Director : AR Murugadoss
Starring : Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Sumeet Raghavan, Freddy Daruwala, Govinda
The dumbing down of the film begins with its title itself. Kindly don't trouble your brains, the film is about a soldier Virat Bakshi (Akshay Kumar) who reaches Mumbai for a holiday and lands up in the middle of action, fighting terror, because, yes, a soldier is never off duty. He also lands up straight to "see" a girl for marriage, Saiba (Sonakshi) who he rejects instantaneously because she is too shy, has long hair and looks old fashioned. Virat has his close friend cum side-kick Sub Inspector Mukund (Sumeet Raghavan) who constantly berates that Virat meddles too much with his cases. As they travel in a bus ( blame it on Akshay falling for the same girl he had rejected) and as they are checking people for a lost wallet, the bus blows up in a powerful blast. From here the hunt for the Sleeper Cells and the head of the entire operation begins, with Akshay single handedly masterminding the entire plan. Please do not read too much into the fact that he is actually a part of D.I.A, ohho not C.I.A but Defence Intelligence Agency of India and they normally would work systematically to address this issue and there is protocol involved. Heck, don't mind the police officer friend who apparently is clue less about what sleeper cells are, and as bodies drop around mumbai, the police is not showing any interest, why? Because, Akshay is the Hero, OK?
Once you forget logic and reality and procedure and say yes to this brand of thriller, punctuated with flash appearances of the heroine to sing and dance with our never off duty soldier, you would probably enjoy the film. There is an intricate plan that Virat puts together, underlined by large doses of patriotism. Will he be able to save Mumbai, India and the Army from the invasion of terror? Well, let me not spoil the suspense.
The film sees Akshay return to pure action, and he still can kick butt, there is no doubt about that. He is the fittest actor in his age group. He carries the role and his conviction in what he does shows.
Sonakshi has very little to do, and this one is another one in her kitty of smile and dance your way to the 100cr club films, the villain (Daruwala) looks like he would break into " Dude, I am getting late for dinner, ma is waiting" and leaves no impact. Zakir Hussain is totally wasted in the film.
The film also sees an obviously aged Govinda in a cameo, but he does try to liven up the scenes.
Murgadoss, the director has his pulse on the masses, and what will work for them, that is reinforced in the film. The action is executed well, some gripping sequences and the dialogues work in most places.
The camerawork of the film is another plus, catching action and chases with finesse, Natarajan is in his elements here.
The music by Pritam is a let down, none of the songs stay with you.
So if you are an Akshay fan and like action films, you will not be totally disappointed with this thriller. But if you are the ones to ask " Baki sab toh theek hai, par Police kya kar rahi thi" I suggest go buy a pizza instead.
My Verdict
2/5
