Now, here’s a film that catches you off-guard and leaves you awestruck with its sheer intensity. ‘Aamir’ is a commendable movie coming from a first-timer.
Marking the graduation of television star Rajeev Khandelwal to the big screen, ‘Aamir’ tells the story of a Muslim doctor who arrives in Mumbai from the UK. But the minute he steps out of the airport lounge, he begins getting threat calls on a mobile given to him by a stranger. On stake is the life of Aamir’s family. The only way Aamir can save them is to do what he is told to.
Following
the instructions of the fanatic on the other end of the line, the suited booted Aamir goes through the filth and squalor of Mumbai’s impoverished bylanes, the red-light areas, the dilapidated buildings and the bustling markets until he finds himself in a dead-end situation where he has to either carry out a deadly act or risk losing his family forever.
‘Aamir’ is a slice-of-life cinema that mirrors the possibility, if not reality, how a harmless individual can be held to ransom and blackmailed into doing something seemingly beyond his morals and capacity.
The movie works primarily because its lead player Rajeev Khandelwal lends credence to the character with his finely nuanced performance – deftly punctuated with restraint and outbursts.
Secondly, the film’s director Rajkumar Gupta does a heck of a job behind the camera. The movie, shot like a docu-drama, seethes with tension and restlessness in almost every frame. The camera jerks or lingering close-ups, or the haunting leitmotif tune on the violin, or the crisp editing – all blend in harmony to create a powerful, gripping audio-visual experience on the screen.
