Ishaqzaade Movie Reviews
3.5
Taran Adarsh | bollywoodhungama.com
Habib Faisal's directorial debut DO DOONI CHAAR, starring Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor, depicted the aspirations of a middle-class family. It won immense critical acclaim, appreciation of the viewers and the Best Hindi Film National Award. Now his second film ISHAQZAADE has generated tremendous buzz thanks to its raw and edgy trailers, likable music and also for its setting -- the Hindi belt where guns still reign supremeRead full review3.5
Khalid Mohamed | The Asian Age
Eye-lock kiya jaaye. A girl, desperately hoping that her father will overlook her trespasses, implores, “I know in your heart you love me deeply. Nothing else matters.” As it happens it does. The father raises a gun, she is forced to flee but not without looking back. Maybe he’ll change his mind, her eyes continue to beg for his forgiveness. That’s one of the most emotionally lacerating moments in Ishaqzaade, co-written with producer Aditya Chopra and directed by Habib FaisalRead full review3.5
Mrigank Dhaniwala | Koimoi
Yash Raj Films’ Ishaqzaade is a love story of two youngsters belonging to two opposing political families. In a small town in UP where muscle powers reigns and politics is conducted through the muzzle of a gun, Parma (Arjun Kapoor) is one of the grandsons of Chauhan, a political leader who is contesting for the post of the MLA. Chauhan’s bête noire, Qureshi, is the current MLA of the area. Chauhan and Qureshi are sworn enemies, whose fight for supremacyRead full review3.0
Karishma Upadhyay | The Telegraph
Two people are born to hate each other. Their families are arch enemies who live in opposite ends of a small town. Love blossoms against all odds and then all hell breaks loose. Sounds familiar? From Ek Duje Ke Liye to Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, there have been quite a few interpretations of Romeo and Juliet. Set in a small town in north India, Ishaqzaade is a love story of Parma Chauhan (Arjun Kapoor) and Zoya Qureshi (Parineeti Chopra)Read full review3.0
Madhureeta Mukherjee | Times of India
It's the war of the roses. And it's as (t)horny as it can get. Splattered with bandooks and badmaashi, goondas and gaalis - starts this ajab prem kahani. Firebrands Parma (Arjun Kapoor) and Zoya (Parineeti Chopra) are childhood hate-mates, born into politically warring families who've avowed to hate unto death. So, in the rustic and earthy brown landscape of small-town Almore - where pocket guns are a fashion accessory, and local yokels could kill for anythingRead full review3.0
Shaheen Parkar | Mid-Day
The saga of the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet is a familiar tale. The subject has been attempted numerous times by filmmakers over the years and here’s one more bid. What matters is how you showcase the subject and the setting to still make it appealing. Writer-director Habib Faisal (who earlier made Do Dooni Chaar) sets his tale in a north Indian small town against a political backdrop. Romeo is Parma (Arjun Kapoor) and Juliet is ZoyaRead full review3.0
Martin D'Souza | Glamsham
This is dangerous Ishq! A violent love story set is a small town named Almore, somewhere in Uttarakhand, between the kids of two warring politicians belonging to different communities. While one is brash and in your face with his arrogance, the other, the only female in a joint family, is the feisty one with ambition to one day win the elections. He is a Hindu, and she a Muslim. He is a ruffian to the core; she has a tough exterior, is intelligent and is not afraid to bite the bulletRead full review3.0
Suparna Sharma | The Asian Age
Indians have a thing for khandaans, and nowhere more so than in politics and, of course, Bollywood. That’s why debuts of star kids are important landmarks in the filmy almanac. Everybody gets excited and makes these occasions special in the hope that a star will be born who will rule the box office. Few, however, make the cut. Rishi Kapoor did, with Bobby, and so did Aamir Khan with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Sunny Deol with Betaab and Hrithik RoshanRead full review3.0
Nikita Periwal | Film Street Journal
Set in Almore are two political families – the Qureshis and Chauhans are at war for the coveted MLA seat. While Zoya Qureshi (Parineeti Chopra) harbours ambitions of eventually being an MLA herself like her father Altaf Qureshi, Parma (Arjun Kapoor) makes constant efforts to please his ‘daadu’ Surya Chauhan in their ‘mardon ki haveli’ to prove his worth and help his clan overthrow the rivals. In their high-voltage fights, Parma makes Zoya pay for a humiliation by betraying her, thus starting the circle of revenge all over again. However his mother’s intervention and her subsequent death, stir a few changes in their relationship and hatred paves way for love.Read full review3.0
Trisha Gupta | Firstpost
With his new film Ishaqzaade, Habib Faisal takes a brave leap away from the aspirational middle class Delhi terrain he ploughed so expertly in Do Dooni Chaar (his directorial debut) and Band Baaja Baraat (which he wrote). In Ishaqzaade, set in the fictional small town of Almore, the dreams that drive Faisal’s characters are no longer the little desires of little people: a new car, a bigger binness. What the Chauhans and the Qureishis are fighting over is AlmoreRead full review3.0
Shilpa Jamkhandikar | Reuters
Habib Faisal’s “Ishaqzaade” has a lot going for it — there’s some great casting, good direction and performances. The milieu is different — arid, rugged, rural India and this is about feisty, gutsy lovers who are smart enough not to view the world through rose-tinted glasses.Read full review3.0
Anupama Chopra | Hindustan Times
I wonder if the Indian film ritual of intermission also functions as a creative road-block. Because so many fine films derail exactly there; I call it the curse of the second half. Ishaqzaade is one of these.Faisal sets up the story with great precision. Kapoor and Chopra are terrific as the explosive twosome. The music, composed by Amit Trivedi, works well.Which is why it’s so disappointing to see it unravel. Still, Ishaqzaade does provide half a good time. How many films can you say that for?Read full review2.5
Rajeev Masand | ibnlive.com
In a fictional small town in North India, battle lines are drawn between political families, the Chauhans and the Qureshis, sworn enemies, each seeking victory against the other in the forthcoming elections. Against this tense terrain, director Habib Faisal sets his Romeo & Juliet story, 'Ishaqzaade'. Arjun Kapoor is Parma, the loutish grandson of the Chauhan patriarch who gleefully loots local vendors and sets fire to their shops when they beg for a little compassionRead full review2.5
Aakanksha Naval-Shetye and Chaya Unnikrishnan | DNA India
Tu chhipkali, Tu saala kutta dog… that’s Parma and Zoya bickering as kids. The two not only belong to different religions, but also to two rival political families and just like the elders in their families, they can’t see eye to eye. It’s no different between them as grown-ups. Only now the bickering is also lavishly loaded with slaps, guns and gaalis. Parma’s (Arjun) grandfather Surya Chauhan and Zoya’s (Parineeti) dad Qureshi are fighting the electionsRead full review2.5
Saibal Chatterjee | NDTV Movies
This is a Yash Chopra production and the story has been co-written by Aditya Chopra, but no love story could be more unlike a Yash Raj Films romance than Ishaqzaade. It revolves around two small-town lovebirds (or call them what you will), who are neither as meek as songbirds nor do they speak the lingo of soft romantic love in the splendour of solitude. Their passion grows in the shadows of life-threatening violence. So what's new?Read full review2.5
Soumyadipta Banerjee | In.com
This film is like a good cricket shot – the ball makes it to the middle of the bat, the posture of the batsman is just right and there’s a good follow through. But does it mean that all good shots end up beyond the boundary ropes? If the shot doesn’t cross the boundary line, then would you call it a bad shot? The film is too close to what happens in the interiors of Uttar Pradesh in the name of religion and politics. Ishaqzaade is a good shot that might not end upRead full review2.5
Kunal Guha | Yahoo
Don’t go to watch this film hoping to be blown away by the story or the script or the unexpected ‘kahani mein twist’. There is very little that you’ve not seen somewhere before. Go for this film to slip into the mood and become a reckless lover with little care for repercussions or consequences. Go to watch this film to become an ‘Ishaqzaade’.Read full review2.5
Shubhra Gupta | Indian Express
But overall, it feels stale, this business of using religious differences to divide true love in just this way. You can dress it how you want, with the parents and relatives of both coming off authentic, and the lines which make you smile, but at its core, it’s same old same old :It’s all in there, and yet the result is mixed : some of ‘Ishqzaade’ hits the spot, the rest is a drag.Read full review2.5
Prateeksha Khot | Bollyspice
Ishaqzaade’s story may not be new but there are moments which you love and the performances which stay with you. Do watch this for the new phataka, Parineeti Chopra.Read full review2.0
Raja Sen | rediff.com
If we in India don't yet have a Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Actresses, we bloody well should. There is much to admire in Habib Faisal's new film, but each lovingly crafted nuance is reduced to window-dressing as this alarmingly regressive film first creates a memorably great heroine character, and then misogynistically puts her through the meat-grinder till her spirit breaks and she turns into yet another spunkless pushover. What Faisal does to his Zoya is shamefulRead full review2.0
Blessy Chettiar | DNA India
Watch if you must, go expecting nothing. You might just enjoy Ishaqzaade.Read full review