SHAB

Coming up with an interesting fictional story for a film is a great thing considering the Hindi cinema audience is hungry for one. Executing it the right way and connecting it with the audience is the most difficult thing. Onir has done both with Shab, he has a great story which is weakly executed. You find it so difficult to connect with the characters in the film.

Shab has four primary characters so four different plots somehow interconnected. Ashish Bisht comes to Delhi to become a model but destiny has some other plans for him. Raveena Tandon seems unhappy with her marriage and always finds happiness outside her marriage. Arpita Chatterjee has had a tragic past and it is difficult for her to live in present with it. Arseez Gandhi is unhappy with the fate of his relationship and is constantly struggling with it. So all these four plots may not be exceptional but sound very interesting for a film. Unfortunately Onir just couldn’t make these stories lively and you find it very hard to understand the characters or their stories. Yes there are some beautiful moments scattered all over the film but that is just not enough. It nowhere helps the film in becoming even little good. The story is a bit complicated and slightly difficult to understand especially what exactly the makers are trying to tell. Looks like Onir was finding it difficult to have proper control on his own story. The intensity in the scenes is highly missing. After I Am my expectations were sky high from Shab and they were not met completely.

Ashish Bisht is immensely promising as a debut. Assuming he is originally from the hilly region of the nation he has got the act absolutely perfect of a small town boy coming to city with big dreams. Arpita Chatterjee is genuine and that makes her act worth a watch. She has a little complex character which she portrays honestly. Raveena Tandon is superb but somewhere because of the weak screenplay her act doesn’t gets its due. Arseez Gandhi is raw. Compared to others it is only his character with whom you can connect easily. Rest of the cast including Sanjay Suri’s special appearance is nice and perfect. Performance wise Shab does not let you down.

Mithoon has composed some right songs for the film. They set the right mood when they play in the film. I was surprised by the music in the film, didn’t expect it to be this good. You will love all of them. Editing was bit problematic in the beginning where the story seems to be not moving but then it gets right. 

Overall Shab has a very good story and thats all about the film. It may work well as a book but as a film it is not that exciting, though the efforts were quite good. For a lack of a better word Shab is not bad as such but it is just not easily appealing.

Rating: 2.5/5