trip. Avantika on the evening finds out that the family next door is involved in some terrorist activity and her husband is a part of it too. Activity and Rehana's flight is bombed and she dies. there is no mention of any kind of investigation, even when an entire news crew and a delegation from UN is dead. Avantika tries to stop rehana but is too late, manages to leave a voice message on the office phone; don't ask me why she does not dial 911.. and wastes time finding a visiting card and dialing too many numbers.. (psst it's a Hindi movie)
It's now about how she deals with the entire fact of being used. Director Rensil tried to show, Ehsan is a good person but because of his personal loss became a terrorist and sadly i could not empathize with any of the stories and facts. the circumstances get people into terrorist stuff that are doing now.
realization dawns upon Ehsan, but it's too late.
A lesson
- Nov 23, 2009
- by Vish
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Kurbaan, a good film Title to begin with. The story shows us how a plain and simple mind( the characters of the sleeper cell group) can be toyed with if one is not strong.... The role played by SAK shows that if one wants to change oneself it is POSSIBLE. Kareena is the "CHANGE" solution which SAK takes in and does the right thing at the end of the show. Powerful acting by SAK and not medicore like others say. Powerful to me meant, his acting held me onto my seat as i watched his performance.The "AL PACINO" of Bollywood is SAK. Method acting is what SAK showed to the rest of the so called "KHANS of BOLLYWOOD" Kareena,outstanding acting: from Cab-stealer to Teaching mate to Lover to Wife. Just look at the number of various roles she played in just one show. Outstanding!?, come on you must agree. The hateful wife to finally the loving and sad wife, words not enuf here for Kareena. Last but no the least, good direction, excellent cinematography and smooth editing. Heart pounding music score and songs that made me love & apperciate my wife:) At the end, it is how each sees what the film wants to says to us.... Peace N Love NO War!!!
What is Truth
- Nov 22, 2009
- by Nayanika
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I have not seen the film. Read a lengthy review or two on which I am basing my comments.Kareena . Krion Kher, Saif Ali Khan , Om Puri all seasoned veterans and top actors of Bollywood surely would have paid heed to the script which falls way too short of any justification save a copule of scenes which highlight the threat posed by the terrorist.
Sequencing and cascading of shots must needs follow in keeping with the basic thread , herein Kurbaan, which somehow does not get spelt clearly anywhere in full. The snatches appearing at infrequent places makes for expectations which are ill founded and do not address the theme which is intended to be projected
It definitely augurs well to note for this film and all else on similar themes, to make for an exhaustive, full prrof R&D , to evidence and make for a good copy and a superb film. Thank you.
.
Half romance, half action, lots of drama
- Nov 20, 2009
- by Sindhu
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My personal vision of Saif is that of a jolly little romantic freak, not very action types. So the posters of this movie showing him with gunshot wounds and all some how doesnt fit my version of Saif Ali !!! But then thats one good reason why I made it a point to watch Kurbaan.
And am glad I did see the movie. For the romantic in me, Kurbaan provides a little bit of lovey doveys in the first part of the movie. The rest is mostly serious stuff about terrorism, islam, and such. So ideally this movie should be liked by both the soft film lovers and the action lovers as well.
Here are some other movies of Saif Ali Khan :
extra ordinary
- Nov 20, 2009
- by Priya rani kumari
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Film: Kurbaan
Rating: 3.5/5
Banners: Dharma Productions, UTV Motion Pictures
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Dia Mirza, Kirron Kher, Om Puri, Akash Khurana, Nauheed Cyrusi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda etc
Music: Sulaiman Merchant- Salim Merchant
Dialogues: Anurag Kashyap, Niranjan Iyengar
Editor: Asif Ali Shaikh
Cinematography: Hemant Chaturvedi
Director: Rensil D'Silva
Producers: Karan Johar, Hiroo Johar
Release Date: November 20, 2009
For the first time, the off screen love birds Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor are pairing up and the expectations are high since it is also coming from Karan Johar. While the posters created a bit of controversy, here is a look at whether the film is worth or not.
Story:
A love tale ridden with terror, the story begins on the backdrop of a university in Delhi and here is Avantika (Kareena), a professor who returns from New York to see her ailing father and joins the university. Her life takes a turn with the joining of the new professor Ehsaan Khan (Saif) and in no time, he manages to woo her and win her heart as well. Soon, Avantika gets a call to return to New York and Ehsaan offers to join her. They get married, take a home, find new Muslim neighbors and even visit their place for dinner. One day, Salma (Nauheed) comes to Avantika and asks for help as her life is in danger. Soon, Avantika is exposed to a vicious layer of plots and realizes that she was just a part of it. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Saif Ali Khan:
He has come up with a decent performance and looked apt with the icy look. Unlike his energy driven performances, this was rather calm and suited the character.
Kareena Kapoor:
She looks beautiful and has enacted the emotional scenes very well. However, she needs to put an extra ounce of flesh on her body, that would make her look even more charming. She looks trendy.
Vivek Oberoi:
His character had depth and intensity and Vivek carried his role with élan, his expressions during the serious scenes were impact creating.
Om Puri:
He is the best bet for such a role and though he looks too elegant for a fundamentalist, his cold stare and heavy dialogue delivery sure makes him look like the perfect mastermind.
Kirron Kher:
She carries her role with elegance and her presence was felt strongly on the screen. There is maturity in her performance and her screen chemistry is effective.
Dia Mirza
Her role was brief but she looks pretty though she doesn’t have that Muslim girl look.
Others:
Nauheed looks sweet but scary after she is dead, the American actors were good, Akash Khurana just came and went, Kulbushan Kharbanda shines for few seconds.
Highlights:
Dialogues
Background Score
Cinematography
Limitations:
Predictable Screenplay
Slow narration
Directorial flaws (how the trains move away without stopping when a mission against international terrorism is going on?? Watch the film to know about this in detail)
Analysis:
This is like any other film on terrorism but with US backdrop. The movie Newyork, The Wednesday, Mani Rathnam’s Roja etc fall in this genre but every thing has its own convincing line of narration with set-characters. Kurbaan is one such film.
The main drawback in this film is it has got no much energy in narration and less thrilling moments as it’s quite predictable for audiences those who have used to this kind of films. The plus side in this film is that t has got horripilate background score that pulls audiences to screens with pin drop silence.
There is a message in this film for girls especially- ‘Don’t blindly allow your new found lovers to fly along with you to any country as dependant. Your life may get screwed!!!”
On a whole, the commercial quotient in this film is meager although it has got a hot nude song, that pulls a set of crowds. Otherwise, it is a good film with no great features.
Bottom Line: Nothing bad that irks audiences. It's good.
Worth a 3-hour sacrifice
- Nov 20, 2009
- by Neha
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Kurbaan Music review
- Oct 13, 2009
- by | dunkdaft |
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READ FULL STORY AT MY BLOG : CLICK HERE.
'Shukran Allah Wal-hamdulillah..' The phrase which surely get stuck in your head after listening to 'Kurbaan' soundtrack. Its really gorgeous yet so much BollyLove Song. Brilliant opening track of album by Salim-Sulaiman. Shreya and Sonu both gives their sweetest vocals to it along with magical Shukran Allah chanted by Salim. Many will find similarity between Fanaa's Subhan Allah and Shukran Allah, which is but natural. Cause that phrase was also composed by same guys, not Jatin-Lalit. Also Fanaa's Background score was by Salim-Suleiman too
Dua starts with fast paced beats giving hint of a dance floor track, but soon it turns out in Sufi mood with Kailash Kher, Sukhwinder Singh on board. Sprinkled with some English lyrics sung by Marianne DCruz Aiman, it ends up as a well composed nicely sung foot tapping yet Sufi, track.
Opening with sound of darkness, Ali Maula promises a fantastic listening ahead. Salim Merchant gets in Sufiana mood for this slow dark track with tough Urdu lyrics. [just can't understand some yet] It haunts for a long time after listening to it. The track repeats as a remix which sounds similar to the remixes of movie Fashion.
