Naam Shabana review: A chase worth giving up

A predictable and drawn-out affair, Naam Shabana isn't the thriller spy story we've been waiting for

Two years after an Indian intelligence agent called Shabana showed off her kickass moves in Neeraj Pandey’s Baby (2015), Shabana returned to the big screen this Friday. And this time around, unlike the cameo appearance in Baby, Shabana has almost two-and-a-half hours dedicated to her.

Directed by Shivam Nair, Naam Shabana is essentially a story of the making of a counter-intelligence field agent. It breezes through how a college-going commerce student, Shabana Khan, portrayed by Taapsee Pannu, becomes involved in the hunt for a super-villain called Mikhail. 

Much like a modern Don (think Shah Rukh Khan’s Don, not Big B’s) Mikhail is a globe-trotting arms trader who also dabbles in the flesh trade: intelligence agencies from across the world have been on his trail for 10 years, but he manages to give the good guys the slip every time they track him down (yes, all movie villains are smart that way). 

When the good guys do come in close quarters with Mikhail, essayed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, they don’t quite escape his signature choking move. So when Ranveer Singh (Manoj Bajpayee), the chief of intelligence, finally gets some leads in the hunt for Mikhail, he offers Shabana a deal she can’t refuse: vigilante justice for the death of a loved one. In return, Shabana must do as he asks. 

Seated in a room where multiple television screens seamlessly stream live video from India’s streets, Singh has been closely monitoring Shabana ever since she was sent to a juvenile home. And when the opportunity presents itself, Singh recruits Shabana to “the agency” the primary goal of which is “national security at any cost.”

Pannu, the actor whose performance in Pink will always be counted among the highlights of her career, shines in Naam Shabana too. There’s a controlled aggression simmering just under the skin of the character she portrays: as Shabana, Pannu has a repertoire of full contact Kudo punches and kicks. 

And in the brief scene or two where Shabana doesn’t think twice before lashing out at eve-teasers, Pannu is also the everyday-woman waiting for the chance to punch the commonly-found Roadside Romeo.

Logic dictates that every super spy must have a dark and painful past, a life that makes them the fearless daredevils they are. The makers of Naam Shabana have, thankfully, given Shabana a backstory that could incite a tear or two, but unfortunately it’s her present-day life that makes one feel that the film is dragging its feet. And dreadfully so. 

Naam Shabana desperately lacks a well-fleshed out plot line. The script, credited to Pandey, does no justice to Shabana, and Sukumaran’s talents are wasted in the film. 

Even the dialogues are lame and cringe-worthy at times. In the scene where Shabana is officially recruited, her boss, Singh, dubiously hints at how her religion (Islam) opens many closed doors. “Women are born spies; they come pre-configured,” he tells her. In another scene, the villain who continuously changes his identity using advanced plastic surgery like it’s as easy as buying a loaf of bread, tells his doctor: “While you’re at it, make me more handsome.”  

Even Akshay Kumar’s smooth cameo appearance doesn’t spell out to be the film’s saving grace. Quite counter-productively, it makes you wonder why Kumar’s character has to literally take the protagonist by the hand and rush out of life-and-death situations. This makes you question why Shabana, who doesn’t usually feel fear, suddenly freeze in crucial situations.

After the success of Baby and praise for Shabana’s adrenaline-pumping action sequence in a Kathmandu hotel, the film’s makers may have felt the need to tell her story. What they’ve yet to interpret is that the no-nonsense Shabana, steeled by her past, may need some guidance, but she doesn’t need any saving. She can do that on her own.    

Best to enter the theatre without the expectation that Naam Shabana will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch the film for Pannu’s portrayal of Shabana, or only if you need to kill time between connecting flights and trains, or you need an excuse to eat popcorn.