Critics’ Verdict: ‘Ittefaq’ Manages to Hold the Viewer’s Attention

Check out how critics are reacting to Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha-starrer ‘Ittefaq’.

Film: Ittefaq
Director: Abhay Chopra
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Sonakshi Sinha, Akshaye Khanna

Excerpts from reviews of Ittefaq:

Credit where it’s due, this remake of Yash Chopra’s songless thriller does not skimp on the cheese. Made by Abhay Chopra, here is a film about an interrogation and differing accounts, and while that can be riveting - as we’ve seen in films like No One Killed Jessica and Talvar - things here are awfully basic and feebly performed. In a film about inscrutability, the only one hard to read is the cop. Both murder suspects look like they’re trying their hardest to act innocent, which, given their credentials, doesn’t go all that far. Despite the relatively brisk running time and a double murder at its heart, the case runs cold and Abhay Chopra’s film emerges unforgivably dull. The young man next to me in the theatre vanished after the intermission while I sighed enviously at the screen. ‘Who cares who dun it’ really doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Raja Sen, NDTV

Ittefaq has enough going for it to make it an entertaining experience. Crucial to its effectiveness is the manner in which it sustains interest levels from start to finish with its crisp storytelling, Nitin Baid’s editing that walks a fine line between keeping the narrative fast-paced and unhurried (it is just right), and the excellent balance between silent stretches interspersed with background music. Malhotra, Sinha and Khanna deliver credible performances. And Michal Sebastian Luka’s camerawork replete with close-ups of the three central characters, mostly in semi-lit spaces and golden glows, lends an air of realism to the proceedings. The slip-ups by the police are believable since we are all well acquainted with the state of Indian crime scene investigations (look no further than the very public Aarushi Talvar murder case for evidence).

Anna Vetticad, First Post

There are problems here. Initially, the background music calling attention to itself is not promising. The thread of inept cops and their banter starts off as annoying, not just because we’ve seen this kind of stuff before, but also because the quantum feels superfluous. Dev is prone to making smart-alecky comments, and you can see the dialogues being pressed in the service of old-style one-liners. They all start sounding too expository, dotting the Is and underlining the Ts. And a couple of elements end being clunkier than they should. But what makes up for all these things is that the film manages to sustain itself post that dreaded interval, the one thing that can sink mysteries. In fact, there’s more briskness and confidence in the way all the characters come across, and very little time is wasted as we go along.

Shubhra Gupta, The Indian Express