Thursday 29 March 2012

Agent Vinod [2012]


Sriram Raghavan made an interesting debut with Ek Hasina Thi, and followed that up with the absolutely delectable Johnny Gaddar – the two movies had shown his knack for and prowess at darkly comic thrillers. Unfortunately, he chose the big bonanza route for his third feature film, and the end result is a disappointing mish-mash, more so given the promise that he’d shown with his earlier two efforts. The movie stars Saif Ali Khan as the eponymous Agent Vinod, India’s reply to the James Bond’s and the Jason Bourne’s of the world. A super-agent of RAW (Research & Analysis Wing), he is sent on a globe-trotting mission to save the country from nuclear attack by terrorists. As expected, he can effortlessly hop from one country to another (his destinations here include, Russia, Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey) and beat the hell out of the bad guys without so much as breaking a sweat or getting a crease on his impeccable attires. With a mysterious and voluptuous belle (Kareena Kapoor) in tow, he thus goes about saving the world. The over-ambitious production, the predictable and meandering storyline, the inconsistency of approach (it initially appeared to be a comedy-action film, but the comic tone suddenly disappeared midway without a trace), etc., all added to make this a forgettable experience. There was just one truly memorable aspect about the film – in an audacious bit of filmmaking, there is a beautifully choreographed action sequence inside a hotel, with a blind lady playing on the piano, which has been shot in a single take. Unfortunately, that bravura sequence was drowned in the preceding and ensuing ocean of mediocrity.








Director: Sriram Raghavan
Genre: Thriller/Spy Thriller/Action
Language: Hindi
Country: India

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