I was pretty excited to be watching a movie on the day of its release, after a long, long time. I think the last one was The Dark Knight, back in 2008! This was a blink decision made over a phone-call with a close friend. Thank you, Mash!
Compared to a lot of movies that keep getting churned out, this offering from Neeraj Pandey, on a serious, yet what's turning out to be a monotonous subject these days - stereotypical terrorism - is slick and watchable.
But somewhere you feel that things are filmy and unrealistic. There is a sense of deja-vu when it comes to the characterization or the script, which makes this quite predictable. Anupam Kher was okay, but not as impressive as in the other two Neeraj Pandey outings. Rana doesn't have many dialogues to mouth, and appears pleasing to the eye with his beefy physique.
I was pretty surprised when the intermission arrived, barely 50 minutes into the film. The second half is almost double of the first-half, at almost an hour and a half, but much better.
If you compare it with Neeraj Pandey had to offer with A Wednesday and Special 26, this possibly ranks 3rd. But that's not just because the director has set himself with such high benchmarks earlier, but he's just turned lazier with the script, here. There is still something that this movie movie lacks: it feels like plain curd-rice without the pickles or the sides.
The screenplay and the dialogues appear to be too filmy. Certain actors, like Danny Denzongpa, appear like news-readers, reading a report card, while conversing or giving out instructions. Neeraj Pandey, the conversations need to be natural and real. This is where the Zero Dark Thirties and the American Snipers make the difference. Our films don't need to be preachy. The subject deserves more intelligence (pun intended!) than what's depicted in the film. I understand that it's not an easy genre to make, but at the same time, this one is more like a formula-film, where all that the hero tries turns to gold, and how EASILY the good presides over evil.
Here's what I enjoyed -
1. Akshay Kumar is absolutely stupendous! You'd love him for what he is doing. This one is his show, all the way. And I feel that this role was even better compared to what he did in Special-26, because this one had lesser expressions. He was required to be stiff, and he does that in a wonderfully muted manner.
2. Tapsee Pannu's action scene with Sushant Singh is well-executed and pacy. It was possibly the best part of the movie, after Akshay's acting.
3. The locations. You can see that a lot of work has gone into it.
4. I enjoyed how Neeraj Pandey chose to show Akki's character's human side. Or the under-played romance between the officer and his wife. And how he has used English and the SMS / texting feature on screen to depict the love between the actor and his wife. (I also wondered about the ethical hackers and / or programmers that the Indian police uses, and what it would be like coming face to face with such an individual.)
5. Kay Kay Menon - the man doesn't have to speak, and is still a natural! Very impressive that you just look at the roles that he plays, not at the actor.
6. It does have it's own Argo moment in the airport scene towards the climax.
7. The scene where Akshay Kumar's character narrates a 'kissa' to the Jihadi groomer in our own backyard.
8. I had a hunch that one character in the movie would probably turn out to be an antagonist, and was glad it was just the director mind-bending me. LOL!
Neeraj Pandey exhibits movie after movie that he can come up with one good script after another. But he sure could have made this more complex and real. I hope his laziness doesn't continue, and that he soon wakes up from his 'nap'.
Compared to a lot of movies that keep getting churned out, this offering from Neeraj Pandey, on a serious, yet what's turning out to be a monotonous subject these days - stereotypical terrorism - is slick and watchable.
But somewhere you feel that things are filmy and unrealistic. There is a sense of deja-vu when it comes to the characterization or the script, which makes this quite predictable. Anupam Kher was okay, but not as impressive as in the other two Neeraj Pandey outings. Rana doesn't have many dialogues to mouth, and appears pleasing to the eye with his beefy physique.
I was pretty surprised when the intermission arrived, barely 50 minutes into the film. The second half is almost double of the first-half, at almost an hour and a half, but much better.
If you compare it with Neeraj Pandey had to offer with A Wednesday and Special 26, this possibly ranks 3rd. But that's not just because the director has set himself with such high benchmarks earlier, but he's just turned lazier with the script, here. There is still something that this movie movie lacks: it feels like plain curd-rice without the pickles or the sides.
The screenplay and the dialogues appear to be too filmy. Certain actors, like Danny Denzongpa, appear like news-readers, reading a report card, while conversing or giving out instructions. Neeraj Pandey, the conversations need to be natural and real. This is where the Zero Dark Thirties and the American Snipers make the difference. Our films don't need to be preachy. The subject deserves more intelligence (pun intended!) than what's depicted in the film. I understand that it's not an easy genre to make, but at the same time, this one is more like a formula-film, where all that the hero tries turns to gold, and how EASILY the good presides over evil.
Here's what I enjoyed -
1. Akshay Kumar is absolutely stupendous! You'd love him for what he is doing. This one is his show, all the way. And I feel that this role was even better compared to what he did in Special-26, because this one had lesser expressions. He was required to be stiff, and he does that in a wonderfully muted manner.
2. Tapsee Pannu's action scene with Sushant Singh is well-executed and pacy. It was possibly the best part of the movie, after Akshay's acting.
3. The locations. You can see that a lot of work has gone into it.
4. I enjoyed how Neeraj Pandey chose to show Akki's character's human side. Or the under-played romance between the officer and his wife. And how he has used English and the SMS / texting feature on screen to depict the love between the actor and his wife. (I also wondered about the ethical hackers and / or programmers that the Indian police uses, and what it would be like coming face to face with such an individual.)
5. Kay Kay Menon - the man doesn't have to speak, and is still a natural! Very impressive that you just look at the roles that he plays, not at the actor.
6. It does have it's own Argo moment in the airport scene towards the climax.
7. The scene where Akshay Kumar's character narrates a 'kissa' to the Jihadi groomer in our own backyard.
8. I had a hunch that one character in the movie would probably turn out to be an antagonist, and was glad it was just the director mind-bending me. LOL!
Neeraj Pandey exhibits movie after movie that he can come up with one good script after another. But he sure could have made this more complex and real. I hope his laziness doesn't continue, and that he soon wakes up from his 'nap'.
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