The first thing anyone asks on seeing a new movie produced by the factory that is Bollywood is which English film is it copy of. Sometimes you get the answer by the director himself. I could not find any such thing in this case. Well, to the naive this film is almost carbon copy of Denzel Washington’s Man of Fire. Watch it first it is slightly more believable.
Now to the readers still persisting with this review here is the actual review of Ek Ajnabee. This film is a one man and one child show. Others are there for the kicks. Of course, Arjun Rampal is also a supposedly major character but he is not well sketched out. The film revolves around Amitabh who is ex army Colonel. A leader of a crack unit. He arrives in Bangkok to pick up the threads of his life on the calling of Arjun Rampal who is also ex army and had worked under him. Arjun now runs a dance bar and appears a sleazy character. Well he was kicked out of the army for disciplinary issues. Anyway Amitabh owed him as he had saved him from a terrorist camp. The flash backs depict the reason for the distraught state of Amitabh. During an operation he had accidently killed a small girl. The act haunted him and made him alcoholic.
He comes to Bangkok and Arjun Rampal hets him a job as a bodyguard of a wealthy Indian family. The opening scene shows that the number of kidnappings of Indian families had increased at an alarming rate. Anyway, since he came cheap he was hired despite his considerable age and excellent habits. He is charged with protecting a young girl who is unusually perceptive (Dakota Fanning in Man of Fire) and vulnerable. She tries her best to make friends with Amitabh but he remains aloof due to his past experience. The small girl is a born actress and looks sweet and mature convincingly. She makes almost everyone in the crowd wish for such a sweet little girl for a daughter. Anyway, They eventually become friends and Amitabh grows to love this little kid. Perizad is her mother who is good as modern rich woman. She loves her kid. Now, there is the bonding between the small girl and Amitabh which alone is worth buying the ticket. One day, the kid gets kidnapped from the premises of her Piano class and Amitabh after taking out half a dozen men lies in a pool of blood as he sees the child kidnapped.
Soon the ransom calls come and a corrupt policeman botches the whole thing and the brother of the kidnapper gets killed. As revenge the kidnapper executes the girl while her mother is on the phone listening to it. Amitabh learns of this and vows revenge. After this there are action sequence galore which seem a tad exaggerated and Amitabh looks a bit slow. However he gives an astonishing performance taking into consideration his age. I will leave the end out for you to see.
Cast - Amitabh - Outstanding
Arjun Rampal - Adequate.
Small Girl - Excellent
Perizaad - Adequate
Father of the child - Idiotic
Main Villain - Joker.
I must make a special mention of the racy background score. It keeps you interested and is really good. Music is good even if unnecessary. The editing is crisp and screenplay average. Camera is adeptly handled. It is surprisingly going to flop.