People warned me, friends advised me, but I didn’t listen to them. What did they say? Precisely the same thing that I am going to tell you in this revu!! Read on!!
A brief Flashback :
Time Movies, headed by the Daredevil natured Dhirajbai Shah, was looking for that elusive hit, after innumerable attempts like Gambler, Kurukshetra, which failed at the Box Office. They didn’t know what to do…..just then, the Magnum Opus of Indian Cinema that shattered all records, Gadar, came by. It struck them that if this movie, which costed a modest 18 Crore could mop up nearly 100 crores just in India, leave alone collections in Punjabi NRI-dominated places like UK, chances were his next movie too would strike gold and bring back their lost pride! After all, rivals like Tips and Venus were happier with their cash registers ringing more often!
Dhirajbai takes the logical step forward and approaches Anil Sharma. The following descibes what they must have discussed!
D: Anilbai, I didn’t expect a down-and-out filmmaker like you to come up with such a big hit. Kamaal ho gaya!
A: So whats new?! Everyone’s saying the same thing….now all of you understand my hidden Talent!
D: Anilbai, I need your help to regain my position and riches….as you may know I have lost money on stupid films like Gambler….
A: I propose to make a Spy Thriller…would you be interested?
D: (Confused, but desperate) Sure Sure, anything that’ll earn mega bucks!
A: OK…so lets get started…the budget will be nothing less than Devdas….
D: (Panting) You mean 50 Crores?
A: Yes! And a little more!
D: (Now thoroughly confused, yet desperate!) Sure, lets go ahead….
Thus THE HERO was BORN!!
I feel Anil Sharma gave us what could be called the GIANT TURKEY of Indian Cinema! The very fact is that Anil Sharma is NOT a Class-A director who deserves to be given a 55 Crore budget as he has Absolutely NO IDEA of what to do with it, shows Amply in the Outcome, which turns out to be a DISASTER of Titanic Proportions!
The Hero repeats the combination of Anil Sharma and Sunny Deol, who rose to fame with Gadar. We all know what happened after Gadar. Sunny Deol started making all kinds of Mediocre Action movies like Karz and Indian, which took a ROYAL beating at the Box-Office. He was perplexed too, wondering why the audience wasn’t ready for some more action….simple reason is that Gadar appealed greatly to Punjabi’s, while the ones that came after that had nothing for anyone…just plain trash! Yet, Anil went ahead and repeated the same mistake yet again.
The Hero lacks in ALL departments what would have been expected out of a motion picture of this proportions. 55 Crore is a LOT of money and to goof up with this kind of resources in hand clearly shows the Amateurishness and Immaturity of the director in handling new subjects. Anil Sharma’s Direction leaves a LOT to be desired, coming nowhere close to his previous hit Gadar. Why he chose to make something he was not comfortable or mature enough to handle is something only he can answer. To his discredit, NONE of the scenes in the movie have ANY kind of intensity or emotions, thanks largely to the Insufficient Research on how Spy Thrillers are made. The Treatment and Presentation is both Tacky and Boring, grating on the viewer’s nerves. Just take the scene after Preity and Sunny’s engagement…the Bomb blast that takes place has been shown Absolutely Ridiculously with the bomb blasting completely only after Sunny jumps out! And showing the people as well Preity getting swept away by the current is again Stupid since the river remains placid all through the engagement ceremony.
The Story and Screenplay, credited to Shaktimaan, is Shaktiless. It boasts of some awfully ridiculous details that would have anyone cursing himself for having paid the price of the ticket and now going thru’ Shaktimaan’s Stupid Ideas. The story tries to project Sunny Deol as a SUPERHERO who does all kinds of UNBELIEVABLE things…..like being an Army man loving Preity Zinta, who’s a village belle, then Jumping Across the Border to Smash Terrorist camps, literally FLYING to Preity’s rescue when she is caught spying in Pakistan, losing her to the river current, and running off to Canada wearing Outlandish wigs and makeup to protect his identity while romancing Priyanka and discussing Nuclear Missiles with ISI Chief, who does everything including attending marriages, roaming around in Canada with friends etc…. what the H**L is goin on?!
The Screenplay is pure RUBBISH with songs appearing for no reason, and things don’t seem to get interesting at ANY point of time. Also, the time wasted on explaining how to make Nuclear Bombs is better shown in channels like Discovery than a Spy Thriller movie!!
Another BIG Letdown is the Action by Allan Amin, the same guy who gave us Mission Kashmir. This time around, he seems content showing Sunny FLYING in the air whenever he has to shoot the baddies, be it in the scenes where he saves Preity or the Climax….some kind of Anti-Gravity effect has been tried out, rather unsuccessfully! Even the baddies FLY around when shot, punched, or kicked by Sunny…Chain Reaction?!! Just check Sunny lifting that WWF wrestler in the Lab and throwing him away like a piece of dirt! Or the Funny Climax when he kills Amrish Puri, the ISI Chief by shoving the Radioactive Stuff in his mouth!
The Music and Lyrics feel Out of Place in the movie which had absolutely NO Place for them. Uttam Singh is good when it comes to Bhangra or Yash Chopra duets but here he’s rather a MISFIT, trying hard to adapt to the situations, again rather unsuccessfully. The lyrics too Sound and Feel corny, talking about Scorpions biting Liars and what not!!
The Performances suffer because of the Poor Characterization and even Poorer Direction.
Sunny Deol looks confused throughout in the movie, not knowing whether to mellow down or SHOUT his lungs out….and the sophisticated Spy Get-up doesn’t suit him one bit….he neither looks or talks or acts like any Spy in the world! And for Gods sake, spies have affairs, not marriages, and none of the FALTOO sentiments due to the loss of the loved one, etc...
Preity Zinta too has been given a routine character that doesn’t ask for much work except dancing around, or shedding bucketful of tears!
Amrish Puri looks like the ISI Chief but doesn’t behave like one, indulging in some pointless arguments about Nuclear bombs, attending marriage functions and what not!
Others : Well, I feel the performances of the lead characters must have given you an idea about the Rest! Its hopeless and Pointless going bla-blah abt them.
Continued in Comments Section!
