Kurbaan - 2009

Rating: 4.5 out of 6

About The Film:

The man you think you know the best is not what he looks. You’re living your life in a web of lies. There is another great French film by Nicole Garcia (L'Adversaire, 2002) which is based on a true story, is about a man living a lie for almost 20 years and when finally things became inescapable he kills his entire family. So films like this can be hard for anyone especially young and impressionable minds. As it is in midst of terrorism and violence we are becoming increasingly skeptical in our daily lives. And here some well-directed films like Kurbaan make our beliefs stronger.

Kurbaan tells a story of Avantika, a teacher in a university in Delhi and swiftly Ehsaan Khan, the charming newcomer professor walks into her life. But Avantika soon receives a letter from her university in New York to join them back, she was teaching there earlier. Surprisingly Ehsaan proposes marriage to her and offers to come to America with her. In US, Ehsaan soon gets a noble job and they buy a posh house in an Asian neighborhood. Things are going fine until Avantika discovers some dark secrets about her odd neighbors.

The film has all the essentials required for a tight paced thriller; love, suspense, drama, blood, beauty, violence. Smooth and clever, this film is a first feature length directed by Rensil D’silva. It deals with a lot of tiny and large issues related to our modern-day lives – easy trust factor, terrorism, revenge, Islam, America and third world countries. The good part of this thriller is, it doesn’t have many loopholes and sub-plot is also very powerful.

The performances are convincing, Saif Ali Khan in a role of Ehsaan, playing a suave and elegant man, while Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) is a beautiful Delhi girl. Some dialogues are good, like Ehsaan trying to convince Avantika’s father for their marriage, who has some reservations as he is a Muslim. Also when Riyaaz comes to their home for the first time, the dinner time conversation is very naturalistic in a way.

A contemporary love story with terrorism as a backdrop has a purpose to make us rethink the way we trust someone in today’s world; and terrorism spreading its tentacles in an ordinary man’s life.

Overall the film is captivating and glossy. The background score is good, story is decent, screenplay is tight and more importantly it doesn’t come across as a preachy tale.

Cast:
Avantika – Kareena Kapoor
Ehsaan Khan – Saif Ali Khan
Riyaaz – Vivek Oberoi
Rihaana – Dia Mirza
Bhaijaan – Om Puri
Nasreen aapa – Kirron Kher

Duration:

Approximately 160 minutes.

Parental Guidance:

Violence: A very gory scene, bullet shot in the chest, stitching up the wound. Few blasts scenes in which dead bodies are lying around on the floor, and several gun shots. A woman shot in the head and blood smattering all over the place.

Language: No profanities.

Nudity and Sexual Content: Few passionate kissing scenes. A love-making scene.