The Abbas-Mustan Duo are back with the supposed "Most Shocking Thriller of the Year,". But the two main questions are:
1. Is Naqaab really the Most Shocking Thriller of the Year?
2. Does it live up to Abbas-Mustan's other hits such as BAAZIGAR, KHILADI, AJNABEE and AITRAAZ?
The answer is No!
Naqaab is a lackluster thriller which has now content apart from glossy locales, stunning cinematography, great performances and an amazing background score. With so many things going for Naqaab, what makes it so bad? For one the plot and storyline is both amateurish and unrealistic, however realistic Abbas-Mustan tried to make it, the actors,although excellent, did not bring any sense of realism. Also, there is hardly anything "shocking" in the film, in fact the only thing that is shocking would have to be the film's length which is barely two hours which is a huge dissapointment. Despite the short running Abbas-Mustan still focused on the romantic scenes between Akshaye and Urvashi and when you reach half way through the movie you began to realise there is nothing there apart from a confused Urvashi stressing over who she loves. The actual "thrilling" bits are all crammed at the end of the film and no viewer or critic would call them an actual thrilling experience. There are no riveting murder scenes, no anonymous threats and or no thrilling jolts within the plot. Pritam's music isn't actually there as there are only two songs which really bear no resemblance to the plot and are neither foot-tapping or exhilarating. The Background score by Salim-Sulaiman and the cinematography by Ravi Yadav is of course excellent. Akshay Khanna brings a good sense of realism to his role, Urvashi Sharma handles her role like a professional and Bobby is annoying. Overall, Naqaab is all glitz and glamour with no content. At the box-office the film will not open as BIG as Abbas-Mustan's previous works of excellence, but the engrossing tagline and title will make sure it has an alright opening. Through time, the screens will be less packed the more the weeks progress...Dissapointing!
