There is always a buzz when an Amitabh movie is on the prowl. These days the buzz is more frequent than what one would expect in bollywood for a 60+ actor. Amitabh is an exception to the rule that aged actors are not acceptable as main male leads. Without showering more redundant praise on my favorite Hindi Star, I will get down to business!
The Story: Amitabh is a successful doctor who is still trying to come to terms with the loss of his son in a car accident when he was driving. Bipasha is Amitabh’s college going enigmatic daughter. With Amitabh’s wife, the family is complete.
One fine rainy day, John bumps into Bipasha and falls for her and makes her fall in love with him. John is a psycho/maniac with a dark past. He is very obsessive, possessive and violent. Amitabh suspects John and figures out that he is not a good guy and asks Bipasha to stop the relationship. But, Bipasha is in no mood to listen. Amitabh’s dons the role of a father fighting all odds to save his daughter from the maniac at all costs.
A good recipe for a thriller?? Yes it is! But is it? Hmmm.. welll.. maybe.. actually no.. watch the movie and make up your mind!!
The storyline is promising falls in the category of those less successfully explored/exploited stories. Sadly, Aetbaar also succumbs to the wounds of bad direction and practically no editing.
When we go buy a shirt, One will certainly not buy a shirt which is full of uncut threads and crumpled look. On those lines, Aetbaar has come straight out of the production factory without going passing the quality control. I think I can hear people say ’’Stop that Gibberish!!’’ :-)
Amitabh’s presence does not completely make up for the bad direction, editing and completely incompetent performance of Bipasha and John. The movie is somewhere halfway between a thriller and a father-daughter bonding and that does not work to its advantage.
My other feelings about the movie: -
The movie is 30-40 minutes longer than what it deserves to be. It does not hold you attention except for the last 20 minutes (that is.. if you get to watch it! more on this as u read) Was the editor paid??
There were too many repetitive sequences between Amitabh & Bipasha and between Bipasha & John. Sparing a couple of them the rest did not add any value or interest to the movie.
Poor direction, many of the serious scenes were greeted with laughs. Initially I thought I was the only one finding the scenes funny then I realized that the whole theater thought the same!)
The person who did the role of Amitabh’s wife was too young and didnt fit the role.
Too many unexplained questions.. like, Why did John fall in love with Bipasha?, Why in the world does she fall in love with him?, Why in the world does she tolerate his violent behavior?, Why does she suddenly hate her mom and Amitabh?, Why does the ’Son Kills father’ News item appear in a latest newspaper when it is actually an event of the past. (I guess it was a 3 yeard old event) etc.
Amitabh goes though his role without much strain or effort. He is reliable as always. (exception being ’Boom’). He first sequence with Bipasha where he mimics college kids is well done. It is sad that he has no competition from anybody of his generation now.
Bipasha Puffs and Pants her way to another forced orgasm. And, whenever she takes a break from sobbing, she either says ’Tum mujhe dara rahe ho’ (u r scaring me) or ’I hate you’.
John’s acting ranges from being stone faced to one shivering from cold wave.
When people like Bipasha and John get to share screen time with Amitabh I feel optimistic about my chances. I don’t think I am too far off from my share of screen time. :)
Towards the end of the movie, when one feels the movie has ended there and starts walking to the nearest exit, Amitabh breaks into a dumb song. Everyone in the theater started walking and many even left... then we realize that the director is not yet done! Another 20 minutes to go! The song was awful, stupid and very badly timed.
The scene where John outwits Amitabh and returns to meet Bipasha, there should have been a love making sequence instead of a song. When will hindi movies mature from stupid songs to reality??? If people were to sing full length songs in reality then the world would be filled with poets, singers and invisible background scorers.
There is not much significance to the accident or the death of Amitabh’s son in the movie. It has nothing to do with the story.
The final action sequence is good.
Some of the locations and backgrounds in the movie are beautifully captured
The movie is overall ok to watch for time pass with friends. Just keep chatting and munching popcorns when the movie is running.
Rating: 2.5 for Amitabh