Zinda- where do I start? Should I gloss over the few minuscule good parts of the movie or simply go on about the bad parts. I think i’ll start with the former since it will get over quickly.
The acting is not so bad, and so is not the first half. Like all Sanjay Gupta flicks, the emphasis is more on style than content. Good camerawork, good editing, and the music, especially, the title track is definitely better than the average. Also, really liked the video of the title track. Very well shot.
Par. Par. Par.
Story ka kya hoga?
It doesnt start off on a bad premise, but meanders into one.
Sanjay Dutt (Bala), his pretty wife (Celina Jaitley- in clothes completely out-of-sync with that time) have just moved into Bangkok sometime in 1990. However, he gets kidnapped there and is locked in a cell. Why? is the question and he doesn’t know. Locked up for 14 yrs, fed only fried wantons with 24 hr camera monitoring and some television for company, he is finally released for 4 days (why specifically 4 days? Good question. Even the scriptwriter doesn’t know). Once out, he finds some money in his coat pocket and a cellphone through which his nemesis gives him clues to find him. En route, he meets Jenny (Lara Dutta), as an Indian cab driver in Bangkok with a thick Punjabi accent which she eventually forgets as the movie moves forward. As his first step, he starts searching for all the places that serve fried wantons, as he would know the exact flavour of the only thing that he has eaten for fourteen years. And from there, he follows the trail set out for him by.....John Abraham {those few full stops in the middle are for impact...you know as in the subtle form of ’Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s presenting....(drums rolling) John Abraham}. What? John Abraham is the bad guy? Could be couldn’t be. I dont want to fully give out the story, so I’ll end it here.
My other certain grouses with the story and the execution- Sanjay Dutt has not aged the way a man would in 14 yrs. Just adding a few grey hairs isn’t enough. Plus, I personally believe, that the Sanjay Dutt-Lara Dutta is a pair as bad as Sean Connery-Catherine Zeta Jones. Disappointing climax. Is the reason given enough to lock up a man for fourteen years? If yes, why let him live? If no, why lock him in the first place? Also, since I am personally not into copied ideas, I can’t appreciate the Quentin Tarantino-esqe blood, gore and sword moves. Although as a copy, they weren’t badly done.
So, moral of such a long piece? Don’t waste a hundred bucks. Wait for it to come on television.