Aiyaary (2018) User Reviews

A GREAT ATTEMPT, BUT SOMETHING MISSING.

[sayonbiz · 5/10 · 2 August 2018]

The movie is overall good. The acting was good. The music was good.

But there were a lot of cons. Like a lots.

Firstly, I don't find the necessity of putting a haphazardly started romantic story (one between Siddharth and Rakul Preet) in the middle of an already ongoing confused story. It just completely felt like the romance was forcefully put into it. No good effort made into stitching it to the main story properly. Secondly, the movie scenes aren't properly sorted out in an order. They are all CLUMSY. Nothing is in place. You'll have to work a lot to figure out what is happening and why.

And by the time you get all sorted out, the movie ends so abruptly, that you find the entire story with a big QUESTION MARK ("?").

It is not a Neeraj Pandey film! *Disappointed!

[maulin5 · 5/10 · 16 February 2018]

Believe me, I am a Neeraj Pandey fan. I was mesmerized while watching Baby. Even the background score is still there in my mind. I think that was the best of Neeraj. He had given superb as well as good films, too. But, this is also absolutely true that Aiyaary is his worst film ever.

The story is very very very slow. Even it is not understandable. The flow and touch of Pandey is missing. I also feel that Manoj could have done it better. But, what can an actor do when he has nothing to perform! It is a harsh truth, but, this film has no element of film in it. That means, no entertainment, no drama, no thrills, no stunts, no grip, & even just a single song... Which was okay. I am hugely disappointed.

No actors have done superb, except Naseeruddin Shah. He is superb in his tiny role. I like Rakul Preet. Thank God, she was there, as my time passed by just watching her. I like just a single dialogue - 'Aap humari aanewali naslon ko kya degne!'

I know, I can't rate any movie like this. I always look good in everything. But, this film is a disaster. The climax, on which the story is based on, is like 'what! Really?'

It is not like a Neeraj Pandey film at all. I also think the film is not being edited at all! Save yourself, or jump in a dry well! This rating is only for their hard work and Naseer & Rakul's presence.

A long, wretched story line confused in its own elements.

[shekhutomar · 5/10 · 16 February 2018]

Neeraj Pandey's 'Aiyaary' is a confused film filled with a number of inter wining with each other. It is an espionage thriller set against the backdrop of Indian Armed Forces although it totally lacks his natural flair.

The film-maker starts the movie in his typical style full of twisted elements. However lack of time-frame and inconsistent narratives hampers the progress very early. The length of the movie also doesn't help the cause. The first half builds promisingly and by the end of it most of the movie unravels.

It starts off with Major Jai Bakshi(Siddharth Malhotra), an covert intelligence team-member gone rogue. He learns about the corruption among the higher authorities of the organisation while performing a surveillance role. At the same time he also holds a number of dark secrets that could set a chain of unwanted events.When Colonel Abhay Singh(Manoj Bajpayee), a highly trained military officer learns of his disappearance, he decides to take the matter in his own hands. Helping Jai is all this hara-kiri is his freelancing hacking expert girlfriend Sonia(Rakul Preet Singh).

The second half is all about the cat-and-mouse chase among the two protagonists trying to outsmart each other at every move. The climax has nothing extraordinary but the movie falls flat way before its end. The pace of the movie is up-and-down throughout. There are too many extra characters with unexplained motives. The director tries to trust the audience during many aspects of the movie which is a valiant attempt but the loopholes in the script doesn't allow him to do that.

Pandey again employs his chosen actors with some new faces. Manoj Bajpayee is in his usual brilliant form. Siddharth Mehrotra again fails to impress keeping more or less the same impression throughout the film. There are a few cameos from Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Adil Hussain, Kumud Mishra but they doesn't inspire much confidence.

'Aiyaary' is an ambitious effort but consists of many rookie mistakes and hence is not able to punch above its weight. Although lesser run time and fewer characters could have improved the story.

A confused, confused spy thriller

[pcsarkar · 2/10 · 3 July 2018]

The 2 stars are for Manoj Bajpai. The rest ham it up. Can't blame them. Excuse me, but what was the plot all about? Army housing scam in Mumbai.. a so called witness holed up in Paharganj, Delhi. So to expose the scam, he could have been made to blurt everything out in front of the TV cameras? So from where did Czech arms come in, as also an arms dealer from London, an elite assassin commando Unit of the Indian army (with a James Bond license to kill), a member of the Unit who goes rogue.. what was all this? And was Nasiruddin's blabber so vital that the scam fell through?

What a waste of time and what a waste of good actors, especially Manoj, Siddharth, Anupam Kher and Nasiruddin. Could not understand the London connection at all ... also could not understand why Siddharth was hobnobbing with the British MI6. The latter were pretty tame... LOL. Few of them got shot in the head.. there was no follow-up action. Jesuz!!

View this film at your own risk. It is a porridge of confused ideas.

Aiyaary Review: A decent and entertaining action thriller but definitely not the best one of Neeraj!

[Achyut_Prashast_Singh · 7/10 · 16 February 2018]

Movie: Aiyaary (UA): Action Thriller - Hindi

Positives:

• The performances of Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra and Naseeruddin Shah are simply the best thing about this film.
• Some dialogues are crisp and very well written.
• The action scenes are also good and well executed.
• The background score is amazing.
• Some thrills do work big time.
• Humour has been used very well throughout the film.
• The visual effects are surprisingly excellent.
• Cinematography is impressive.
• The first half starts on a terrific note and the surveillance sequences are gripping.

Negatives:

• The writing is uneven: The film at times relies a bit too much on subplots.
• The film doesn't have any major thrills or suspense to keep you glued totally.
• Rakul Preet's performance is decent but her character is not very well written.
• Like almost every Bollywood and Neeraj Pandey film, you'll find unwanted romance which slows the pace and affects the film negatively.
• The climax is good but the ending is dragged a bit.
• The editing is also disappointing as the film's length could've been easily trimmed.

Repeat value: Only for a few sequences

Overall, AIYAARY, the much-hyped action thriller is a film totally for the class audiences which can even entertain masses but given the fact that above anything else, it lacks the signature thrill quotient of Neeraj Pandey's previously acclaimed films, it might not go down well with everyone. The film clearly misses Neeraj's signature style of writing but as a whole he doesn't disappoint and due to many positives, he renders the film watchable and enjoyable to a certain extent. If for nothing else, just watch the film for Manoj Bajpayee: he just doesn't prove but instead certifies himself as one of the most talented Indian actors ever.

Why Neeraj Pandey? Why ?

[AnonymousbutDilpreet002 · 1/10 · 23 June 2018]

Big fan of Neeraj Pandey . I like whatever he has made. A Wednesday set a new milestone in thriller genre, while Special 26 set a new trend of no nonsense con films and Baby was a benchmark for terrorism based films in Bollywood.

This time he tried to remake his earliest masterpiece. You know what I am saying. Two men with different views went against each other , while one strictly follows the political system and its principles the other is against it. The same story which made A Wednesday a hit, but doesn't work this time.

The 'common man' factor is missing. Neeraj Pandey's strength is to make movies with characters that connects well with us. But Aiyaary misses the point.

Another Important aspect of Neeraj Pandey films is acting. We have seen brilliant acing from Anupam and Naseer in A Wednesday , Almost everyone in Special 26(Akshay got more attention because he was not expected to do that kind of role) , Again everyone in Baby and Sushant Singh Rajput in M.S Dhoni. But this time, he chose the wrong person to lead. Siddarth Malhotra can not act(though he was a little better than here than in his previous films.). If he works with Neeraj Pandey in 50 more films , he will surely become a good actor(But 50 atleast).

The films becomes over the top at times. At almost 1 hour, we don't have any idea about what is going on. It is so confusing. There are few subplots among which, the real story lost.

It's not a Neeraj Pandey film at all.

AIYAARY, a thriller with a class

[agnihotrisanjay · 7/10 · 20 February 2018]

AIYAARY, is a thriller completely for the class audiences Manoj Bajpayee as usual nailed it. Nasiruddin Shah was impressive as always. Script was a bit weak. One can easily feel that although Puja Chopra's and Rakul Preet's performance are decent but their characters are not very well written. As a thriller novelist I am bound to say that in place of creating these two characters (Puja Chopra's role and Rakul Preet's role ) if the story writer could have just created one strong powerful character and written a good role.

Sanjay Agnihotri Novelist

An espionage thriller which lacks subtlety

[oazam · 5/10 · 16 February 2018]

Espionage thrillers are surely a good source of entertainment for the audience because of how it will keep you to the edge of your seat throughout those films but this one all of a sudden becomes a compromising victim especially for a famous filmmaker like Neeraj Pandey.

So Abhay Singh, a Colonel in the Indian Army who doesn't play by the rules and Jai Bakshi, a Major in the Indian Army and also Abhay's protege. Due to political corrupton, their friendship between dissolves and Jai goes into hiding. How Abhay finds Jai and set aside their differences also to take down the corruptive side of India is basically what this film is all about.

The trailer was very overwheming despite the way it was edited, I was still excited for this film but quite frankly, it doesn't work as a whole film. Neeraj Pandey is a revolutionary director but his screenplay is the demeaning crime for Bollywood. The story had a moral but the sudden escalation of boredom will just haunt the audience while watching this movie. The dialogues were very eccentric and it just didn't relate to the factors that were supposed to be included in an espionage thriller film.

As far as perfroamnces go, nothing to offer. Manjo Bajpayee was the only person who managed to nail it as the colonel of the army and seeing him in action was definitely a delight.

Siddarth Malhotra on the other hand isn't really known for his acting and seeing him in a new film doen't change anything honestly. Although he was fit for the role as a soldier but his acting dosen't alleviate the boredom.

Anupam Kher was only there for only a short period of time but he was vigilant in his role and Rakul Preet Singh and Pooja Chopra were just there.

The music was average at best and the album doesn't have much to offer. Lae Dooba is a song sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and she did a good job with it.

The action was shot nicely and it doesn't involve very high budgeted VFX and the cinematography really adds up to the locales of the film.

Overall, this film is a disappointment with poor writing and below average performances but Manoj Bajpayee will entertain you people for some time but this one is better worth watching on TV or Netflix.

2/5 - Neeraj Pandey, try again

A movie which every Indians should watch .

[Nikhiltigga · 6/10 · 1 March 2018]

I don't want to be a spoiler. I won't reveal the plot its awesome that's it and whenever this movie will come premiere on television I will watch it every time. Salute to neeraj pandey for this brilliant plot and brilliant casting of all the actors and actress. Its sad that some people doesn't understand it and said its a waste to see .

AIYAARY misses the mark and is a huge letdown on the account of its flawed script and the lengthy runtime

[fillerruth · 4/10 · 16 February 2018]

While the director Pandey tried to build on the suspense, he fails to keep the viewer's attention because of it's run time and clumsy writing. The movie talks about arms and ammunition scam for about one and a half hour, but ends with a focus on Aadarsh society Scam. The movie could have been salvaged by tighter editing but Praveen Kathikuloth fails to deliver on that front. On the whole, AIYAARY misses the mark and is a huge letdown on the account of its flawed script and the lengthy runtime. At the box office, it will be a disappointing fare.

If you are a fan of spy thrillers and Neeraj Pandey, you will have to stifle yawns while watching Aiyaary. However, if you appreciate the finer things in life like Manoj Bajpayee's flawless performance, you must book your tickets to the film because the actor is at the top of his game here.

but if you are going in with expectations that it will be another A Wednesday, Special 26 or Baby, be prepared: this film falls short with a half-baked story-line and weak characters.The one thing I look forward to while watching a Neeraj Pandey film is thrill. However, this one left me sitting at the edge of my seat restlessly waiting to gasp. A classic example of a well-intentioned film that isn't well executed! Watch this one only for honest performances and Sidharth Malhotra's jaw-dropping good looks.

Bollywood churns out ample films but this one is worth a watch. Keeping aside how it will fare at the Box-Office, Pad Man has definitely gets us thinking about the plight of women who cannot afford sanitary napkins. In villages, thousands of women contact deadly diseases during menstruation but are unable to afford and unaware of the benefits of using pads. This film must be appreciated. Therefore you all go and watch it.

An admirable attempt of a gripping suspense thriller

[shadikabir · 8/10 · 17 February 2018]

This film is another showpiece from Neeraj Pandey, who brought masterpieces like A Wednesday, Special 26, and Baby, which all met with positive responses, and critical acclaim. Aiyaary is not an complete action film at all, but rather a suspenseful espionage thriller, and a damn good one at that too (for those who can appreciate).

STORY: A colonel, Abhay Singh and his protégé, Major Jai Bakshi have a lasting relationship in the Indian Army and another unit. During surveillance when Jai, however, discovers the real inside to the country's system, he goes astray, carrying a secret which could bring down the government. Abhay only has a limited amount of time to catch the rogue agent and bring him back, before it's too late...

DIRECTION/WRITING: The writing overall is ok, but at times is very clumsy. The story is good, but the writing does spoil it a bit. The film starts off quite slow with the usual Neeraj trademark - a scattered storyline, and usually with his other films everything comes to light very quickly. However with this film it takes longer than normal to make sense of what's happening, and eats up half of the first half of the film. Astonishingly it takes even longer than that to establish some of the small but important characters. Pandey takes the best of the writing and creates a gripping thriller and a rather interesting cat and mouse chase. The film keeps you gripped in your seats, and some scenes are perfectly executed for this. But Neeraj couldn't save a few clumsily written scenes, with which the film can then test your patience to some extent. A few people might find themselves completely bewildered by the whole story and incomplete arcs, and maybe give bad word-of-mouth, but the majority will be content with the running and those who can appreciate will be ones most enjoying this film.

CAST: Siddarth Malhotra is a complete natural for his role and I could not think of any other actor who could act Jai Bakshi better. Manoj Bajpayee puts the most effort into his role, and makes it look effortless. He aces this role with ease, and looks great while doing it. Rakul Preet Singh is ok but wasn't really necessary for this film. Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah have minimal roles but act them very well. The casting is quite good and this film could be seen just for everyone's performances alone.

EDITING: Editing is one of this film's biggest cons. The film just has not been edited well at all. The film's length at 157 minutes could have been trimmed down a lot, especially around the start region. The film, however, is very gripping, and it goes by quickly, which is good for this.

MUSIC: There are only three songs to the album, but only one is put into the film, Lae Dooba, which is sung well by Sunidhi Chauhan. Yaad Hai and Shuru Kar fail to impress, and they picked the best out of the lot for the film. The songs do not interrupt the flowing narrative, which lets the movie go on and keeps the grip.

DIALOGUES: There are not many, but some clap-worthy dialogues worth listening to in the film.

Despite its let-downs, Aiyaary is the designated espionage thriller for Bollywood full of suspense and some action, which keeps the audience in their seat for more. Neeraj Pandey has done a great job to overcome its flaws. The film is definitely not one of the best of Neeraj's, but it is one to watch. There might be some incompleted parts, but like said earlier, "It's for the people who can appreciate."

A Welcoming effort for Indian Mainstream Cinema

[Son_of_Satan-666 · 7/10 · 31 July 2018]

After delivering genre bending hits like A Wednesday, Baby, Naam Shabana you have expectations from Neeraj Pandey while handling a spy thriller. Kudos goes to the director for delivering another espionage thriller. The plot of the film is too convoluted and becomes obscure with unnecessary sub plots an all. Motives of the character often becomes blur. But I am still giving this film 7 stars , I found it worth of my time as should you , if you follow this genre.

Nothing like A wenesday or Special 26 : Utter nonsense

[M-a-shazaib · 2/10 · 20 September 2018]

Just 2 minutes in, sublimal messaging starts - Indian intelligence or army seems to be trained by 'Mossad', really?

Story seems to get interesting when Jay goes rogue, you will be so disappointed how it turns out. Weapons lobby is shown bribing the army, the corruption Jay keeps talking about bla bla bla, at the end, you will be like WTF.

Looks like, Neeraj Pandey took several scrips, tossed a coun and made a mocktail, thats how this happened. Then google searched magic in urdu, synonyms of magic in urdu.... chose the most unlikely word and titled it Aiyari.

A wednesday & Special 26 were used to lure us all to watch it, Aiyari is nothing like these and is a really bad movie.

Disappointing

[abhiraut · 1/10 · 12 May 2018]

Aiyaar is someone who is master of disguise ... In move they show characters in another avatar just 2 times , that too only to avoid airport security with no link to story. All revolt of Siddarth Malhotra has no reason .... he could have achieved the same result by staying in army... Overall disappointing movie no story disconnected events and end has nothing to do with entire movie

Not an Original Neeraj Pandey Film. 1 star extra for manoj bajpayee

[drsarafhospital · 6/10 · 20 April 2018]

I went to aiyaary with great expectations from neeraj pandey, siddharth malhotra , manoj bajpayee even after negative reviews but it disappointed me. The movie took a lot of time to construct it's framework and characters. The 1st half was between ok and goodbut it all messed up in 2nd Half and an unsettled ending

Worst Hindi film i watched

[sooryaprakashs · 1/10 · 19 February 2019]

Made me pause the film as it was too slow to convey the message to the audience maybe the director forgot the essence of con thriller...eventhough he directed classics like baby,special 23...this film doesn't satisfy me...

A decent and admirable attempt in this genre

[mydove-44985 · 7/10 · 14 March 2023]

I thoroughly enjoyed and liked the film. This hindi film is not at the top of the list of spy thrillers. But undoubtedly worth a watch for the fans who love fast paced thrillers. The comparison to the director's other films is unnecessary and makes no sense. This film is for those who understand and enjoy this genre.

Manoj ji rocks👍 so understandably the focus is on him, which is rather good for the film. Sidharth Malhotra does a decent job in this film. Every actor try to weigh in on their roles. I do agree that a few things could have been better which could have improved the rating of the film. Nonetheless every minute was entertaining for me.

changing ones appearance

[beevenkat · 4/10 · 19 February 2020]

#Aiyaary means changing ones appearance with the help of magic. So both the lead actors, bajpayee n malhotra, appear in different looks in the film. While bajpayee is in splendid form, malhotra looks dashing. Both play indian army guys who r out to expose the bad guys, but have different ideologies. Kashmir is described as a flourishing industry which benefits many people. The adarsh housing society scam is also mentioned at the end, but it doesnt create the desired effect. Actors rakul, anupam n naseeruddin r wasted. Rating 2/5.

Cliched Movie, Important Story

[asubbu · 6/10 · 22 February 2024]

Cliched music, cliched action, cliched dialogue, cliched shots, unconvincing and boring love track, no humour, no emotional punch, cliched dog rescue, cliched graphics of hologram style blue displays and the list goes on.

It looks like a wannabe TV serial direecting inspired purely by cliched Hollywood espionage movies. What is the use of imitating Hollywood style direction if there is no on par action? Headache!

The movie is a disaster BUT this is a must watch because 1. Sheds light on Adarsh society scam and how a highly classified covert unit (TDS) got burned. From recent interviews it was revealed that all great army personnel of that team are now doing sub-par jobs in the army and lot of assets were permanently lost due to this.

2. The character arc of main lead Sidharth Malhotra is fresh and realistic.

The worst movie of the year,PERIOD.

[ravaltanmay · 1/10 · 17 February 2018]

Look whoever is reading this review, it's not a review it's my frustration, I'm not going to write who directed this and blah blah, I'm a MARVEL FAN and under some circumstances I have to watch this movie over Black Panther. at the very last moment my friends decided to watch Aiyaari over Black Panther and dragged me with them. let me start with what's wrong with this movie and the answer is - EVERYTHING. There is no script, there is no logic in the story. The title of the movie is Aiyaaryi which means ultimate trickery. but there is nothing to be called as Ultimate, Total number of tricks used in movie by Sidhharth and Manoj combined are three, Hrithik has used batter tricks in movie Dhoom 2. The main Question is What they were trying to accomplish in the movie, Sidhharth quits his job just to expose one scandal? What about the villain(Kapoor)? The way movie left so many questions unanswered it creates the big question that why the hell you even tried to make this movie?

Sorry, I've never written a movie review before, but I'm so frustrated on this movie that I made a user account on IMDB just to give it one star.

It's a ten because of the genre, which is lacking in Bollywood.

[cooldudestefan1990 · 10/10 · 21 February 2018]

The story takes a winding and criss-cross path, which is what appealed to me the most. There is not much action, this movie is more of a thriller and suspense. To be honest, I didn't expect many turns or "decisions" taken by the characters and also that it is rather realistic and grounded apart from the cinematic freedom ofc. You know the lead character is not gonna go bad, but the subtle acting and seriousness of Siddharth goes unnoticed by many. Manoj sir was fabulous as always, maybe more in-character and subtle than Wasseypur.The editing could have been better and a few big-time action sequences could have made it more appealing to people who can't watch movies with subtle and endearing details. For many reasons it reminded me of Blood Diamond except the protagonist doesn't die.

Less Espionage!! More Scam!!!

[prasaddukare · 6/10 · 20 February 2018]

In essence Aiyyary is more a Scam busting operation than a proper espionage film. This may be the reason where it loses the plot and becomes just a one time watch.

The start is good & very promising, the middle build up is elaborate, slow & bit disconnected, the wrap up is just " A plot opposite Sea Castle hotel in South Mumbai..... "

This is a Manoj Bajpayee film & he played it to perfection. 2 of his appearances are truly nice & could have been more elaborate than other dialogues & routine, run-of-the mill punch lines. Sidharth Malhotra plays good part as protegee & romance angle in the movie. Naseeruddin Shah even though underutilized gives a glimpse of what it could have been. Rakul Preet Singh not much to say.

Other characters, have very limited scope as Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Juhi Babbar got may be just 15-20 mins combine.

Huge Letdown

[bpghll28 · 3/10 · 17 February 2018]

I am one of those moviegoer who watch 3 or 4 movie in an year and that just for the sake of director rather than actor. Now Neeraj Pandey is one of those director whom I trust most specially when the genre is thriller. Now when I watched it's trailer with Anupam, Manoj Vajpayee and Naseer Sahab in it my expectations sky rocketed. I thought It will be the best ever of Neeraj Pandey. So is it.

NO. and that is a big NO It seemed that Neearj Pandey begin shooting with incomplete script in hand. He started with corruption in weapon deals so you get that the main premise of the movie is based on it. Than focus shifted to how honest officers are suffering and are like pawns for system. Than again story moved towards mentor and student conflict of thoughts and at climax it feels like we are watching a totally different movie. It seemed like screenplay is switching again and again.

In baby too there is no story but different missions and working of raw is on display . But last two mission of sushant singh and finale were fantastic. Here finale is shocking but not in positive way. Last 15 minutes is not even connected to premise and dont know what maker is thinking. Even name is not justified and they forcibly justify title by adding one or two scenes of flashback of protagonists.

Acting wise Manoj Vajpayee is brilliant and if his character was written smartly than it can be a landmark performance. Siddharth is like coming out straight away from KJO movie as he looked dapper and thats all. Anupam and Naseer it's first time that Neeraj underutilized veterans. Why he selected them for irrelevant roles is not understandable. Rakul preet kaur is there for just sake of it. Pooja chopra is just there to fill the space. Kumud Mishra though is really proving his talent again and again. Adil Hussain is okay.

So it;s very disappointing to see this kind of movie from brilliant director but I keep my finger crossed that we will not have another RGV in making.

No need to watch this moive.

[chetanthakur-35728 · 1/10 · 20 February 2018]

No need to watch this movie. really bad story and execution. wasted really fine talented actors.

Surprising indian movie

[chuckxx · 7/10 · 1 April 2022]

While the story has a lot of flaws, especially in the IT parts, it is a rare indian movie without the stupid singing and dancing. Also it is overly long and some scene could have been cut wihout losing anything in the story,the story still had some twists. There wasn't a lot of action and far from wanna be Bourne as someone claimed.