Movie Review

Agent Vinod

My name is Khan…And I am not James Bond, Nick Carter or Mahendra Sandhu!
TSI Five-O : Flatter to deceit...

Director Sriram Raghavan and cool-dude Saif Ali Khan make for a heady cocktail. Remember Saif’s first-ever real, searing performance in the chilling (unsung and underrated) Ek Hasina Thi? Who ever thought that the frivolous angrez and Chhote Nawab, waltzing through tons of cornball hooey could ever come up with such a mind-blowing act? A clear indication of what he was capable of delivering with a cool script and an edgy director.

As the summer of 2012 gains steam, the heat is on for the actor-producer who has come a long way from both Ek Hasina... and his real celebrated whopper, Dil Chahta Hai. B-town's most definitive metrosexual today, is an extremely attractive and bankable star, flush with movie offers, endorsements and concert shows. Stylish and suave as none of the Khans can ever hope to be (to the manor born, remember?), his ambitious Agent Vinod was indeed expected to be the ultimate spy-thriller. Unfortunately, it flattered only to deceive.

First the ra-ras. The locales, cinematography and pace can take your breath away! Raghavan’s panache is….wow! Saif is the ultimate cool dude spy (sexy, stylish, witty) lending rare colour and flamboyance to the role. His to-be begum, Bebo, is a gorgeous distraction and the supporting cast is delightfully retro. The problem is – despite the spectacular action, globe-trotting mayhem and the vibrant and vigorous feel – it seems to be weighed down (especially in the second half) by simplistic generalities. There is suddenly a disappointing stereotyping, simplistic characterisation and a dumbed-down spelling out of everything. Also, the pace slackens and somewhere, style and packaging hijacks substance…

So it ends up as the spy who came in from wow-land, but disappears into nowhere land!

Monojit Lahiri

The Hunger Games
Gladiators of the future
TSI Five-O: When teenagers fight to the death in a game show, you need to find out why…

Directed by Gary Ross, The Hunger Games is a sci-fi film based on the novel by Suzanne Collins. Featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson amongst others, it is a bit long drawn and the plot is not very well baked, but it does thrill you and make you feel for the characters and their plight. Like other sci-fi films such as District 9, it wants us to absorb it not only as a film, but also as a parable of the present.

And that parable is one we have heard many times before although in different voices. It is the story of how all power and wealth is concentrated in the hands of the Capitol, which in turn reminds people of its authority by hosting the "hunger games" every year. The film takes off during one such game where one of the players with wit and cunning, care and love manages to triumph over the evil game-makers and the Capitol and perhaps start another uprising.

So far so good; where the film really under delivers is on the entire problem of this outrageous totalitarian regime which makes every single person of the districts (where the common citizens live), powerless and a mere slave to its atrocities. None of the characters talk about it much and the film keeps on showing us scene after scene of intense survival skills of the citizens or pompous satirical shows of the rich and the powerful. It pretends that unrest is simmering underneath the entire hullabaloo, but no one seems to be particularly bothered by it.

At the end of it all, the film redeems itself in a manner consistent with most other good sci-fi films. The hardcore citizens win in more ways than one and it seems that the Capitol’s powers are ultimately being challenged. The only thing you might not like is the fact that it took them so long to get there.

Ishan Raychaudhuri