Wow!. Review on Zinda

What I especially loved about this film is how it placed me, in the same place as the film's protagonist Sanjay Dutt from scene one, basically being thrown into an extremely inhuman situation being locked inside a room for 14 years without knowing why or who is doing it to you and being asked to figure it out all as it comes.

A software engineer, Balajit(Sanja Dutt) came to Bangkok with his wife Nisha (Celina Jaitley). One fateful day, Balajit was abducted and put in solitary confinement. There is not a clue as to why he is held captive, or who his captor is.Living, rather existing, in this black hole, Bala begs, curses and damns his captors.

But all his pleas fail to change his fate. Bala’s only touch with the outside world is a TV set from which he comes to know that his wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect. Months turn into years. From within his cell, Bala sees the world outside change on the TV set.

Then one day, after fourteen long years of incarceration, Bala is set free without any explanation. It is another riddle in his mind. A free man on the streets of Bangkok, Bala now has sole aim – to hunt down his captor. In his search he takes the help of a cabbie named Jenny (Lara Dutta) and his friend (Mahesh Manjrekar).

Finally he comes face to face with the man – a businessman named Rohit Chopra (John Abraham).

Fans of Old Boy will probably be thrilled with Zinda. The look and tone of the film is strongly reminiscent of Old Boy. The color palette, the camera setups, , not to mention the shocker ending all echo that of Old Boy.That's not to suggest that Zinda is simply an imitation; there's originality here, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the film seems to be tapping into the same dark places as Old Boy.

Speaking of darkness, one of the more interesting aspects of the film pertains to its depiction of violence. Although Zinda is widely considered to be a violent film, in actuality, it's fairly tame gore-wise. It's the way in which the sequences are set up and shot—and the inherent tension packed into them—that creates the impression of violent content when, for the most part, no such gratuitousness actually exists in the film.

And as the film unfolds, its underlying message about violence becomes clear. As one character states, Seeking revenge has become a part of me.The film explores the question, What else is there to live for once vengeance has been satisfied?

The performances in the film are spot-on, particularly those from the two leads. As Balajit, Sanju serves as the perfect foil to the protagonist. Although elegant and refined, Sanju imbues the character with the palpable sense of menace necessary in portraying the all-seeing warden in john's prison.John is terrific to say the least.Lara and Celina are just about okay.

Zinda is the rare film that can not only thrill you, but make you think. And while it may not be the feel good movie of the year, Zinda is certainly one of the better films around.