It has been a while since Bollywood has churned good thriller films. Films like Kahaani, Manorama-Six Feet Under, Error 404 or Phobia had a good twist which will remain embedded in your memories. Will Ittefaq be able to create enough tension to keep audience at bay ? let us find out ..
Ittefaq tells the story of 2 suspects (Siddharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha) who are involved in a murder leading to 2 different stories that happened one night. The investigating officer (Akshaye Khanna) must be find out which story holds the fact.
First time director, Abhay Chopra, follows the foot-step of 1969's Ittefaq directed Yash Chopra but introduces his own world. The film has a pretty solid opening scenes involving car chases and the confrontation between Siddharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha. The film adds more flavor with Akshaye Khanna entering the scene and taking the charge of murder. The director does a fine job in building tension when two victims tell their own version of stories. In second half, you will be convinced with the suspect and while everything is about to end well, there will be another twist in the end which is unconvincing and fails to keep the momentum. This is where director could have created more impact with crisp editing and interesting plot.
As a first timer, Abhay Chopra does a fine job but is mowed down by loose second half. Screenplay is good but suffers towards the climax. Better writing would have helped. Cinematography is just about okay while the background is decent (should be good in thriller films). Siddharth Malhotra does well as Vikram Sethi and emotes his expression better than his previous films. Sonakshi Sinha is wooden. It is Akshay Khanna who steals the show with his upright performance. He infuses humor in his character and is even speaks serious tone when investigating the complex case.
Overall, a fair attempt to show the double murder but is saddened by the weak spot. Decent 2.75 / 5
