Zinda 2/5
Sanjay Gupta seems to have been heavily influenced by the Quentin Tarantino School of filmmaking. Films characterized by a non-linear screenplay, a dialogue-centric plot, a colloquial script, explicit violence and oozes of style, that is. But he fails to comprehend that making such a movie requires a neat blend of all these components rather than treating each of them individually.
Zinda is at best an unorthodox flick. An unconventional tale of revenge. A dark and disturbing story of how far a man will go to avenge a wrong which he never forgot and never forgave. It aims to be a psychotic thriller but fails miserably because of a complete lack of “guessing component” in the plot. It leaves you completely clueless until the very end, and the weak denouement doesn’t actually leave an impression that can compel the moviegoer to correlate the climax with the sequence of events that build up the suspense. Moreover the lackadaisical narrative leaves the audience yawning halfway through the flick.
The film is more of a monologue than a dialogue. The story is narrated by Bala (Sanjay Dutt), a software engineer, who finds himself locked in a mysterious cell for no reason whatsoever. He is kept under surveillance using closed circuit cameras. He is provided with a television set which constitutes his only interface with the external world. The only clue he has is a circle etched on one of the walls, which signifies that someone who has been monitoring his movements would be meeting him someday.
Once he discovers this, he spends the rest of his time in the cell preparing himself physically and mentally for the rendezvous that is to take place. Dutt manages to portray the crazy and scarring ordeals his character has to go through when confined between the four walls, pretty neatly. The grey tint which runs throughout the film adds a surreal tone to the melancholic proceedings. A cinematographer’s delight, one can say.
However, the plot lacks a concrete foundation prior to this sequence that can have the audience gripping the edges of their seats in suspense. The best you can do in such circumstances is to wait and watch for the plot to unfold. A sign of weakness for a wannabe thriller.
One fine day, after 14 years behind closed walls, Bala is finally released and left to his own. You cannot help but notice the abductors administering him with a funky hairdo and a designer outfit before letting him off. He ends up looking more like a villian in a Jerry Bruckheimer flick than a prisoner who has just been released.
The next task he has at hand is to track down his abductor and, more importantly, find out the reason behind his kidnapping. Enter Jenny (Lara Dutta), a ‘chick’ taxi driver who does a ‘metropolitan Basanti’ for a brief moment.
Bala begins his investigation with the help of Jenny by trying to figure out the joint from where fried wantons were served to him during his fourteen year stay in prison. This happens to be the only clue he has to get closer to his enemy. The trail leads him to a Rohit Chopra (John Abraham), a wealthy businessman.
The rest of the film deals with the unraveling of one of the most elaborately imagined plans of revenge. And in the course of this process, you get to see extremely grotesque and gruesome acts of violence, using weapons like hammers, rods, knifes and drill-bits. The scene in which Dutt plucks the teeth of the middleman using a hammer is sure to send a shudder down your spine. The weak-hearted will literally end up watching the second half of the film through the gaps in their fingers.
One good thing to come out of this film is its honest treatment of the fine line between good and evil. The absence of the hero-villain concept, the non-polarization of characters and the tension concocted between Bala and Rohit (though not upto the mark) makes it a very unique movie. The viewer would think twice before taking sides with anybody. A rare concept in Bollywood cinema.
Sanjay Dutt with his broody facial expressions and effortless body language does a fine job as the emotionally disturbed Bala. However, the traditional Dutt fans who would like to see him frame the rules of the game might be a bit disappointed to see their icon at the receiving end.
Lara Dutta has nothing much to do. The love making scene between Dutt and Dutta was outrageously unnatural and it doesn’t really serve any purpose. John Abraham looks cool, suave and sophisticated as the laconic Rohit Chopra, but is pathetic in scenes that demand some amount of melodrama. The dark and grim background score by Vishal-Sekhar marked by long periods of silence carries the foreboding atmosphere with elegance.
Overall, the film, though technically brilliant, falls flat owing to its ineffective storytelling. Watch it if you are in a mood for something radical.
Sanjay Gupta seems to have been heavily influenced by the Quentin Tarantino School of filmmaking. Films characterized by a non-linear screenplay, a dialogue-centric plot, a colloquial script, explicit violence and oozes of style, that is. But he fails to comprehend that making such a movie requires a neat blend of all these components rather than treating each of them individually.
Zinda is at best an unorthodox flick. An unconventional tale of revenge. A dark and disturbing story of how far a man will go to avenge a wrong which he never forgot and never forgave. It aims to be a psychotic thriller but fails miserably because of a complete lack of “guessing component” in the plot. It leaves you completely clueless until the very end, and the weak denouement doesn’t actually leave an impression that can compel the moviegoer to correlate the climax with the sequence of events that build up the suspense. Moreover the lackadaisical narrative leaves the audience yawning halfway through the flick.
The film is more of a monologue than a dialogue. The story is narrated by Bala (Sanjay Dutt), a software engineer, who finds himself locked in a mysterious cell for no reason whatsoever. He is kept under surveillance using closed circuit cameras. He is provided with a television set which constitutes his only interface with the external world. The only clue he has is a circle etched on one of the walls, which signifies that someone who has been monitoring his movements would be meeting him someday.
Once he discovers this, he spends the rest of his time in the cell preparing himself physically and mentally for the rendezvous that is to take place. Dutt manages to portray the crazy and scarring ordeals his character has to go through when confined between the four walls, pretty neatly. The grey tint which runs throughout the film adds a surreal tone to the melancholic proceedings. A cinematographer’s delight, one can say.
However, the plot lacks a concrete foundation prior to this sequence that can have the audience gripping the edges of their seats in suspense. The best you can do in such circumstances is to wait and watch for the plot to unfold. A sign of weakness for a wannabe thriller.
One fine day, after 14 years behind closed walls, Bala is finally released and left to his own. You cannot help but notice the abductors administering him with a funky hairdo and a designer outfit before letting him off. He ends up looking more like a villian in a Jerry Bruckheimer flick than a prisoner who has just been released.
The next task he has at hand is to track down his abductor and, more importantly, find out the reason behind his kidnapping. Enter Jenny (Lara Dutta), a ‘chick’ taxi driver who does a ‘metropolitan Basanti’ for a brief moment.
Bala begins his investigation with the help of Jenny by trying to figure out the joint from where fried wantons were served to him during his fourteen year stay in prison. This happens to be the only clue he has to get closer to his enemy. The trail leads him to a Rohit Chopra (John Abraham), a wealthy businessman.
The rest of the film deals with the unraveling of one of the most elaborately imagined plans of revenge. And in the course of this process, you get to see extremely grotesque and gruesome acts of violence, using weapons like hammers, rods, knifes and drill-bits. The scene in which Dutt plucks the teeth of the middleman using a hammer is sure to send a shudder down your spine. The weak-hearted will literally end up watching the second half of the film through the gaps in their fingers.
One good thing to come out of this film is its honest treatment of the fine line between good and evil. The absence of the hero-villain concept, the non-polarization of characters and the tension concocted between Bala and Rohit (though not upto the mark) makes it a very unique movie. The viewer would think twice before taking sides with anybody. A rare concept in Bollywood cinema.
Sanjay Dutt with his broody facial expressions and effortless body language does a fine job as the emotionally disturbed Bala. However, the traditional Dutt fans who would like to see him frame the rules of the game might be a bit disappointed to see their icon at the receiving end.
Lara Dutta has nothing much to do. The love making scene between Dutt and Dutta was outrageously unnatural and it doesn’t really serve any purpose. John Abraham looks cool, suave and sophisticated as the laconic Rohit Chopra, but is pathetic in scenes that demand some amount of melodrama. The dark and grim background score by Vishal-Sekhar marked by long periods of silence carries the foreboding atmosphere with elegance.
Overall, the film, though technically brilliant, falls flat owing to its ineffective storytelling. Watch it if you are in a mood for something radical.
posted by Dijas at 10:35 PM
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