The Half Baked Trickery of Aiyaary Is Not Enough to Satisfy the Common Man’s Fan

By Avik Basak

It was back in 2008, when a newcomer director, Neeraj Pandey generated an instant fan following for himself by bringing us A Wednesday!, a movie about the common man’s wrath against terror. He followed it up with another interesting film, Special 26, a heist film that pits a group of common men against corruption. But since then, the curve on Neeraj’s graph has seen a significant decline. If his third film, Baby suffered from some bad executions, his last project, M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, the biopic on the former Indian cricket captain, drops off important events in the cricketer’s life that needed to be shown.

Neeraj’s latest Aiyaary is not an exception to this trend. The movie starts off greatly, knocking on all the right doors but by the time it reaches its second half, it seems to lose its touch. Although, it recovers somewhat before it concludes that can be enough to keep you on the edge of your seat but it will not make you think which it promises to do at the beginning. It seems as though Neeraj is addressing an important message here but at the same time he is trying to play it safe to avoid any controversy which is not how he made people fall in love with his common man.

The movie begins with Indian Army Major Jai Bakshi (Sidharth Malhotra) who deserts his comrades after learning that corruption has infiltrated almost every infrastructure of the system. Frustrated with it, Jai gives up on his principles and decides to sell the Army secrets to an NRI weapon tycoon so that he can teach the institution a lesson while also making some money along the way. He is hunted by his reporting senior in the Army, Colonel Abhay Singh (Manoj Bajpayee), who does not want people to perceive Indian Army in a wrong way.

The film’s title means the trick of shape-shifting, which according to a supporting character in the movie, refers to Abhay and Jai’s ability to change get up anytime they want. However, the ultimate trickery of the plot refers to the lead duo’s attempts of trying to outsmart each other, while also hinting at how the common man is getting tricked each and every day by the corrupt officials who sit at various positions in the system.

The plot and the idea are compelling enough to make you sit through and keep you invested whole-heartedly but the message that the film is trying to deliver is half-baked and at times, quite confusing. There are times when it makes you question the motive of the film’s protagonist and how he is trying to justify himself. There are also instances when the narrative is crowded with some unnecessary character development subplots, some of which are quite enjoyable but also break the flow of the story.

As far as the performances are concerned, Aiyaary is a proof that Sidharth Malhotra still needs to go a long way if he wants to become a commendable actor. Although his last outing in Ittefaq was impressive, here he keeps faltering every now and then. Rakul Preet Singh as Jai’s love interest, Sonia is even more pathetic. There is a moment where she is seen shading tears at Jai’s fate; she is so bad in that scene that it will actually make you cry. But then there is Manoj Bajpayee, who is the complete opposite of her and the best thing about Aiyaary. He just rules every frame he is in. From facial expressions to dialogue delivery, he is flawless and prevents the movie from sinking.

There is also the amazing supporting cast that keeps the movie together. Anupam Kher, Kumud Mishra, Adil Hussein and most importantly, Naseeruddin Shah will surely please you with their brilliant acting display. The pick of the lot is definitely Naseeruddin Shah, who has a small role here but what a role! With his odd but extraordinary performance, he adds an all-new dimension to the story; kudos to Neeraj for writing a role like that.

As I said earlier, Neeraj Pandey’s directorial graph has seen quite a decline since Special 26. Still, he creates some nice characters, scenes and sequences in Aiyaary for which he deserves appreciation, in spite of the fact that the movie does not work as a whole. The music by Rochak Kohli and Ankit Tiwari is nice, so is the background score by Sanjoy Chowdhury. The cinematography by Sudheer Palsane is also good, while editor Praveen Kathikuloth could have used his scissors more as the film is quite lengthy at 2 hours and 37 minutes. Another thing that requires special mention is the movie’s makeup artists, who create some brilliant disguises for the “Aiyaars” here.

Overall, Aiyaary comes up with a half-baked trickery that feels quite unsatisfactory, especially when it clearly had the potential to bring more to the table. But, it is also quite enjoyable due to some of the performances, some crisp writing and some well-crafted sequences.

3 Stars Out of 5 from Me...