Zubaan

Cast: Sarah Jane Dias, Vicky Kaushal, Manish Choudhary, Meghna Malik, Raaghav Chanana

Writer/Director: Mozez Singh

Producer/s: Guneet Monga, Shaan Vyas, Mozez Singh

Plot: Zubaan is a coming-of-age Musical drama about a young man who has a fear of Music!

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Two and half stars)

Star Cast: Sarah Jane Dias, Vicky Kaushal

Director: Mozez Singh

What’s Good: Vicky Kaushal, Manish Chaudhari deliver strong performances in this tale of self-discovery.

What’s Bad: The film slumps badly in the second half. The editing is unfortunately not on par in spite of making it a crisp 118 minute affair.

Loo Break: May need more in the second half.

Watch or Not?: Zubaan has a platter of themes to offer and it may not be a great thing for everyone. It is a musical, coming of age tale of self-discover, a love story all rolled into one. This film may appeal to a very limited audience.

User Rating:

Our lead here is Dilsher (Vicky Kaushal), an overly ambitious lad from Gurdaspur. He has a troubled past, a stammering problem and a dream to be the ‘lion of Gurdaspur’ just like his idol, the business tycoon Gurcharan Sikand (Manish Chaudhari). Manipulating his way to attain his goal, Dilsher not only comes to Delhi, but also makes his way up to becoming Gurcharan’s close aide and the wishful son, much to the dislike of the latter’s wife Mandy (Meghna Mallik) and son Surya (Raghav Chanana).

In the midst of his new life as Dilsher Sikand, he meets Amira (Sarah Jane Dias), a singer who is mourning the death of her brother by drowning herself into music and drugs. It is Amira who makes him realize that music is his true calling, something that he learnt as a child from his father and that he doesn’t stammer when he sings.

The rest of the film chases Dilsher’s journey to self-discovery.

Zubaan Review: Script Analysis

Zubaan revolves around its protagonist Dilsher who is at times unscrupulous, at times humble and even star struck. His character is so real that everyone may relate to him at some point in the film. The story is layered enough so we shuttle between Dilsher’s past and present, which includes his troubled childhood due to his stammer as well as his father’s death that has left a huge impact on his life.

The best written scenes in the film remain, when Dilsher meets Gurcharan after years and is dumbfounded over the latter recognizing him so easily.

The places where the story truly lacks is, creating a proper setting for Dilsher and Amira to fall in love. Most of the their meetings seem abrupt in the story and the entire sequence of ‘Dhruvtara’ – a celebration that Amira organizes in the memory of her late brother is something that doesn’t fit rightly with this otherwise realistic tale. That is one sub-plot which seems quite over-the-top.

Zubaan’s disjointed plot, does not let you enjoy it as a whole and appeals only in parts. Co-written by the director, the film’s narrative fails to justify its character’s contradictions and forays into other themes such as being a musical on the side.

Zubaan Review: Star Performance

After winning hearts with Masaan’s Deepak, Vicky Kaushal once again delivers a superb performance. He impresses tremendously with his apt body language and the stammer as Dilsher. Picking up a near perfect Gurdaspur accent, the actor is easily the most watchable element in the film.

Second best performance after Vicky is none other than seasoned actor Manish Chaudhari. His act of a conniving business tycoon is brilliant.

Sarah Jane Dias as Amira turns out to be highly disappointing. She fails to leave an impact as an actor in the film.

Meghna Mallick and Raghav Chanana fit their roles quite aptly and form for a strong supporting cast in the film.