Ankit Ojha
Writing a review of this movie, my mind rushes way back to the year 2005, when I had first watched the movie. I was spellbound, and I had told my Dad (who had taken me to watch the movie) exactly 17 times, after the movie was over, in the day, "If this movie doesn't become a blockbuster, then no other will." Cut back to 2009. Last week, I was roaming around in my favorite music store, when I had found the DVD to this movie. And, against my stoid judgment, I bought the DVD, as I felt that it was now, or never. I watched the movie again, back home, and I surprisingly liked it. So, I started this ritual of making myself watched the movie again, and again, and again, till I would tell myself, "Okay, I hate the movie now!" That didn't happen. In fact, I liked it even more, and, upon scrutiny, decided that the director had worked extra hard to make the script what it turned out to be.Since I'm giving such a late review of this movie, I do not need to emphasize on it's synopsis. So let me give a critical view of the movie.STORY: A fantastic storyline, considering Bollywood action flicks don't have the base that's supposed to click with the audience.SCREENPLAY: Tight, and seamless. It's like turning the pages of a book by Robert Ludlum or Dan Brown (read Deception Point).DIRECTION: Mindblowing. Many scenes look realistic, though the supposed "walk" post the blasts looks clichéd. But those "walks" don't look bad either. They only add up to the overall style the movie exudes.STYLE: Immense, yet subtle. The tints used in many places add to the grit value of the movie. Compositing and animation done to quite a few frames in the movie give the movie a Hollywood action thriller feel.ACTING: Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, and Sanjay Dutt give some of their finest performances here. Shilpa Shetty's over-hyped "kick" at the start of the movie only adds up to the thrill, but sadly she doesn't kick much butt in the rest of the movie. Suneil Shetty is okay. His emotional outbursts looked unrealistic, but he was quite good in the action sequences though. Zayed khan shows a lot of promise in this movie, but his later movies show that his "promises" remain unfulfilled. Esha Deol is a turn-off - seriously. Her feelingless dialog delivery, coupled with the worst make-up she's ever donned in her life, makes her the only damp squib in an otherwise stupendous action thriller. But the best actor of all should be Pankaj Kapur, with two strikingly different looks in the movie. Gulshan Grover plays what looks like an unnecessary cameo at first, but which gains momentum in the pre-climax revelation scenes.PRODUCTION VALUES: Anubhav Sinha, take a bow for the hard work you have given to this movie. Production values are great.MUSIC: There are only three songs in the movie, but they fit in seamlessly. Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani make top-notch, world-class, foot tapping tracks. The theme (Alternate Trance) will be remembered by me for life.So why did I give the movie lesser than 10? That's mainly because of the open ending, which couldn't be digested by quite a lot of people. Though I understood the ending pretty well and have no qualms with it, there were people who hated the ending.But overall, an action thriller that has grace, finesse, style, and more importantly, substance, which many viewers of today will lap up. For those people who didn't like the movie because of it's few ignorable flaws, let me tell you that even the biggest Hollywood blockbusters can have flaws.I rest my case here.
AKeeb
Please do not expect anything from this film. It starts fairly well, but after a few hours it gets pretty dull. There are only so many times you can watch men in suits with sunglasses walking towards the camera in slow motion looking moody. This was more like a screen test than a film.The plot is a bit random - it steals bits from the Usual Suspects, Speed, Lethal Weapon 3 etc.I must just give a special mention to the "Football" match at the end. The scenes are shot in an American football ground in the daytime. But, the action keeps cutting to highlights of an England friendly soccer match played in the evening and then back to the Canadian fans cheering. Ouch! Very poor.The worst bit was probably the end, where all the character jumped around fighting kung fu style to try and stop two bombs (which when they go off are quite deflating) and .... SOMEONE DIES!!!!Very moving.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ1 out of 10.
Mark Solanki
I couldn't wait for this film to come out, the weeks prior I was eagerly anticipating its release singing along to the sensational title song released off the soundtrack (Dus Bahaane). The movie stars some of the most sort after hottest talent around in Bollywood at the moment, Abisheck (watch out king Khan) Bachan, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Kahn & Suneil Shetty. The feminine factor is provided by the Beautiful Shilpa Shetty & Esha Deol.The film begins with a bang, and for an action movie, not the kind you'd expect, as is the trend more & more these days, an item number (the title song) is laid upon us in the opening reel, Zayed Kahn & Abisheck wow us with their good looks and slick suits singing along to "Dus Bahaane". The actual story centre's around the ATC (Anti-Terrorist-Cell), a special forces police force led by Sanjay Dutt. His best officers are Abisheck (also his on-screen younger brother), Zayed & Shilpa. The officers are led to believe from the opening 20 minutes that a major terrorist sort the world over is planning something BIG on the 10th May, exactly 10 days from the start of the film. The clues lead the team to Canada.In Canada we are introduced to Esha Deal, she plays Neha an undercover officer working for the ATC, she welcomes Abisheck & Zayed who've been sent out by Sanjay to hunt down the terrorist "Jhamwhal". Here the movie accelerates into an explosive pace to catch the terrorist, with lots of twists & turns and great music numbers. The action scenes are a real class act for an Indian film and shows the leaps and bounds Bollywood has made in this area over the years.The ending is some what disappointing as well as surprising but not in the good way, but all in all a good masala action flick !
