As a film maker, we have seen Neeraj Pandey in different roles as a Producer, director and also a script writer, through different films like ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26’, ‘Baby’, ‘MS Dhoni’ , ‘Rustom’ and so on. Having won the National award for best director for the film ‘A Wednesday’, today Neeraj has established himself as a successful film maker, especially when it comes to presenting gripping action packed films. His latest film ‘Naam Shabana’ is worth considering as one of the best creations from him.
Let us call it a sequel to ‘Baby’, but the film belongs to and revolves around the character of Shabana( Taapsee Pannu ) a collegian and a martial arts expert , who is spotted by Indian Secret Agency, because of her guts to fight injustice. Initially, she is helped by a senior agent( Manoj Bajpayee) to take revenge against an eve teaser, who kills her boyfriend, when he tries to save her. After finishing her work, Shabana is offered training by the secret agency and then recruited as an agent for the country, on a secret mission to persecute a global arms dealer and supplier called Mikhail, who has been on the radar of several intelligence agencies, including the agency into which Shabana has been recruited.
Shabana assists senior agent Ajay Singh (Akshay Kumar) on this mission and after a scuffle and a lot of planning with the support of the agency, they finally manage to kill Mikhail. From start to finish, the film offers a gripping screenplay, offering an inspiring action packed revenge story. Dialogues in the film are well written in most of the important scenes. In short, Neeraj Pandey is clearly visible as a brilliant writer & Director Shivam Nair has handled his script well while presenting the entire film. Sudhir Palsane’s superb cinematography and clever editing by Seepak Seju have given a polished look to this film. Two songs in this film were unnecessary, but Rochak Kohli’s music is impressive.
It was nice to see Akshay Kumar in limited but important role, with good support coming from veterans like Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher and others. But, it is Tapasi Pannu, who steals the show, with her excellent performance. Don’t be surprised to find her winning few awards in months to come. All in all, ‘Naam Shabana’ is an inspiring action packed revenge story . So, don’t miss it.
Rating ( ****)