Yes, I am a die hard Bachchan fan, yes, I think that he has grabbed Bollywood by it’s neck, held it high, turned it over, and spanked it into change during it’s time of lethargy. Yes, the movie has mixed feelings for me. If you can live with that, read on.
Amitabh plays a nearing sixty, Black Label guzzling retired/courtmartialled (it’s not clear) armyman, Surya. One thing he isnt comfortable with is children. Apparently, he is appaled when his army chum and junior (Arjun Rampal) calls him from Mumbai to Bangkok to be a body guard to a seven year old girl.
The first half of the movie tells about how Surya (Amitabh) warms to the girl and she gets kidnapped. After a shooting scene, a la Agneepath, Surya is rendered into hospital, while the child is shot dead by the kidnapper after a botched ransom incident.
The movie is all about how Amitabh Bachchan single-handedly mows down the kidnapping cartel in Bangkok and lives to see another day.
There are a few flaws in the movie, all right. Such flaws which jut out loud and clear because the general stylishness and content quality of the movie.
What jarrs the viewer is the largely bloodless campaign by Surya. Nobody in the positive role dies. It’s all so pop cornish. Even Surya survives and is shown 15 years hence. One looks towards Khaki, where two completely not-needed-to-die characters are bumped off in the movie. Even the smallest of film makers know that death works in campaign movies!
Secondly, the action sequences leave a LOT to be desired. C’mon, yeah, yeah, it was all nicely choreographed and all, but man, where is the gore? Where is the bone crunching? Well, the promos told me of bones crunching and people decapicated. If I wanna see blurs in action, I can see that in real life during peak traffic hours!
The storyline is ok. I mean, yeah, it is a new concept and has it’s surprises, but guys, tell me, when noone is dying on the screen in a campaign movie, do you play attention? All the twists were like ’oh, okay, so it’s like this’. I know this is my second comparison to Khakee, but didnt everyone sit up and B**dy watch when Akshay Kumar died?
On the acting front, Perizaad Zorabian plays the rich mother quite well, Arjun Rampal survives the Bachchan juggernaut, because he IS a good actor, Rucha Vaidya debuts well, Vikram Chatwal graces.
All said and done, Ek Ajnabee is a out and out Bachchan movie, and only Bachchan fans, or those who miss guaranteed everyone lives action flicks like ’Rambo’ need to watch this movie.
Well, as for the title:
When a thoroughbred runs the race, the journey matters more than the destination and result!