Kurbaan Review

Kurbaan is a powerful attempt from Karan Johar's production house to change the kind of stuff they make. The film dares to show an issue and tries to address it. The film has portrayed Islam as a centre stage and tried to put in Islamic fundamentalism. Karan Johar have made a wonderful attempt and is very, very refreshing. Talking about the movie, the first half is very powerful but later it becomes too simplistic and predictable. The story starts well with the scene in Delhi where Ehsaan and Avantika meet and after that their love blossoms. Ehsaan, is a professor played, by Saif Ali Khan and Avantika, is also a Professor who was first working in New york but then came down to Delhi to visit her ailing father, played by Kareena Kapoor. Then they marry and fly to New York. They find a home for them in an Indian neighbourhood, till one Avantika comes to know that their next door neighbours are terrorist and she is surprised to know that her husband Ehsaan is also involved with them and she is been used as a toy in this bad game. Till here the story seems to be really interesting but after this the story starts being more predictable. Director Rensil D'Souza have made a great attempt till this point. The main cause of the film is enhanced by good performances of Saif and Kareena. The first half is brilliantly written where Ehsaan is wooing Avantika and winning her Father but in the second half the story becomes a little week. Kareena have delivered a great performance in the whole film where as Saif is good in the first half but later he fail to portray as he is now riding on two ships, where he is a terrorist and another where he loves Avantika and don't want to hurt her. The script holds you with its boldness and its strong dialogues. You will find all the different voices of Islam, difference about Islam and Islamic fundamentalism and about the situation in Iraq and Afganisthan. Vivek Oberoi play a News Reporter named Riyaaz, he portrays a rational voice of Islam, and his father Played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda portrays a traditional view of America. Kareena has portrayed Avantika really well, where she is really attracted to her husband although she is disgusted with all the terrorist thing of him. She also gets in the group in order to help Riyaaz for taking revenge of his girlfriend Rihana's death. Rihana is a news reporter played by Diya mirza. She gets killed in a plane which was high jacked by suicide bombers and got crashed. The story is showed well till here but it begins to blur slightly because of Ehsaan's love for Avantika. More emotional tones could have been added to their relation so that his change of attitude in towards his mission could have been explained more clearly. Also there are lots of lacking point with the terrorist group, i.e., Riyaaz's entry in the group was quite easy and nobody else in their neighbourhood ever suspected them except of Avantika. The cinematography is really good, the first half in New Delhi and then in New York. The music and the background score by Salim-Sulaiman are good and are already on the tongue of every one. The performance of all the actors is really good. Even vivek looks very convincing. Om Puri have very few dialogues but still makes his presence felt and manages to convey a sense of authority as Bhaijan. Kirron Kher as his Begum has given a courageous performance. Though the film is a good effort for portraying Islam and Islamic fundamentalism it somewhere fails to show a strong hold on emotional relation between Ehsaan and Avantika and also lacks to explain about their terrorist group. Still the movie is worth watching especially great performances by all the actors.