Zubaan: Glitzy & Sparkling without A Soul

Off late “Coming of Age” theme movies have been quite common, “Zubaan” is an addition to that list of movies, and where “Zubaan” is different is its musical format…

Story of Mozez Singh narrates the story of Dilsher (Vicky Kaushal) who is the son of a singer who used to sing Gurubani in a gurudwara in Gurdaspur. Dilsher leaves music after his father’s untimely death and goes to Delhi to earn money and work under his idol, construction magnate Gurpreet Sikand (Manish Choudhary). Dilsher joins Sikand’s construction company which irks his son Surya Sikand (Raaghav Chanana) as Guru Sikand starts giving more importance to Dilsher than Surya. Dilsher meets Ameera (Sarah Jane Dias) in a party who is a free spirited girl and who is a proficient singer. They have instant liking for each other which upsets Surya more. Whether Dilsher achieves success against Surya’s wishes and becomes like his idol or does he re-discovers his love for music is what the movie all about…..

Screenplay by Mozez Singh & Sumit Roy tries a musical format as a narration for a story of ambition and greed but results in two tracks one a story of ambition and other the “Coming of Age” story which does not blend till the end which is the biggest flaw of the writing. The story of ambition and greed with construction as the background has more impact than the “Coming of Age” track. The writing comes out as confused as the lead character Dilsher. The characterization of the main lead Dilsher and Ameera is flawed due its inconsistency. Though other characters like Guru Sikand, Surya Sikand even Mandira Sikand are defined well. Another issue of the movie is its pace which is slow, especially due to the songs which does not blend with the narration and looks as if it has been added as an afterthought. The weakest is the love track of Dilsher and Ameera which is void of any chemistry. In one word the writing is very average without a soul…

Sumit Roy’s dialogues are also not that impactful which could have helped the otherwise flawed screenplay.

The biggest highlight of the movie is its performances, especially of Vicky Kaushal who plays Dilsher. Vicky proves that “Masaan” was not a fluke and that he is an actor to look forward to. His Punjabi dialect to his stammer is perfect, and his innocent yet shrewd portrayal is a cracker. Sarah Jane Dias as Ameera does not have much to do, other than adding the glamour quotient, but she does justice to whatever is given to her. Manish Choudhary, an actor who has been under utilized by Bollywood shows off his histrionics as Guru Sikand a shrewd businessman brilliantly. Another highlight performance of the movie is that of Raaghav Chanana as Surya Sikand, his not so confident and a perpetual loser, yet vulnerable portrayal takes your heart away at the end of the movie. Meghna Mallik as Mandira Sikand has a small but an impactful role which she does complete justice to. Rest of the cast also does a good job…

The second highlight of the movie is its music which is composed by an ensemble of music directors  Ashu Pathak, Ishq Bector, Shree D, Manraj Patar especially the tracks “Music is my Art”,“Ajj Saanu O Mileya” & “Kori Pukaar”….

The third highlight of the movie is its choreography by Uma Shankar & Gaiti Nair, special mention of “Music Is my Art”, “Kori Pukaar” which had the international dancers Les Twins, “Dhruvtara” & “Tu Hain Tera Khuda”…

The fourth highlight of the movie is its cinematography by Swapnil Sonawane which captures the country side of Punjab, the high society of Delhi and the barren desert of Rajasthan with equal finesse, making each frame picture perfect…

The Fifth highlight is Aki Narula’s costume design, which is subtle to over the top depending on the characters….

Mozez Singh gives us a technically brilliant movie with some great performances, soulful music, amazing cinematography, imaginative choreography but somewhere all this does not blend together due to its weak writing. Mozez Singh packages the movie well but misses the soul hence does not touch the hearts of the viewers….

Nevertheless a good effort….I will go with Three stars…

Movie Rating: (3 / 5)