Shabnam Mousi - has engaging moments despite poor production values

Rating:- **1/2

You don't expect much from certain films, but they turn out to be better than your expectations. SHABNAM MOUSI is one of such films.

The film has its fun moments, good moments.

Shabnam [Ashutosh Rana] was born to a cop in Mumbai. Eunuchs find that the new-born child is an eunuch and decide to take her away.

The child is raised by Halima [Vijay Raaz], a eunuch, and grows under the influence and culture of eunuchs who are her daily companions. One day, the head eunuch, Amma [Vishwajeet Pradhan], decides to sell Shabnam to a truck driver, but Halima gets to know of it and a fight ensues. Halima gets killed in a freak accident and Shabnam is falsely accused of her murder.

Shabnam flees Mumbai and takes refuge in a small village in Madhya Pradesh. One night, Shabnam saves a village belle, Naina, from being raped by local goons. This is the handiwork of the local politician, Ratan Babu [Govind Namdeo], who doesn't want his son to marry Naina.

Meanwhile, it’s election time and Ratan Babu's opponent within the political party, Vinod [Ashok Samarth], who doesn't get the election ticket, convinces Shabnam to file her candidature against Ratan Babu.

However, Ratan Babu patches up with Vinod who, in turn, asks Shabnam to withdraw her candidature, but she refuses. As a way out, they hire a contract killer, Madan Pandit [Mukesh Tiwari], to eliminate Shabnam, but Madan has a change of heart when he confronts Shabnam and decides to help her.

In the end, Madan sacrifices his life to save Shabnam. What’s more, Shabnam wins the election.

Based on a real-life story, SHABNAM MOUSI has several engaging moments. A number of sequences in the first half are well executed and the pacing is just right. The viewer gets involved in the narrative since a story like this has rarely been told in Bollywood.

The film has been made in a commercial format. But the pace of the film slows down in the post-interval portions.

Some of the noteworthy sequences include are the one in the police station, soon after Ashutosh Rana is accused of murdering Vijay Raaz,the latter’s cremation where Ashutosh Rana confronts Vishwajeet Pradhan,the local goon attempting to rape Ashutosh Rana in front of the entire village, but Ashutosh overpowering him, and the final confrontation between Ashutosh and Govind, after the election results are declared.
On the flip side, the making of the film is very tacky. Better production values/sets would've helped.
Yogesh Bhardwaj's direction is satisfactory. Handling a complex subject like SHABNAM MOUSI is indeed a tough job, but Bhardwaj doesn't go overboard with melodrama. There's not much scope for music in a film like this and the songs just come and go. Dialogues [Aadesh K. Arjun] are pithy.

Ashutosh Rana has handled his part well. The precision with which he performs the role needs to be lauded. Another watchable performance comes from Mukesh Tiwari, who enacts a small but significant role. Ashok Samarth is another actor who is sure to be noticed.

Vijay Raaz and Vivek Shauq are competent. Govind Namdeo is efficient. Vishwajeet Pradhan is excellent. Paintal, in a brief role, impresses. Avtar Gill and Navni Parihar are alright.

On the whole, SHABNAM MOUSI is a sincere attempt, but a theme like this holds minimal appeal. What’s more, the film can suffer from lack of star-value and hype.