Rating:
3.0/5
Star
Cast:
Kunal
Kapoor,
Ali
Haji,
Mohammad
Ali
Mir,
Muskaan
Jaferi,
Shaan
Grover
Director:
Vandana
Kataria
'The
villainy
you
teach
me,
I
will
execute,
and
it
shall
go
hard
but
I
will
better
the
instruction',
early
on
in
Vandana
Kataria's
Noblemen,
Murli
(Kunal
Kapoor),
a
dramatics
teacher
enacts
this
dialogue
from
William
Shakespeare's
'The
Merchant
Of
Venice'
to
a
bunch
of
students.
At
one
point,
he
even
tells
them,
'Theatre
imitates
life,'
unaware
that
one
of
the
students
out
there
would
soon
put
this
into
reality.
The
film
opens
at
Mount
Noble
High,
a
posh
all-boys
boarding
school
where
Shay
Sharma
(Ali
Haji)
and
his
'Robin'
Ganzi
aka
Ganesh
(Hardik
Thakker)
often
find
themselves
getting
bullied
by
their
seniors,
Arjun
(Ali
Mir)
and
Baadal
(Shaan
Grover).
Things
take
an
ugly
turn
when
Shay
refuses
to
let
go
of
the
part
of
Bassanio
in
the
Founders'
Day
play,
which
Baadal
is
keen
to
play.
When
their
dramatics
teacher
Murli
(Kunal
Kapoor)
casts
Baadal
as
Shay's
understudy
in
the
play,
the
bully
intensifies
until
it
robs
Shay
of
his
innocence
and
the
boy
sets
out
to
extract
'revenge'
which
leads
to
'dark'
events.
To
begin
with,
debutante
director
Vandana
Kataria
needs
to
take
a
bow
for
taking
up
a
hard-hitting
subject
and
keeping
it
as
raw
and
real
as
possible.
Her
narrative
is
held
up
by
threads
which
deal
with
important
themes
like
bullying,
drug
abuse,
peer
pressure,
homosexuality,
homophobia
and
toxic
masculinity.
At
times,
you
makes
you
makes
you
uncomfortable
in
your
seats
with
the
graphic
violence,
but
that's
much
needed.
There's
nothing
black
and
white
in
this
disturbing
world.
On
the
flipside,
the
film
loses
its
steam
at
places
and
slows
down,
but
the
performances
makes
sure
you
don't
lose
your
attention.
You
saw
Ali
Haji
play
the
cute
son
Rehaan
to
Aamir
Khan-Kajol
in
Aditya
Chopra's
Fanaa.
Now,
watch
him
as
Shy
in
'Noblemen'.
This
boy
takes
you
by
a
huge
surprise
and
how!
As
his
character
in
the
film
gets
darker
with
each
bullying
episode,
you
can't
help
drawing
comparisons
between
his
character
and
Shylock
(Merchant
Of
Venice).
Just
like
the
play,
it's
hard
to
decide
whether
he's
the
hero
or
the
antagonist
by
the
time
the
last
frame
rolls.
Equally
impressive
is
Hardik
Thakker
who
plays
his
friend
Ganesh.
You
loathe
Ali
Mir's
character
Arjun
and
that's
where
his
victory
lies.
Shaan
Grover
as
Baadal
gives
you
equal
moments
of
laugh
and
hate.
Muskaan
Jaffery
as
Pia
is
effective
in
her
part.
Kunal
Kapoor
and
Soni
Razdan
too
fit
perfectly
into
Shay's
world.
The
cinematography
never
puts
an
filter
in
this
world
that's
disturbing
at
every
level.
Simranjeet
Malhotra's
editing
scissors
could
have
been
a
little
more
sharper.
Vandana
Kataria's
Noblemen
is
not
for
the
faint-hearted.
It's
grim,
factual
and
most
importantly,
indispensable.
I
am
going
with
3
stars.