Aiyaary Review - The Quintessential Anti-Neeraj Pandey Film

Aiyaary means the ultimate trickery. Read on to see my review of Neeraj Pandey's film which got a 3 star rating from Filmistaan Online.

Naseruddin Shah is a fantastic actor. This opening line is rather detached from the storyline that Aiyaary aims to tell. But still, the most charitable thing I can say about a film like this one is that Naseruddin Shah is a fantastic actor. The entire ensemble cast that the director has put up is actually fantastic too - whether Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra, Rakul Preet or even Anupam Kher. Unfortunately, I can confirm, that the reason that Aiyaary will skimp by with a 3 star rating (something much lower than the regard to which I hold the director of Aiyaary’s previous cinema) is not because of its acting, cinematography, or even locations. Its because of its story, script and direction - all three things credited to writer-director Neeraj Pandey.

The film, revolves around the Adarsh Society Scam, where an officer goes rogue with intentions other than betraying his country. Major Jai Bakshi (played by Sidharth Malhotra) claims that “Main gadhar nahin hoon. Perhaps, this institution doesn’t deserve an officer like me.” To which a rather uncomfortable Manoj Bajpayee responds, “Yes, it deserves more.” That’s the problem with Pandey’s film. It is too uncomfortable in its surroundings. Shot, and made to feel like an LIC Bank Insurance ad-film, Aiyaary is too pretentious to be what it truly wants to be - a crackling, spy thriller.

It wouldn’t be inhumane to ask that from Pandey because his previous works - including Baby, Special 26 and A Wednesday! have all worked on the sense of normalcy in the absolute absurd. Pandey skilfully makes his protagonists not seem alien, no matter how psychotic his circumstances. In Aiyaary, none of that is there. There is no attention to detail and Pandey happily skips the steps of normalising the scenario. So, the first problem on his head is alienating his viewers. Secondly, Pandey’s editing, though choppy - is truly amateur-ish to say the least.

Blackouts are used in abundance (you’ll see) and as one character speaks, we immediately cut to a new location. It looks like it could’ve been edited using iMovie. Also, the length of Aiyaary, is far too long - not something that editing could’ve helped with, because in the second half of Pandey’s story, the film falls apart, especially with the introduction of Naseruddin Shah’s character. Naseruddin is a fine actor who mixes his beautifully written backstory with nuances of OK Jaanu’s humour and Finding Fanny’s quiet yet chaotic sadness. The whole star cast takes a cue from him.

Looking at the performances in depth, the ones that are really worth writing home about are from Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee. I applaud Sid for taking roles that are different (Ittefaq, A Gentleman and even Ek Villain) and here, he speaks volumes with his eyes. He picks up Pandey’s debilitated script and asks a question that Pandey merely forgot to - is Jai fully convinced with what he’s doing? Manoj Bajpayee has always been a fantastic actors and embodies the fauji persona with utmost ease. His dialogues are smart, crisp and reminded me of another actor from another Sidharth film - Akshaye Khanna from Ittefaq. He too had crackling dialogues that picked up the pace when the film got slow.

Aiyaary has guest appearances from other Pandey alum - Anupam Kher and Adil Hussain. Both don’t make an impact at all. Anupam is a fine actor but I’m afraid that taking too many roles has made him into a stereotype. Here, he doesn’t do much acting, more just acts as a wall - something Bajpayee can grunt to and expect a broken response. Adil Hussain has swagger but his character is frankly lamely written and I didn’t relate to it at all. Doesn’t help that Pandey didn’t give him enough scenes. There’s also a fascinating sniper called Roger who can shoot at anybody - I would’ve happily paid for and given 4 stars to a film about that rather mysterious white dude who was mysteriously quiet throughout Aiyaary’s runtime.

Like Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal, Aiyaary falls short of the expectations and unfortunately I can’t say that it’s due to lackluster performances. I wish it was because that would be an explanation for easily one of Indian cinema’s best directors to put up an elongated film such as this one. How Shah Rukh and Anushka powered Imtiaz’s film, Sid and Manoj quietly power through all the bumps that Pandey throws at them. Still, Aiyaary is a tenacious ode to the army, luckily straying clear of the overdose of patriotism that Pandey’s previous films, Baby and especially unnecessarily MS Dhoni dabbled in.

In the end, Aiyaary fell short of my expectations. Pandey’s film wasn’t very well written BUT it was well acted. There’s something more to that. I respect Sid and Manoj for continuing to take roles that push the envelope for better cinema. Rakul Preet, another addition to Bajpayee’s cast, plays a rather sleek version of Paula Patton from Mission Impossible 4. The actors helped to get me through Aiyaary, but my faith in Neeraj never strays. I hope he takes the same cast, the same Naseruddin Shah scene and the same analytical mind of his to another, better, more-fleshed out film. Still, I’m going with 3 stars out of 5 for Aiyaary.