Along with all the other said-and-done factors that make a movie successful, there is that unnamed X factor that is essential for a movie to click. At no point during this movie do you actually get a kick, nowhere that you actually sit back and enjoy yourself completely. The biggest problem with Ek Ajnabee is that the best frame of the entire movie is the last frame. The movie begins promisingly, with a good rap track with the opening credits.The introduction of Bacchhan is quite undramatic.
<The plot in brief>: Rampal, the owner of a club, and having served under Bacchan years ago in the Indian Army, calls Bachhan to Bangkok for an assignment.Bacchan is to be the bodyguard to the daughter of a wealthy Indian family settled in Bangkok.
Although slightly against his wishes, he accepts the job.. and then....
<What works for the movie>: Amitabh Bacchan, right from the first frame to the last frame exudes style and looks like a million dollars.
The location, Bangkok, provides a fresh look to the script.
The sequences between the child and Amitabh are well executed.
Perizaad Zorabian as the mother has done a fair job, performing above your expectations in a couple of scenes.
Rampal looks at ease in his role, mouthing his dialogues with confidence.
Vikram Chatwal, making his debut, is passable.At least he doesnt ham.
< What works against the movie> Plenty!
The frames keep changing from black and white to bright colours. Your eyes start to hurt towards the end with the constant change in the brightness of the screen.
During almost all important scenes, there is a high strung female soprano voice going for it in the background. After a while it does get annoying...I mean, its allright if John Travolta and Nicholas Cage are pointing guns at each other(John Woo’s Face Off) but a baniyan clad Arjun Rampal is not exactly the same thing.
Bacchans sudden change of heart towards the girl is not explained properly.
Too much attention is given to the styling of the characters.
The soundtrack is nothing to get excited about with the title song seeming a tad out of place.
After the climax when the story moves ahead by 15 years, Bacchan is shown not to have aged at all!!
To sum up, Ek Ajnabee has a fair story which could have been treated differently. Amitabh Bacchhan has lent this project a good amount of credibility, making some atrocious scenes seem plausible. Imagine, any other other actor telling the Bad Guy that he has kept a bomb in his A** !!
After the movie, one cant help being slightly confused as to what to make of this movie.... A honest effort, a Hollywood rip off (Man on Fire, possibly?), a one man show or a directorial debacle.
Watch Ek Ajnabee at your own peril.