The film revolves around Divya(Meera) is a successful stage dancer. She leads a secluded and lonely life as she blames herself for the death of her parents in a accident that happened in her childhood. Driving home late one night after a shoot she meets with an unfortunate accident.
The accident has left Divya with unexplainable powers and Divya sees dirturbing and graphic visions of murders taking place. The case is given to Inspector Sujata Mehta(Koel Purie) who enables the help of a burnt out and guilt ridden Officer-Special Investigating Officer Rohan(Ashmit Patel) who has a tragic past of his own.
It is now evident that there is a serial killer on the loose who is killing girls at random with clear and precise edge slicing them to death in the most brutal way possible using a scalpel. The common thread between all the victims? They are all "bar girls" and "working girls".
Divya tells her story to the Police and although Inspector Sujata brushes her off as another loony, Rohan is smitten and fascinated by Divya and believes her. Divyas visions start to get stronger and along with Rohan she enters into a world of the supernatural, mystery, murder, fear, and death as she comes face to face with a manical killer...who is the killer? What is the killers motives?NAZAR provides the answers.
In terms of a story the film is clearly inspired mainly by the two films named above and also borrowing a lot from Hollywoods serial killer genre. There are even digs at "Hollywood serial killer films" in NAZAR. The story for the most moves at a brisk place but its the screenplay which is laden with flaws. Although the movie starts off with a bang and maintains its grip in the first half, its the second half when the tempo starts to slacken and the movie starts to lose momentum only to pick up again. The pre-climax of the movie is superbly written and keeps the viewer on their edge.The identity of the killer comes a surprise although the killers motives come across as weak one feels disapointed at the final outcome.
As a director Soni Razdan makes a confident debut directing a genre that the Bhatt camp is established in. She handles the complex subject matter rather well although the movie does have problems with its pacing.One had wished that she had concentrated more on the "visions" and the killers past. Also the songs in the movie act as a speedbreaker-specially the title track under the waterfall which comes at the most inappropriate moment. She manages to direct the tense sequences with elan and some sequences in the movie clearly leave a impression on the viewer although one can see a Vikram Bhatt hangover in parts which remind the viewer of RAAZ, KASOOR and AETBAAR One just wishes she was backed by a better story/screenplay. The climax does boast of several twists which catch the viewer unaware and Razdan is able to keep the viewer gripped..but its the culmination of all these twists at the end which disapoint.Also the charatcers in the movie have become a Bhatt stereotype of sorts with the burnt out alcoholic cop with a past, the troubled heroine, the supporting cast.....even Bhatt regulars like Avtar Gill and Vishwajeet Pradhan fail to leave a register impact as they appear bored here unlike other films. The three scenes which are etched in the viewers minds are 1) Meeras interaction with Neena Gupta 2) Meeras interaction with the lady in the red light district who tells her the story about the killer bar girl and lastly 3) The visions that Meera has preclimax. But these scenes alone don't account for the whole movie.
In terms performances the movie is OK.
Ashmit Patel is wooden as a piece of wood. He delivers his dialogues with no feeling and clearly needs to work on his vopice modulation. He doesn't look the part of a cop at all and appears more as a prettyboy model for the most. Long locks, denim jeans, open shirts...he comes across as more of a John Abraham wanna-be for the most..
The entire film rests on Pakistani actress Meeras shoulders and she manages to spring a surprise with a confident debut performance. She handles the tense and horror moments with aplomb without ever going overboard and is a total natural on screen. The film asks her to give lots of shrieks and look scared and Meera does that convincingly. An actress of substance who will go places with the right roles. Also she looks stunning on screen-she is not your regular toothpick model, but a fuller figured woman with all the right curves.
The supporting cast is disapointing except Koel Purie. Purie manages to leave a mark in her role.
Aly Khan overacts like a moron. Vishwajeet Pradhan and Avtar Gill play their parts as usual. Neena Gupta impresses in her one sequence.Bobby Darling is wasted.
The Bhatts are always known for their SMASHINLY HIT musical scores which acts as their trump card mostof the time...time after time Bhatt films have trendsetting music right from AASHIQUI, DIL HAI KI MAANTA NAHIN, SADAK, FAREB, CRIMINAL, KASOOR, RAAZ, JISM, SAAYA, MURDER, and their latest hungama ZEHER. NAZAR on the other hand has a very weak musical score with the songs placed all at the wrong time. The opening track is show in true MTV style and is well picturised. The rest of the songs are not worthy of mention. Even the much hyped title song shot under the waterfall fails to impress although Meera looks gorgeous.
A film of this genre relies heavily on the background score..witness BHOOT for example. On the other hand NAZAR has a very ordinary background score, I felt that with a stronger background score the impact of the scary scenes could've been heightened.
Technically the film is good. The dark and creepy ambience of the film is well captured.
All up where does that leave NAZAR? Definetly better than ROG and ELAAN but not as good as their last product ZEHER. NAZAR on the whole disapoints despite having its moments. A heavily flawed screenplay(Why can't Meera just see the face of the killer?), a dull musical score and uneven pacing are the three main reasons......give it a watch if you are a ardent Mahesh Bhatt fan, otherwise go rent SAMAY-a Indias first "real" serial killer film.
Final Rating: * * *
