Saturday, June 7, 2014

Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty (6 Jun 2014)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Zakir Hussain, Govinda, Freddy Daruwala, Sumeet Raghavan

Director: A. R. Murugadoss

This movie is the second Bollywood release of the southern maverick director Murgadoss, and it’s better executed and more apt for the Bollywood audience than his first mega hit flick ‘Ghajini’ (Aamir Khan). But as expected, the southern director could not stay away from the curvaceous heroine and unnecessary songs. Amidst a serious and thrilling storyline, except for the first song, all the rest seem highly disturbing.

Virat Bakshi is a special agent from DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency), who works undercover as an Indian Army personnel. During one of his holidays to his hometown Mumbai, he chances upon a notorious terrorist plan, and uses his entire holiday to unearth and disable the same. Throughout the operation he is well aided by a Mumbai police official who is also his close friend. Amidst all this, the director finds enough frames to accommodate a love angle between Virat and Saiba!

The movie is a remake of Tamil flick ‘Thuppakki’. But if you are unaware and unexposed to the original, then it’s definitely a new and interesting plot to watch. It deals with the terrorist unit called ‘Sleeper Cells’. And this concept is well described and depicted in the movie. As expected of Murgadoss, the movie is filled with blood and gore. But subtly it also stresses on the need to risk small collateral damage in a covert operation that is undertaken to save hundreds of lives. Meaning to stay that, if a security official is taken for granted to give his life for the country, then why can’t a civilian’s life be put to risk to save many others?

In its own way, the movie is also an ode to all the security organizations of the country i.e. the Indian Police, the Indian Intelligence and the Indian Army. They work under all kinds of taxing situations to keep the country safe. Their scope of work and action is kind of undefined as the anti social forces constantly change and update their terror techniques! Since they are expected to be 100% fit by both body and mind, any work mishap that results into weakening or amputation of their body, sadly pushes them towards an early retirement. But their training is such that, in time of need and short notice, they can still make good use of their skills and prove worthy enough for a security cause!

Beneath their rough & tough and ready-to-kill exterior, each of them is actually a simple family man who is regularly required to stay away from his near and dear ones for long months. This fact is beautifully depicted in the last scene of the movie.

Akshay Kumar (Virat) looks very fit and as always is very good with the stunts. However, when the camera is at close angles, he does appear a little aged. Sonakshi Sinha (Saiba) has performed as per expected of the role of the hero’s arm candy. In the initial scenes, the lady is required to be athletic and its worth mentioning that she throws a neat and powerful punch in the boxing ring! This is unseen of any Indian actress till now. Maybe Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom will add to this soon. Freddy Daruwala in his debut as the new Bollywood villain needs to work a lot more on his expressions. He looks very fit though. Sumeet Raghavan as constantly aiding the operation police man could have had a more powerful appearance. Govinda has a small guest appearance. Herein, he has donned tasteful fashion wear and he looks endearing in his performance. Seeing him, you do wish to see him as one of the main protagonists in a movie soon.

All in all, it’s an impactful movie, with a balance of north and south style sensibilities. But it’s definitely not for the under aged.

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