Love Aaj Kal

Directed by: Imtiaz Ali

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor

Released: 2009

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

The story may not be great and performances of varied quality, but there is something lyrical about Imtiaz Ali films, which makes them an enjoyable watch, even if only once. Love Aaj Kal is the least emotional of his movies, least complicated, not reaching the amazing entertainment offered by Jab We Met or even emotional wreckage of Rockstar. But it has its share of charming moments and overal is a pretty, pretty picture, using flashbacks very well, without confusing the viewer, and heightening curiosity as the story goes on.

We are given a glimpse of „modern“ and „cool“ relationship between architect Jai and art student Meera, who have great time hanging out together, all on the backdrop of London. Jai, who is really the one carrying the narrative and the story unfolds from his point of view, considers romantic love an old-fashion concept, and when Meera is offered work in India, he very sportingly supports her to leave him, breaking up with her on friendliest terms possible. How very modern and cool indeed. However as the time passes by, he notices his sloppy attempts to move on are all destined to fail. And being constantly nagged by an elderly restaurant owner, who paints in front of Jai his own story of love he had once lived, Mr. Architect is quite shocked when he realizes Love has probably happened to him. Unfortunately it seems Meera actually did move on...

Deepika Padukone does not have much to contribute to the movie, aside from her utterly gorgeous face and drool-worthy wardrobe. After getting used to her very much exciting self from the last two years, I was actually surprised to revisit the somehow awkward, extremely camera-conscious Deepika with pitiful dialogue delivery (which has so evolved since then!). She doesn´t ruin the scenes she´s in, but the director very wisely let Saif Ali Khan do most of the acting instead, giving him most of the dialogues, and so our dear nawab goes on like a chatterbox, rarely stopping an endless flow of words whenever he is nervous or emotional. Sometimes his monologues actually get so long you wonder if Meera´s turn to talk would ever come (and sometimes it really does not).

The most charming bits of the movie, however, are introduced to the viewer by Rishi Kapoor and his narration of the old-school love story several decades ago, in India. The warm, brown colouring of all the scenes in the „past“ gives them a unique mood, very different from the rest of the film. In fact, it felt so nice, I caught myself wishing it would have been the main bit of the film, or a film of its own! Even more so since I felt it was left rather unsolved, even though Neetu Singh´s brief appearance in the very end of the movie gave away the final result.

Love Aaj Kal concludes a very simple fact: Love is Love, no matter if one searches for it or not, no matter where, no matter how it happens, and no matter how modern and cool you consider yourself. You can never bee too cool for Love. It´s just about how thick you are in the head to realize it happened. Very good production values, very likeable actors and very charming story telling make Love Aaj Kal a nice film, if you are in the right mood.

Hum Tum

Directed by: Kunal Kohli

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kirron Kher, Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri

Released: 2004

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

It surprised me greatly how much I enjoyed this film on a second viewing after not being impressed by it the first time around. Usually this isn´t the case, rather you find yourself underwhelmed (or even embarrassed) by something that made you cheer, but watching it yet again ruins the magic, reveals the flaws, until you brush it aside with apologetic smile. I suppose the knowledge of what to expect actually helped the movie in my eyes, because previously I have been looking for something epic and genius (yep, another film over-praised) – and that just isn´t there.

The story is not that complicated so you wouldn´t be able to guess who ends up with whom in first five minutes. As soon as you see flamboyant, free-minded womanizer like Karan (Saif) and serious, sophisticated and elegant Rhea (Rani), you get the drift. They are to hate each other at the beginning and throughout the film he will realize she is not snooty and she will find out he is not useless. And they will fall in love. And you are right. From sight-seeing in Amsterdam, through brief meeting in New York we actually cover several years to find Rhea getting married to Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan in a short cameo), while Karan seems not to have changed at all. And another time shift – a year later: our leads find themselves in Paris. Karan unchanged, Rhea a widow, even quieter, more melancholic and introverted than before.

But indeed they finally find a way to each other, indeed they meet a few obstacles in form of confusion over their own feelings and inability to express them, and indeed they finally walk away from us with arms wrapped around each other. Kunal Kohli in the director´s chair however makes sure to give you a feeling of good cinema, and not just another mediocre fest. It is all about the presentation, the form – and actors, who all give a beautiful performance, although that changes nothing in Saif winning a National award for the film being a ridiculous turn of events. Rani looks utterly beautiful and her outfits are all stunning from wedding attire to a pink saree she´s wearing near the end.

I was extremely delighted to see Rati Agnihotri (as Saif´s unreasonably young mother – there is only 10 years between them, but oh well, it´s Bollywood aka Sexistville), even more so since she did have some very nice scenes, and I was even happier when Rishi Kapoor appeared (as Saif´s father), and actually squeeled when he and Rati shared a frame for a few moments. Kirron Kher pulls off yet another loving and funny mum, not failing to charm. Her whacky, loud Maa characters can certainly get tiring, but if you manage to keep her films apart and don´t watch them too soon one after another, it does strike the right chord.

So – why wasn´t I smitten the first time I watched Hum Tum? I expected seriously too much. As nice as the film is, it is no incredible piece of art or iconic romance. It doesn´t really stand out from the crowd, even though it belong to the better part of it. It is rather slow, and at times it drags. Saif doesn´t look his best. And the animated bits with two positively evil looking adolescents/children (?) are annoying and uttering some of the most clichéd dialogues. They are supposedly trying to tell us in what stage the relationship between Karan and Rhea is, but in fact they come off as completely unrelated. And not funny. And in the end they are two animated children. Who „fall in love“ with each other. Eww. Perhaps the animated little devils could have been growing up throughout the film? 

Race 2

Directed by: Abbas-Mustan

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Pancholi, Anil Kapoor, Ameesha Patel

Released: 2013

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

It´s all bigger than the last time. Our „players“ are unimaginably more rich. Our babes are even more sexy. Our cars are even faster. And our plotholes even dumber. First Race was a decent flick, but definitely not in a need of a sequel. I must sheepishly admit I ended up far from hating this one, in spite of all its shortcomings. I blame it on the fact I was busy with a family celebration for a few days and then just collapsed in front of my laptop, wearied by loud uncles and criticizing aunties, and was just happy I could switch my brain off and watch some moneywalas pretend to be serious about something that kinda resembled a story. While the first Race was ultimately a story of two brothers and their endless rivalry, Race 2, though not short of numerous twists and turns, doesn´t really care about creating an interesting plot, that would back up what was happening.

Last time we saw the hero Ranveer Singh he was speeding away into the sunset with his lover Sonia, but now, as we are told, „they are no longer together“. Instead Ranveer cleverly cons a (seemingly) random casino owner, leaving him penniless, and gaining (seemingly) trust of Armaan Malik, a guy who has so much money he can buy a small island every week and has a palace with so many room he wouldn´t be able to even see them with his own eyes in more than ten years and probably has a unicorn pooping a rainbow on his backyard as well. As you could have guessed he did not earn this quite legally (but how is never answered, because obviously even hinting how a common street fighter managed to earn as much money is a waste of precious time, that can be spent on capturing somebody´s butt, that is to be blurred from the screen anyway), and he runs his Empire with help of stunning step-sister Alina and girlfriend Omisha. 

"I´ll never let you go!............ LOL just kiding."

But why does Ranveer bother befriending him? Oh yes, Armaan is the one who ordered that Sonia would be killed (remember that not at all subtle hint on „they are no longer together“?). That´s right, Ranveer Singh, this time, play for revenge!

Twists and turns, though plentiful, are not nearly as shocking as in the first film. Mainly because that´s what you expect – that nobody is actually honest. You also simply know Saif is going to win the „game“, so you don´t feel worried when he drinks „poison“ 30 minutes before the film´s end. Loopholes are for everyone to see, from a professional killer who instead of simply shooting Saif decides to abandon his weapon and experience ten paagal minutes of an insane chase only to be killed himself to completely dumb nuns and guards of the Shroud of Turin (hopefully the real guards are not as stupid).

As many have said already, Race 2 is all style and no substance. Computer effects look like something made 20 years ago and most of the action in the finale will give you a good laugh instead of „wowing“ you (yep, I´m talking about the flying wonder car).

Whooo hooo! I want one!

All the actors are actually also all style and no substance in this. Saif churns out a decent performance, but his Ranveer has no real competitor that would elevate him among a truly interesting characters. Akshaye Khanna is badly missed, because John Abraham does not have it in him to convince you he is menacing, scary or witty. He pretty much sucks in this, the highlight worth mention is his really brutal fight in the ring. At first it seemed Jacqueline Fernandez would steal the show, but as the film progressed she kinda vanished. Meh. Deepika Padukone has next to no role. Those 15 minutes she gets show how she improved her dialogue delivery in the past year and also that she is damn stunning, but this is not a film anyone will remember for her or rememeber her for.

Person who doesn´t have much to do is also Aditya Pancholi, then again his was only a cameo, and unlike Johnny boy his mere presence can make you shiver as if you indeed foudn yourself in presence of a dangerous mafia boss.

The greatest mistake of the film, loopholes and shallow characters notwithstanding, was including Anil Kapoor´s character from the first film in this. Even in the first movie Anil was just horrible and needless, and it is even more so now. Super annoying Sameera Reddy disappeared, but just as annoying Ameesha Patel steps in – and Anil and her reprise the EXACT same thing we have seen, with NO difference whatsoever. Just the jokes are more crude and disgusting.

And seriously - who insisted on having this in the film? (since you can´t even show it?)

Race 2 is a film you don´t need to see, even if you are a fan of any of the actors involved. It is not a downright „bad“ movie, since it definitely has a potential to entertain (I am a proof of this). It has a rather good pace, great cinematography and even unintentionally hilarious stuff can actually be counted as a plus point. One of those flicks for the undemanding.

Main Khiladi Tu Anari

Directed by: Sameer Malkan

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kader Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Shakti Kapoor

Released: 1994

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

So I finally ventured into the Khiladi franchise with Main Khiladi To Anari (because in spite of its title Khilad 786 cannot be counted as a part of it as far as I know). As someone who is not impressed with Bollywood action scenes, I was a bit apprehensive, because it is action scenes Akshay Kumar is mostly (and unfairly cause he has a lot more to offer) known and applauded for. Also, while Saif Ali Khan today is among the best actors and my favourites, young puppy-like Saifu in those films of the 90s I´ve seen seemed rather awkward. And that Shilpa Shetty cannot act became clear within first ten minutes.

When an honest and uncorrupted police officer is murdered by a drug dealer Goli (Shakti Kapoor), his lover Mona (Shilpa) spills the beans to a handsome police inspector Karan (Akshay), only to have her long skirt torn (cause showing her long legs is essential for the film) and to be killed. As it happens the murdered inspector was Karan´s older brother, and so the chhota bhai sets out to avenge his sibling. But what to do? He has nothing against Goli now that Mona and her sexy legs are gone.

Meanwhile, in some other part of the city, a popular actor, an ultimate romantic hero Deepak Kumar, is having an existential crisis. Not that his films wouldn´t be doing well, but he hates them and himself in them. Sick from the image he has he is longing to kick ass at least once in some „asli mard“ movie. While unsuccessfully explaining this to a producer (who is also a mafia boss), he encounters the ultimate kick-ass machine inspector Karan fighting for justice, and immediately decides this is the exact image he needs to create for himself. To be able to study Karan´s mannerism and behaviour he manages to pull some strings and soon tough and rather anti-social inspector (still trying to get his revenge) is officially stuck with a naive, flamboyant and oh so filmy superstar. At the same time Karan finds Basanti, a girl who acts exactly like the annoying Basanti from Sholay and looks exactly like the deceased Mona, and after one night lasting English course she transforms from an illiterate thief into a high profile bar dancer, planted into Goli´s closeness under a pretext of being a Mona, who survived, but is not dangerous for him because she lost her memory...

The film has its share of loopholes and flaws. I wasn´t comfortable with the „love“ twist that brought Basanti and Karan together. I don´t care he didn´t really rape her, and it was actually set up by her so he would think that. The idea behind it – that a raped girl should marry the one who raped her – is just repulsive. If in the middle of Bollywood a writer cannot come up with a better idea of how to push two characters together, let them rather stay single. It was better to watch Deepak romancing Karan´s sister, although here too one wondered how much there is to actual love, considering she was a nutcase of a fangirl. But both love stories and even the plot involving Goli and all the avenging are really just a background – for some seriously awesome Akshay/Saif bonding.

It´s between the two of them that the actual relationship happens, a relationship that truly deserves a label of „bromance“. They have wonderful chemistry and even in acting they were complimenting each other. Their comic timing is wonderful, especially Saif got me in splits with his almost childish stubborness and yet being clueless about what to do most of the time. The purpose of his character is not lost in the progress, he doesn´t loose the bohemian spirit and never abandons his aim to build his new image.

Main Khiladi Tu Anari is nothing but an unapologetic fun. To analyze it and nit pick on the story is almost irrelevant, because the fun is what matters, not any moral values. Extremely enjoyable with the (today) unintentionally (?) hilarious songs and dancing, as well as Kader Khan being a movie star fangirl, the movie also has a great repeat value and doesn´t get old.

Race

Directed by: Abbas-Mustan

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy

Released: 2008

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

With the upcoming Race two in the pipeline I decided to watch the first film, to see if I my expectations for the sequel should be high or low or even in existence, and also to understand the probable references to the first film should there be any (yes, in spite of knowing Bollywood sequels are rarely sequels at al.... more like an alternative reality story for the same characters, when nothing what we have seen actually happened).

Ranveer (Saif) and Rajeev (Akshaye) are two step-brothers, who at the first sight couldn´t be more in love with each other. Especially Ranveer is doting on his younger bhaiya, even giving up a sexy Sonia (Bipasha Basu) he himself is crushing on, just because Rajeev while drunk once blabs something about giving up alcohol should he get the gal. And so Ranveer with soaring heart makes sure they end up together. But if you think we are going the Sangam way here, you are mistaken. Because in Race nothing really is what it seems, in fact by the end of the film you grow suspicious even of apples and oranges. 

"Did you steal my conditioner?"

To sum it up just quickly: we have a deadly-silent older brother (he is the good one, the one who only kills people who want to kill him, otherwise you´re cool), a more vocal sharaabi younger brother (who kills anyone he needs to be out of the way), a dusky Sonia (who sleeps with the brother she is not married to), a fair long-legged secretary (Katrina Kaif after a disturbing lip job, and dubbed – which doesn´t help as the dubber is even worse than Katrina´s normal voice and diction), and a bit later let enter an amazingly uncool police investigator (Anil Kapoor) who manages to devour just about every fruit that exists on the planet, and his completely dumb 20-something assistant (Sameera Reddy), and they all want their big fat share of paisa. Everyone works with everybody to deceive everyone else.

After a rather boring and unhappening 40 minutes the film gets a good tempo and there is definitely no shortage of twists - some of which I guessed beforehand and some that were completely unexpected (like yeah, I actually was willing to believe Katrina´s character was the only good girl in the whole thing). The dialogues in those first 40 minutes were extremely cringeworthy, consisting mostly of real everyday stuff like "let´s have lunch" and "good morning". The ending should have been tighter and explaining seemed too lengthy.

"Om-nom-nom-nom."

Congratulations to Abbas-Mustan. What a brilliant move to involve the super-annoying Sameera Reddy in a stupid role that made me want to smack her face so badly. Brilliant, because she makes Katrina look a blessing and I am not even sarcastic! I don´t know why Anil signs such embarrassing roles. To see him with girls so much younger than him is just weird. And it´s not like he is evolving as an actor with roles like these. Saif is good, so is Bipasha (although I just cannot bring myself to believe her whenever she acts the good one - she just looks so cunning all the time!), but the real show-stealer is the ever-underrated youngest Khanna. He was brilliant. I guess bad movie choices were his doom, because he is easily among the most convincing and versatile actors I´ve seen Bollywood in the past 20 years. 

Songs try too hard to be sexy, but came off as boring. The actresses are way too obviously put „out there“, in case of Zara Zara song Katrina is actually looking more completely desperate for attention rather than being mysterious or seductive, there is nothing intricate or really feminine about the presentation of „sexy“. Made by guys, for guys, I guess. Also the comedy track was completely off. It served no purpose and wasn´t really funny either. Race is a fine watch, that could have been better. Tighter. Quicker. More stylish. Challo, maybe the second one will learn from the mistakes?

Dil Chahta Hai

Directed by: Farhan Akhtar

Starring: Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Dimple Kapadia, Sonali Kulkarni, Ayub Khan

Released: 2001

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Searching for some background information about this film I came to know that it has achieved a cult status. Objectively speaking – no wonder. The movie captures the sensitive period of coming of age, when young men (because they hardly are boys anymore) become „full men“. Three distinctly different characters taking three different paths. True enough – Aamir Khan in the lead is filthy rich and with opportunities hardly anyone in society has, still there are traits to him and his friends that the audience could connect with and find themselves in.

Akash, Sameer and Siddhart are best of friends, who just graduated and find themselves in front of the age old question: What now? Akash seems quite comfortable lazying around, Sid would like to pursue a career as a painter and artist, and Sameer dreams of nothing else but a perfect romantic relationship. Their dosti only suffers a critical wound when Sid falls in love – and that with a woman who is not only 15 years older to him, but also is divorced, has a daughter and serious problems with drinking. All that notwithstanding Sid finds in Tara somebody he can share everything with, even ideas, feelings and thoughts that he kept secret even from Akash and Sameer. However when Akash learns about the way Sid feels, he insults both Tara and Sid´s feelings for her in his ignorance. Rift is created, Sid leaves the city for further studies, Akash flies to Australia to manage family business and Sammer is left behind, without friends, and in love with a girl, who loves somebody else.

At this point one story divides into three, that only come together at the end, just like old friends, who finally realize they mistakes and find strength to forgive and ask forgiveness. Aamir Khan gets the biggest scope with his story, that sadly is the least engaging of the three. Akash is yet another Bollywood hero who doesn´t really believe in love, and so of course he bumps right into Shalini (fresh-faced and clear-eyed and all kinds of cute Preity Zinta), which naturally leads to him falling head over heels with her, althoug for some times he doesn´t realize it. And then there is the problem with her already being engaged. Sameer is completely sidelined, as his pursuing Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni), is not meeting with a success for a while, but all´s well that ends well. His bit of the film is a sweet romantic comedy. Sid´s story turns all sad and melancholic, because Tara refuses to accept his love, too scared of consequences, and Sid doesn´t find support even with his family. Ultimately his first love takes course to a tragic ending....

Aamir Khan gives his standart performance – reliable, good, nothing amazing. Ironically he looks less of a student than what he did several years later in 3 Idiots, and the whole time I just wanted to grab a razor and shave off that horrible thing from his chin. Saif Ali Khan reminded me of a cute puppy in this, always just hoping for everyone around him to be content and happy. The best performance of the three though is given by Akshaye as quiet painter, who knows too well his feelings will be questioned, judged and condemned. As for ladies – Sonali Kulkarni is hardly worth a mention, while Preity Zinta pulls off one of the bubbly roles she became famous for, looking very lovely throughout, and Dimple Kapadia impresses as Tara, a woman who has seen the worse sides of life. There is depth to her, and in consequence also to her relationship with younger man. That storyline, rather daring and unusual, deserved a way more space than Aamir/Preity love frolicking in Australia.

Dil Chahta Hai is a pleasant film – about friendship more than anything else. It is not the best one on that theme, but one of the best of the past decade for sure.

Cocktail

Directed by: Homi Adajania

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Dimple Kapadia

Released: 2012

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

When a young girl Meera from India decides to move to England where her husband lives, she is in the shock of her life. As it turns out the husband has no interest in her and only married her for money. He throws her out of his life and she finds refuge with Veronica, a young, beautiful woman whose entire life is big wild party. Soon they are joined in their apartment by Veronica´s boyfriend, a notorious flirt and womanizer Gautam. And things get rather complicated when his mother mistakes the traditional Indian girl for her son´s life partner instead of free-spirited Veronica. And even more troubles are on the way, because somewhere in between all the pretending, Gautam begins to fall for Meera and she for him.... 

Been there, seen that? Sure. Still Cocktail is not a waste of time and makes for a fairly good movie. It has enough of both fun and emotions to keep you occupied. There are negatives of course. For example Saif and Deepika are not a good jodi. She is too tall for him and he is too old for her. While Saif has a great comic timing and can be genuinly funny, he seemed rather out of place among the young girls, and his appearance somehow took a bit from him being completely convincing in the role. Diana Penty as Meera gives a confident debut, her portraiyal of a quiet Indian girl was nicely sensitive. And she looks really pretty which never hurts. I was actually quite surprised at the amount of screentime given to her, in fact I think she was the main female lead. 

The showstealer and life of the movie however is unquestionably Deepika Padukone. She has not been as gorgeous on screen since Om Shanti Om, and needless to say her efforts and work are finally showing. She has improved drastically as an actress in the past five years. I always liked her, though it had more to do with her beauty and also visible effort she put into her work, but now I can finally say she definitely belongs among the finest crop of the new actresses. The relationship between her and Diana in the was wonderful. While the first half of the film is a light entretainment, the second holds a feeling of unmistakable sadness. I sincerely felt for Deepika´s untold sorrow and impression of being completely lonely. She made my eyes teary. So afraid to be alone, to be deprived of all the love, that she was willing to change herself completely into a picture she believed Gautam would like. 

The ending itself somehow ruined the mood for me though. True enough, I think Gautam and Meera ending up together was inevitable, and one wanted it for them as well. After all Veronica did not really love Gautam I trust. She fell in love with the sense of security, with the unity of a family she suddenly was presented by his mother, uncle and even Meera. Shown as a child from a broken home, she was inwardly longing for a stability, a relationship that would last forever, and the idea that a marriage, home and children are not destined to her nearly destroyed her. Yet the finale itself was somehow thanda and didn´t fit the rest of the movie. I also didn´t understand the character of Meera´s husband. Why would he suddenly change his mind? Even to an extent of wanting Meera to stay with him? Did he have a bad conscience? If so, it was never shown, and so we are bound to wonder. 

To note down a few more things - performances by the supporting cast, namely Dimple Kapadia as Gautam´s mother and Boman Irani as his uncle, are a real delight. In fact Dimple was so excellent I wished she had more scenes, like this it only seemed to be an extended cameo. Music is rather average, no song stands out. What starts as a typical romcom evolves into a very touching film about relationships, out of some are more powerful than love.

Too much of Deepika in this article? Nonsense. There is never too much of Deepika....

Agent Vinod

Directed by: Sriram Raghavan

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Ravi Kishnan, Prem Chopra

Released: 2012

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Fight it, if you will, but whenever a spy movie appears people expect to see a version of a James Bond. Stylish, dangerous but fighting for „the good guys“, witty, with awesome one-liners for every occasion possible, sexy and with women swooning at his mere presence. Vinod is no exception and he fulfills this generally accepted perception of a secret agent to the utmost, as is quite apparent from the first moment we see him all beaten up and interrogated by the bad guys in a terrorist camp in a middle of a desert, seemingly with no chance to escape his certain death. After causing a mild shock to the viewer by his pretended disloyalty and betrayed of his country he manages to escape with a minor help of his secret accomplice and even manage to rescue a beautiful girl wearing fancy desi outfit and having a flaw-less make up on in spite of being tied in a bag. And it´s time to get onto other things – like finding out why Vinod´s collegue had to die in Russia and what exactly is '242', which was the last info that the dead agent provided.

Vinod´s search takes us places very much undiscovered by the Bollywood camera lenses, from cold Russia to dusty and hot Morocco, to how-many-of-you-can-find-it-on-the-map Latvia and ultimately of course Pakistan and India. Spectacular cinematography gives each place its own identity and takes some of the best out of what the countries mentioned have to offer. The plot is interesting enough, but ultimately lacked the thrill and mystery factor for me, since unlike Vinod we can pretty much get the hint that 242 is actually a nuclear bomb. The film is cleverly edited. Usually it is easy to loose orientation among many flashbacks, but the editing really makes the best out of it and in this matter the film really gives the impression of being seamlessly put together. 

I´m used to pain....

...but doctor tell me the injection will not hurt!

Saif Ali Khan is today undoubtedly among the most talented and charismatic actors in India. He blends into the character of Vinod with admirable ease and the powerful subtlety he acts with is brilliant. He owns the film, that was apparently written for him, with him and about him, and gives him a chance to shine. The action sequences may not be completely realistic, but they seem to be, so why complain? The weakness of the film it´s the length of it all. The perfect editing needed to be more tight.

The villains are plentiful and impressive, all different from each other which makes it even more great. Leaving the villanious businessmen running the world aside, Prem Chopra takes the cake among them with his portrayal of a Moroccan gangster having no mercy with people but shedding tears over his pet camel. To get a glimpse of Gulshan Grover was also a pleasant surprise, after all I´m a 90s fan!

Why do we always have to be the bad ones?

Because we are awesome like that.

A character yet to be mentioned is Iram, or „Dr. Ruby“ played by extremely-good-looking-in-this-movie Kareena Kapoor. Why only now? Maybe because it seems appropriate to ad her to the final product without caring much if she has a place in it, which apparently is the case of the role within the movie. From the promos Iram was somebody I was looking forward to, but she is stripped of her mystery way too soon, and had nothing more to offer except for a very awkwardly choreographed and executed Dil Mera Muft – a truly not good a song that was originally propagated as the new mother of all mujras (Ha!). As if Iram didn´t belong in the story at all and Saif just really wanted his girlfriend in it. When you have a real life couple though, wouldn´t you spice the story up with something romantic? But all those hoping for some love on screen were hugely disappointed, as Vinod and Iram are anything but lovers. 

Dil Tera Muft Ka? I should actually charge you for having to watch that dance!

Obviously hoping for a slick and rocking action movie coming to us from Bollywood may not be a completely futile one. No, Agent Vinod is not it. But it is a great promise for the future.