Aiyaary Flatters to Deceive
Aiyaary suffers and crashes into dullness due to its own
over-intelligence. Coming from Neeraj Pandey, the name behind some of the smartest
espionage-heist flicks in recent times (A Wednesday, Special 26, Baby, Naam
Shabaana, Rustom), it’s a major disappointment. In fact, both Baby and Naam
Shabana are amongst the best (though under-rated), modern day classics in the
espionage genre.
However, coming to Aiyaary, here is an expected non-linear
plot that tries to ‘preach’ too many things without bringing them together as a
coherent story. It ticks all the mandatory boxes for a ‘spy-thriller checklist’.
An A-Class ensemble cast of 5 National Award winners. High-octane background
score that ‘tries’ to keep the tempo alive. Chest-thumping dialogues around
patriotism. The now done-to-death ‘covert operations’ angle i.e. “Get caught
and the army & the nation disowns you and labels you a traitor’. The armed
forces & arm dealers’ nexus. Global tourism in the form of
Mumbai-Delhi-Kashmir-London-Cairo. Neglected families. Girls with guns (that
just strut and don’t fire). Tech-savvy operations in the form of hacking,
phone-tapping, databases, pen drives, spy cams, Phew! Throw in an Aadarsh
society scam angle…and what you have is an over-muddled, needlessly
over-convoluted plot…that drags along with no sense or purpose.
At 160 minutes, it feels an hour too long. It takes its own
languid pace in trying to set you up in the entire first half. And when you’re ready
for the action to begin in the second half, it takes a surprising reverse-gear
in trying to establish arcs and back-stories for each of the characters. Pacing
is critical in any spy-thriller and ‘Aiyaary’ makes a blunder of sorts out
here. And speaking about the Google-worthy weird title ‘Aiyaary’, well there is
not much of Aiyaary (wizardy/deception/disguise) either!
Overall Aiyaary is a failed-attempt that ends on a whimper. The
best of brains, the best of production values, the best of cast…but to repeat
one of the lines from the movie itself, “Sir, mind it, nothing really happens,
it all remains just On-paper!” Stay away, and instead watch a Baby or Naam
Shabana on TV once again.
