‘Fever’ movie review: Disappointing, twisted plot leaves you with a big headache

Directed by: Rajeev Jhaveri
Produced by: Ravi Agrawal, Mahesh Balekundri, Ajay Chabbria, Rajath Manjunath
Cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Gauahar Khan
Duration: 2 hours 07 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 1/5

After a gap of more than two years popular television actor Rajeev Khandelwal is back on big screen with his film ‘Fever’ releasing today. A suspense thriller, this Rajeev Jhaveri directorial features the actor playing an assassin. Looking at the trailer and songs, the film seemed promising with some nail-biting twist and turns, and not one but three stunning female leads. So will the ‘Fever’ of Rajeev Khandelwal remain with the viewers with this film? A big NO!

The plot begins with a suave, cool Armin Salem, a charming womaniser and a sharp contract killer. For Armin his target is someone he studies before laying them to rest in peace. A life filled with blood, money and women, takes a drastic turn as he meets with an accident in Valais, Switzerland. Waking up after four days in a hospital, Armin only recalls his name and that he has committed a crime which further keeps on disturbing his memory. He starts hallucinating some strange incidents with not one but two girls, Kavvya and Rhea. But as the story moves forward there are secrets which unveil some connection of Armin with Kavvya and Rhea beginning with the latter referring to him as Karan. Who is Karan? Will Armin be able to remember his real identity? What was the reason behind this accident? Is Armin’s life still under threat? All answers lie in this complicated, rather disappointing romantic suspense thriller ‘Fever’.

Talking about performances, Rajeev Khandelwal is known for delivering some good quality work in films, but perhaps his choice went wrong with ‘Fever’. His acting as Armin Salem, as expected is nice and engaging, but the impact is missing. In fact in a couple of scenes, it turns highly boring and even laughable due to the repeated lines and the same expression. Gauahar Khan as Kavvya is stunningly gorgeous but that is it. Her character has got the maximum screen time as compared to the two female leads and she even delivers good in few emotional scenes, but that’s the end. At a very integral point in the film, her expressions could have been much better, as she was seen in her past films ‘Ishaqzaade’ and ‘Rocket Singh: Salesman of the year’. Gemma Atkinson as Rhea is good, but the script doesn’t give her the opportunity to show her potential as a performer. Perhaps there are certain questions which are actually unanswered due to the so called thrilling twist and turns related to this character of Rhea.

The other two actresses Caterina Murino and Ankita Makwana are also introduced with Gemma in the movie. We wish that we could have written something if they at least had something like a guest appearance or special appearance. To be clear on this, they are just used as fillers in the storyline.

‘Fever’ is written by Rajeev Jhaveri who has also directed the film. About the writing, Rajeev has conceived a very good thrilling idea but his screenplay turns out to be too confusing and highly predictable in the second half. To add to it is the slow pace in the first half which shouldn’t be there at all in this specific genre. There is this very interesting point between reality and fiction in his story idea which is impressive but falls flat with those repeated dialogues and loose screenplay. Direction is fine but editing done by Rajeev himself again, could have been more crisp and sharp. But special mention should be given to his intro title edit which is one of the rare credible things you could see in ‘Fever’.

Technically the film has been shot very well, cinematographer Mujahid Raza deserves a special mention as the mood and tone of the film is a visual treat with the beautiful locations of Switzerland. The film has been majorly shot there.

The music of the film is given by multiple composers, but none of the songs except ‘Mile Ho Tum’ stays with you after leaving the cinema hall for its pure melody conveying the emotion of love beautifully.

To wrap it up, ‘Fever’ is something you could easily skip for this weekend as it would need a lot of patience to sit through the film. If you love to watch suspense thriller films and Rajeev Khandelwal’s acting, you could catch ‘Fever’ at your own risk.

WATCH TRAILER:

https://youtu.be/btYB_t4NoZ8