Anil Sharma returns to direction after a gap of five years with Genius. Known for delivering a blockbuster with Sunny Deol in Gadar - Ek Prem Katha, Anil is now launching his son Utkarsh Sharma with his latest film. Ishita Chauhan is the female lead, while Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the main antagonist. Genius also stars Mithun Chakraborty and Ayesha Jhulka. Our in-house critic Sreeju Sudhakaran is watching the movie and here's what he has to say about the first half of Genius -

"A botched mission in Porbandar makes RAW agent Vasudev Shastri lose his team and leaves him crippled and hearing-impaired. Seven months later, he returns to join his office, but he is asked to leave as his seniors feel he is incompetent for service and blames him for the failure of the mission. Under the care of his girlfriend, Vasudev reminisces his past, how he came into IIT, how he fell in love, gets hired in RAW and land himself in the mess at the start.

The movie is tailored to be a perfect launchpad for Utkarsh, though his father's direction brings the movie back to the '90s. The debutante shows promise and he delivers monologues with ease. However, with a stilted character, there is limited scope for him to outperform his peers. The first half is filled with flashbacks, typical college romance, too many songs and then settles itself into thriller mode. Nawazuddin Siddiqui makes his entry near the interval and the spirits feel lifted seeing him. Hoping that the clash between the so-called geniuses can make the second half better.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 23, 2018 05:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).