‘Kurbaan,’ the directorial debut of Rensil d'Silva, is an intensely-designed terror plot, which magnificently blends the problematic theme of the post-26/11 political-cultural identity of the Muslims with the commercial identity of the present-day Hindi cinema.  

The brisk-paced ‘Kurbaan,’ which begins as a love story between a University teacher Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) and her colleague Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan), suddenly changes track to appear more of a social film, keeping the viewers glued to their seats with a notable ‘thriller’ element.

The terrorist activity underlying the film comes to the fore after Avantika and Ehsaan get married and shift to New York, where Avantika happens to witness some terrorist operations in her neighborhood headed by a Muslim fundamentalist (Om Puri).

The romantic angle of the story is kept aptly concise, and duly given a backseat while highlighting somber issues associated with global terrorism.

The thriller aspect of the gripping story gains momentum after Avantika realizes that she is a pawn to a huge conspiracy, and secretly asks a television reporter Riyaaz (Vivek Oberoi) to help her. Riyaaz, a progressive American Muslim with a stanch understanding of the underlying politics, attempts to permeate the terrorist group to thwart their big plan.

Embracing a clearly neutral stand on global terrorism, ‘Kurbaan’ holds both the Muslim countries and the US equally responsible for terror activities; while keeping the film’s theme on the full-scale commercial track!