Aamir (2008)

This movie is a must watch... its a beautiful, it short and absolutely no nonsense..... brilliant pace and beautiful camera work... although its "inspired" from a Filipino movie Aamir is well directed by debut director Rajkumar Gupta ..

Your heart goes out to Aamir Ali and what he is been put through... and in a country like ours and the differences we have it gives you a whole new perspective on society and its pressures.. but how an ordinary man makes takes a stand.....Another good point of the movie is real locations.. no artificial sets .... the camera works its self well through the streets of Mumbai

this movie is a good movie and a must see

Fmovies: I had heard a lot about this movie. But somehow, never got around to seeing it. And what a time to watch it too! After having seen an interesting version of Mumbai in 'Slumdog Millionaire', here was yet another version of watching Mumbai bare itself unashamedly. What got me even more curious was that the whole crew of 'Aamir' was practically unknown and given the rave reviews it had been getting, I decided to take a chance. And boy! Am I glad I did!

'Aamir' is a story of Dr. Aamir Ali who returns from London to his home in Mumbai only to find that someone has kidnapped his entire family. All he has are clues given by an unknown face and cellular phone cues that take him to a mirage of places that are simmering with lower middle class Muslims. He finds himself face to face with a society he had never seen before yet all the time doing what he is being told in order to save his family. At the end of the day he finds himself sitting on a bus with a suitcase that he has been told contains a bomb. He is then told to get off the bus at the next traffic light leaving the suitcase behind.

This is as far as I want to tell you since the final few minutes of the movie are a revelation. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was completely taken aback by it or wasn't expecting it to happen, but the conviction with which a normal regular common man steps from those shadows of cowardice and attempts to personify his name 'Aamir' – a leader – was what I found most endearing. For a first time director, Raj Kumar Gupta surely treads a risky path as he tackles a burning issue in India head on. He enforces the ideologies that are so often taken for granted and makes the protagonist finally attempt the perfect antithesis of terror and a terrorist.

I must say, it was quite a show. The movie albeit, is slow in parts and could have used some faster reactions from the leading man and some chop offs here and there, but these are trivialities when compared to the message the movie attempts to send across. I recommend everyone to watch 'Aamir', as such 'in the face' almost surreal seeming plots very rarely make for a good viewing.

What happens when a director is in full control of his craft, his crew and his subject? You get an unexpected wonder like Aamir. Nevermind that it is built on a shoe-string budget, has a low profile cast and hardly had any publicity-spend.

The screenplay is brilliant. It is built piece by piece to create riveting drama. The camera work is raw and real. The locations are actual Mumbai mean streets and alleys. The supporting cast is very real. It is like Rajeev Khandelwal is walking through a real day in his life. Ah yes, Rajeev Khandelwal ! He is plain amazing. The character he plays is in a turmoil - vulnerable, helpless, frustrated, tired and angry. But Rajeev Khandelwal - he is just effortless. Easily the best performance of the year so far.

Raj Kumar Gupta makes a fine directorial debut. He does not fall into the clichés that a newcomer may be susceptible to. It would have been an easy choice to shoot the story in a dark night instead of the broad daylight that Gupta chose. He chose not to hide in darkness. He throws his craft open in blinding sunlight. Instead of a la-Hollywood film-noir style, he places his drama-thriller in the dusty Indian landscape.

Of course, there are overtures of terrorism and disillusionment of a community but these are not the highlights of the film. And thankfully, the film does not editorialize. It is basically a drama-thriller - and a good one.

There is excellent use of slow motion in the climax. It makes it the edge-of-the-seat moments of the film. Best film of this summer !

Aamir fmovies. A calorie free movie which sans the "phormoola" (the must-have superstitious ingredient for every Bollywood movie).

Aamir rests heavily on the technical department and needless to say it is rock solid, hence works big time. The concept is innovative, story is engrossing, screenplay is deft, music is captivating and of course direction is first rate. And above all, if the performances would have even fallen short by a degree – it would have been a fly in the ointment. Kudos to all the new faces, Rajeev Khandelwal deserves a special mention (and so does the lady who plays the hooker).

The director spares no moments to gets straight down to business and you get sucked into the whirl hole. The choice of locales deserves a special mention – very realistic and add the background score to it, you almost feel it is virtual reality you are experiencing.

Somewhere in between, you get déjà vu as though the entire plot is a bad prank (Bluffmaster/ The Game) – but eventually it dawns that the funny bone does not exist.

And ah yes – the ending couldn't have been better! As the credit rolls, you will be enlightened with a few answers.... and left with barrage of questions.

The TV star Rajeev Khandelwal makes an impressive movie debut with this one. The movie is a thriller which will keep you guessing all the way. We have seen similar thrillers like cellular or phone booth but this ones shows an entirely different scenario.

An Indian doctor on returning from London founds himself in precarious circumstances where his family is kidnapped and he is made to run around the city by goons. Its a simple story but told very effectively. The movie's impressive direction, editing and performances make sure that it never looses the pace.

The movie packs a punch and will be worth your money and time.

I don't have enough words to express my feelings about this movie. Never before in Hindi cinema, anyone has made such a thriller (without introducing any ghosts).

Brilliant direction, story, camera work, background music is far beyond expectation, special credit goes to director for choosing such real life locations during shooting. No rush of characters, no additional drama..... simply the director has filled everything up to the brim perfectly.

Excellent acting by Amir, I can't remember his name, probably Rajiv.....congrats man, you can expect "critics" award next year, some of the incidents in the story are almost our common life experiences like the custom officer matter.

Overall, it is simply a masterpiece. I don't know whether people in India will get to know about the movie or not ?? Last year such an unexpected movie came out "Jhony Gaddar" but this one is far better than that dealing with a real life story from different angles.