Kaabil is worth watching for Hrithik Roshan only. Had this movie starred another male lead, the movie would have fallen flat, and certainly not worth your money.

The premise is rather simple.

Rohan (Hrithik Roshan), is a blind man who does voice-over/ dubbing for a living. He is introduced to Supriya (Yami Gautam), or as Rohan calls her affectionately Su, is a blind woman who works for an NGO. The two meet over coffee and have an interesting conversation over not wanting to marry for personal reasons, and something about two negatives not creating a positive. They continue to meet and eventually decide to marry.

Life is going for the two lovebirds till one day Su catches the eye of a local legislator’s son, who rapes her. Rohan and Su go to the police but the corrupt lets them down leaving them frustrated and angry. One day after returning from work, Rohan makes a startling discovery: his wife has committed suicide.

Rohan, being blind, seeks out to avenge his wife’s death when he discovers another startling truth. This is where the movie becomes interesting as we witness our blind protagonist carry out the “perfect crime” in a “perfect world” against the corrupt law and order system.

Hrithik Roshan carries the movie on his shoulders. The movie is nothing without him, and what a fine actor he is. There are some who may not like him, but after watching him deliver such a stellar performance, they may change their minds. The strong character driven movie is what keeps the audience engrossed. His ability to convey such deep emotions playing a blind man is no easy feat and kudos to him for showing us such gravitas. He is committed and earnest which draws you in and at the end of it all, you cannot help yourself but root for him. That’s star power!

Yami Gautam plays her role to the T and does a decent job. Inspector Chaube was an interesting character too who blurs the line between doing good and bad at the same time.

However, the same cannot be said for the other characters, especially the villain, who merely come across as one-dimensional characters. The story had several plot holes too leaving you wondering about whether the director was lazy or hoped the audience wouldn’t notice it (How does Rohan get all the number? How does he know the location of the warehouse where he confronts the villain? How are people able to freely use construction lifts without any security?)

There were definitely shades of inspiration from other movies (Blind Fury, Wait Until Dark, Ek Villain and Badlapur -which is far superior) but Kaabil was refreshing to watch. There were some interesting dialogues too: making sure to have a plan B; how those who are blind can see a lot more than who can see; the difference between hearing and seeing and so on.

The songs were passable and forgettable, with one item song that was completely useless. Technically, there were some shoddy CG which dampened the quality of the movie.

Having said this, the movie solely belongs to Hrithik Roshan, and given the fact that movie is fast catching up in raking in profits compared to the other Bollywood blockbuster movie Raees, Hrithik Roshan has proved that he’s one of the best actors in Bollywood today and the audiences are connecting to him on an emotional level.

2 out of 5

Genre: Action, Drama

Director: Sanjay Gupta

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy, Rohit Roy

Rating: PG

Synopsis:  Rohan, a visually impaired man, seeks to avenge his wife’s death through some ingenious methods.

Running time: 139 mins

Seen at: Supercinema, Royal Palm, Lahore