Plot
The
film
opens
in
Vienna,
Austria with
the
broad
daylight
murders
of
two
secret
agents
from
India.
Cut
to
Mumbai,
Maharashtra,
we
are
introduced
to
Shabana
Khan
(Taapsee
Pannu),
a
SYBCom
student
whose
life
revolves
around
her
mother
and
Kudo
training.
She
is
a
headstrong
girl
who
doesn't
wear
her
emotions
on the
sleeves
and
pretends
to
ignore
the
feelings
of
her
classmate
Jai
(Taheer
Shabbir
Mithaiwala)
who
is
head
over
heels
in
love
with
her.
Upon
Jai's
insistence,
Shabana
reveals
murky
details
of
her
past
as
the
reason
for
her
bitterness,
But
the
boy
stands
by
his
stance
and
melts
Shabana's
stone-cold
heart
leaving
a
room
for
a
romantic
song.
Unfortunately,
their
yet-to-begin
love
tale
is
cut
short
when
Shabana
falls
prey
to
eve-teasing
and
Jai
gets
killed
in
the
bargain.
As
she
clamours
for
justice
for
her
slained
lover,
she
receives
a
mysterious
call
from
a
secret
agency
who
wants
to
induct
her
into
their
organization
in
exchange
for offering her
help
to
eliminate
Jai's
killers.
Soon,
she
completes
her
vendetta
saga
and
is
sent
off
on
her
first
official
mission
which
involves
assisting
Ajay
Rajput
(Akshay
Kumar)
to
bump
off
a
global
arms
kingpin
Tony/
Mikhail
(Prithiviraj
Sukumaran)
in
Malaysia.
Direction
Naam
Shabana,
which
is
touted
to
be
a
spin-off
to
Neeraj
Pandey's
critically
acclaimed
Baby,
turns
out
to
a
damp
squid
and
leaves
you
heartbroken.
Blame
it
on
the
weak
and
disjointed
screenplay
which
doesn't
just
let
the
film
rise
above
the
average.
Shivam
Nair
pulls
off
a
decent
job
of
directing
but
fails
to
cover
up
the
loopholes
in
the
script
which
play
a
spoilsport.
What's
quite
surprising
is
that
this
film
has
been
written
by
the
same
man
(Neeraj
Pandey)
who
had
brilliantly
penned
Baby
that
stood
out
back
then
for
its
gripping
narrative
and
tensed
moments!
Performances
Just
like
the
name,
the
film
belongs
totally
to
Shabana
Khan
aka
Taapsee
Pannu.
She
gets
to
break
the
bones
and
indulge
in
some
serious
butt-kicking.
She
aces
the
action
scenes
like
a
pro
and
carries
the
film
on her slender
shoulders.
In
a
scene
or
two,
the
actress
even
gets
to
display
her
emotional
side
and
shines
in
those
moments.
Manoj
Bajpayee
delivers
what's
written
for
him
but
falls
short
of
giving
us
a
memorable
act
as
compared
to
his
last
few
performances.
Akshay
Kumar's
extended
cameo
completely
falls
flat
as
it
looks
forced.
You
just
see
him
randomly
popping
up
in
scenes
that
make
no
sense.
The
makers
seem
to
have
made
a
mockery
of
his
Baby
character
Ajay
Rajput
here!
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
as
the
main
villain
with
his
sharp
suits
and
studded
ear
is
passable
and
suffers
from
ridiculously
written
part.
Many
other
characters
from
Baby
too
show
up
in
the
film
but
they
do
more
damage
as
you
are
constantly
reminded
how
Naam
Shabana
fails
to
match
up
the
brilliance
of
the
2015
thriller
in
terms
of
storytelling
and
layering.
Technical
Aspects
Poor
writing,
lack
of
detailing and
lacklustre
dialogues
are
the
main
culprits
here.
The
first
half
of
the
film
is
a
drag.
Post
interval,
the
action
begins
but
soon
fizzles
out
as
you
predict
the
climax
from
miles
away.
Sudheer
Pansare's
cinematography
is
top-notch.
At
a
runtime
of
about
148
minutes,
Naam
Shabana
aims
to
treat
you
to
two
different
worlds
but
falters
in
its
attempt.
Music
This
Taapsee
Pannu
starrer
scores
low
for
music.
None
of
the
songs
stay
with
you
after
the
end-credits
roll.
In
fact,
they
hinder
the
narrative
and
only
add
minutes
to
the
film.
Verdict
Naam
Shabana
is
a
major
letdown
especially
when
you
walk
into
the
theatre
halls carrying
good
ol'
Baby
nostalgia
and
expecting
a
similar
adrenaline
rush.
In
a
nutshell,
we
would prefer
to
settle
for
a
rewatch
of
the
2015 espionage-thriller
instead!