Noor movie review: Sonakshi's performance can't save this contrived affair

Director: Sunhil Sippy

Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Purab Kohli, Shibani Dandekar, Kanan Gill, Manish Choudhary

It took sixteen long years for director Sunhil Sippy to come back with his next directorial Noor and he arrived with a not so hard bang. Noor is essentially a social drama that tracks the journey of a journalist covering the basic issues of Mumbai city like safety, sanitation and scams. The film also is based on the novel Karachi, You’re Killing Me written by Saba Imtiaz who has also written the screenplay of the film.

Noor (Sonakshi Sinha), a passionate journalist who works in a news agency owned by Shekhar Das (Manish Choudhary) is waiting for her big break. She is single at the age of 30, overloaded with boredom and not much happy about her yellow journalism. Her childhood friends Zaara (Shibani Dandekar) and Saad (Kanan Gill) try hard enough to make Noor’s life happening but to no avail until she meets a famous ex-journalist turned photographer Ayan (Purab Kohli). The two click and start liking each other.

Noor’s life changes upside down when she incidentally cracks a big scam of organ harvesting without knowing the consequences. Will she able to expose the corrupt mastermind behind the scam or fail to save lives of several poor people? This is what Noor is all about.

Director Sunhil Sippy touches upon a regular subject of a girl emerging out a winner but with a quirk. The reviewer liked the fact that the director has executed the plot nicely, although adapted from a novel. The way he made the female protagonist a narrator of the story in the first half is enjoyable but he takes a little longer to establish the characters. However, they are noticeable.

Sunhil smartly showcases an interesting bit with actress Sunny Leone in the film in reference to her controversy that happened in 2016 on a popular television channel. The film is a good attempt by the director but has its own set of loopholes which makes it an average watch.

The biggest glitch in the film is its anti climax which dips down abruptly. Sunhil remains unsuccessful in culminating a gripping plot in the second half despite having a hook point at the interval which surely sends chills down your spine. The film clearly depicts the journey of Noor (Sonakshi Sinha) and not the unsolved miseries of the Mumbai city which is the basic plot of the film ironically. Also the film will remind you of No One Killed Jessica (2011).

Over to the actors now! Sonakshi Sinha, who is the knight in shining armour of the film, has truly arrived! It is so good to see her performing effortlessly. Her power packed performance in the film is an answer to those who don’t consider her a good actor. She debuted with Dabangg and went on to do entertainers like Rowdy Rathore, R Rajkumar and many more such films where she was used as filler. Her previous outings Akira and now Noor, she is growing with each film. Purab Kohli is so charming that it is easy to fall in love with him. Manish Choudhary, Shibani Dandekar and debutante Kanan Gill are convincing in their respective roles.

Although the music is composed by Naren Chandravarkar and Benedict Taylor, no songs are featured in the movie except for a romantic track and the Gulabi Aankhein remix which takes the story ahead. For the reviewer, a film with no songs is always a preference. Noor actually doesn’t have scope for any music because of its plot which keeps the viewer completely hooked. Keiko Nakahara has beautifully captured Mumbai throughout the film.

The story of a self-reliant young girl who innocently gets involved in a crime while exposing a scam could have been a winner but the floozy plot plays spoilsport. Watch Noor strictly for Sonakshi Sinha’s unmissable performance.