It’s extremely refreshing to see Bollywood make women-centric films much more often in the recent past. Also, they are no longer portraying them as the ‘damsel in distress’ like they used to do in the 80s and the 90s. Nowadays, actresses can kick ass and films like Dangal and Naam Shabana are proof.

The movie released this Friday to mostly bad reviews, so do read what the critics have to say before investing your hard-earned money.

The Hindu

“The film might appear radical enough to show a woman fight her way past the men but at the heart of things rests a very male, big boy world-view. There are locker room jokes about a drunk boyfriend being a liability and a drunk girlfriend an asset, about women being preconfigured as spies.”

The Times Of India

“It is only post-intermission, especially the last 35 minutes in which proceedings pick up. Sticking to a typical-action drama narrative that jumps from Mumbai to Goa, Vienna to Kuala Lumpur, with the arms dealer and the ISI agents playing a cat-and-mouse game, the film, is more an escapist fare than a realistic one.”

Hindustan Times

“Taapsee looks powerful and dangerous in the action sequences, thanks to Cyrill Raffaeli and Abbas Ali Moghul, the action directors. However, she seems to be quite uncomfortable in the scenes that require her to emote. She is very unconvincing as the woman who keeps her emotions bottled up but is extremely passionate in reality.”

The Indian Express

“The other problem is the plot. Or, more precisely, the lack of it. There’s a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing, from cool European cities to tropical desi locations, as the gang of spies, headed by Manoj Bajpayee’s chief, goes after a global arms kingpin who is also involved in trafficking and drugs. But you are left looking for a pulsing storyline in a film which is meant to focus upon the smarts of its leading lady, which, instead, gives us such unintentionally hilarious lines as: ‘women are born spies’. Or words to that effect.”

India Today

“It is perhaps to the director Shivam Nair’s credit that in spite of the loopholes, Naam Shabana gives us some enjoyable moments. Taapsee is the hero of the film, save in the few scenes with Akshay, when he steals the limelight from her because “itne door se aaya hoon, kuch toh karne do!” And although Taapsee shoulders the film, her name appears in the end credits only AFTER Akshay’s, in spite of his role being only an extended cameo. Sigh.”