Movie Review Zid

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Bollywood films have many a times thrived on the very famous but true saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Keeping this as a central point, there have been many filmmakers who have tried their luck at the Box-Office. While some have succeeded, some did not. This week's release ZID treads on the same path with the addition of suspense. Does the film manage to pull in the audience with the time tested subject and that too with a handful of newcomers, let's analyze.

ZID starts off with a flashback which has the film's protagonist Rohan (Karanvir Sharma), who is a crime reporter by profession, narrating an incident to his newspaper's editor (Mohan Kapoor) and the area's DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police). He says that with the help of the editor, he found a rented house at his friend's outhouse. Even though the said place looks haunted, Rohan still adjusts himself to the situation despite having 'an absolute motionless and emotionless owner' who is wheel chair driven throughout and who also happens to be the father of Maya (debutante Manara). For Manara, it is love at first sight when she sees Rohan, who incidentally is 'recovering' from a breakup with Priya (Shraddha Das), his girlfriend of many years and who is now settled in London. While Maya leaves no stone unturned to get Rohan's attention, Rohan seems to be still 'lost in love' about Priya. One fateful night, when Rohan and Maya are returning drunk from the party, their car meets with an accident when it collides with a bike which was being driven by a lady named Nancy, who 'incidentally' happens to be Priya's step sister. But fearing the police and the law, both, Rohan and Maya prefer to bury the incident and remain mum and do not tell anyone about the same. The story takes a new turn when the police discover that Nancy wasn't killed in the accident, but was murdered by strangulation. That's when Priya comes back to India from London to hunt for Nancy's killers. But when Maya discovers Rohan and Priya's past, she sets out to finish off Priya as her love for Rohan now becomes an obsession. What forms the actual outcome is the real suspense of the film.

Does Priya become successful in tracking down her sister's killers? Are the police able to track down Nancy's real murderer? And does Maya's obsession with Rohan lead her to kill Priya and what is the suspense which Rohan keeps up his sleeve till the end which leaves everyone stunned is what forms the rest of the story.

ZID could possibly be the only film so far in Bollywood which doesn't have the director's name in its credits! Irrespective of who is actually the film's director, the film seems to be like a ship sailing in the middle of the sea without a captain. It's as directionless as that. The storyline of the film begins to confuse the viewer, immediately after the first 15-20 minutes. Even though the film makers have tried to establish Maya's character as an obsessive and psychotic one, her poor performance makes the said role look more childish and everything in that zone. As the film progresses, the story becomes as predictable as the characters' performances. While the first half of the film is too long, the second half is a bit comparatively bearable, mostly due to the revelation of the suspense and the factors that lead to it.

As far as the performances are concerned, there is hardly any known name or outstanding performance by anyone in the film. Even though this is Karanvir Sharma's second film, he seems to be struggling with his acting (esp. during emotional scenes). Despite this, he looks really confident on the screen. The seasoned actor Mohan Kapoor delivers a convincing performance. Shraddha Das (who had earlier done films like LUCKY KABOOTAR, LAHORE etc…) is average. The film's debutante actress Manaara seems to be struggling with her role and really needs an acting class pronto! Considering the lineage that she hails from (she is Priyanka Chopra's cousin sister), she really should have done her homework really well before facing the camera. She looks really confused throughout the film. The 'rawness' of her acting seems very apparent in the scenes where she talks to her (non-existing) sister on the phone. The actor who played the role of 'Inspector Moses' is irritating. On the other hand, full brownie points to the actor who plays the role of the DSP. Even though he had a short role, he looked very convincing. The rest of the cast help in the film to move forward.

The music (Sharib Sabri, Toshi Sabri) sounds a bit raw in the first listening, but later grows on you. Despite having a handful of melodious songs, it looks like they have been forced into the film. All of the sleaze and sex elements are limited to the songs.

The film's choreography (Salman Yusuff Khan, Ranju Verghese) is average. The work of the film's DoP (Yash Bhatt) is commendable as his efforts to capture Goa very differently. For some strange reason, there is less light used in the film, which could have otherwise 'lightened up' (quite literally) the film. The film's screenplay (Vivek Agnihotri, Rohit Malhotra) is above average, very much like the film's dialogues (Vivek Agnihotri, Rohit Malhotra).

On the whole, ZID is a very average thriller which has no stellar performances or a meaningful storyline.

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more