Movie Review: Kidnap

This is the only movie that I have seen "First Day First Show" and that too in the US of A. Well, basically I got free tickets to watch this movie at Everest Movies on October 1, 2008. I had heard about Imran Khan, nephew of Amir Khan and his supposedly great looks, acting talent, et al... so I was pretty curious when I went in and sat down in the stadium-style seats at the Hollywood Theater in Irving.

Being a Hindi Movie I kinda expected the standard theme, five songs, 2-3 item numbers, probably a few fight sequences and some tearful emotional dramas and finally everything ending well. And Kidnap pretty much offers the same fare. But right in the beginning I would like to make few things very clear: Imran Khan has been over rated, his looks are average and acting so so. The story line of the movie is different but has not been handled well enough. Minisha Lamba just knows how to gyrate her hips with utmost vulgarity and display ample skin and flesh and that is where her talent ends. Sanjay Dutt is quite good but his age is catching up, he must look for some roles which suit his age from now on.

Well now let me talk about the story and screenplay of the movie. Sonia (Minisha Lamba) is the spoilt and stubborn daughter of Sanjay Dutt and ____ (again I don't know who the actress is). But the couple is divorced because Sanjay Dutt's wife doesn't like him taking her for granted. Sonia gets kidnapped by an unknown person who doesn't want money but her father. The kidnapper, Kabir (Imran Khan) doesn't say what he wants but says he has kidnapped Sonia for revenge.

An arrogant Sanjay Dutt engages private detective Irfan (played by some actor I don't remember his name) and there starts a cat and mouse game between the kidnapper and the father of the kidnapped. Finally after a series of different types of incidents the girl is finally set right and in the process Sanjay Dutt and his wife fall in love all over again and become united. As the story unfolds it is revealed that, several years earlier Kabir would have been falsely indicted in a kidnapping case by Sanjay Dutt and sent to jail. A physically scarred and traumatized Kabir comes out of jail thirsting for revenge. What is surprising is that while in jail Kabir becomes a computer, telecom and technology whiz.

Surprisingly throughout the movie when Sonia remains kidnapped, she has a fantastic set of revealing clothes. She never covers her chubby belly throughout the movie and I wonder if she was kidnapped with a full wardrobe, though there is no indication of that. Even in the clutches of her captor, Sonia remains fully made up, wearing nice clothes and no sign of trauma or stress on her face. Perhaps because she is with a hot hunk? or I don't know why?

And last but not the least the movie doesn't end with Kabir and Sonia falling in love with each other. They just go their ways, he becomes a software engineer and she just a partying socialite, spoilt daughter of rich parents.

The best part of the movie however is the chase sequence when Kabir gives a run to Sanjay Dutt through a semi-constructed high-rise. Both the action stars go into a several sequences of dangerous-looking stunts climbing up and down high rise building.

There are totally five songs, and three are item numbers for Sonia which serve only one purpose of showcasing her body in all kinds of sensuous (often vulgar) are completely unnecessary. The other two songs which star Sanjay Dutt are ok and fit into the story quite well.

Finally my verdict of the move is a 2 out of 5 and totally passable. Don't go unless you get free tickets... it is not worth your money.

India under attack!

Yesterday I blogged about people getting killed in India due to blasts and stampedes of the recent days. Well today I was shocked to read about another series of bomb blasts, this time in far-north-eastern part of India. According to news reports I read online there were five blasts in Agartala, capital city of Tripura state which borders Bangladesh.

"Three blasts in Agartala, 35 injured" screamed the headlines in the DNA website, "Several injured in serial blasts in Agartala" says the Economic Times and there were several more headlines. It was sad to note that despite there being so many blasts there was hardly any detail published apart from the location of the bombs. This is because no mainstream national newspaper has a bureau or edition in this northeastern state capital. Like the central government the newspapers too have ignored the region.

I don't know how many people have to die, get crippled/ injured before the blood thirsty terrorists will be satiated. But one thing is pretty clear to me, the Tripura blasts are definitely the work of Islamic terrorists but these are Bangladeshi not Pakistani... Over the past several years illegal Bangladeshi Muslims have been entering India in millions and they are slowly but surely trying to create panic and usurp power. I hope minority-appeasing anti-national government led by a foreigner will soon go out of power and pave way for a patriotic government at the center.

Or am I asking for too much???

Sad News Days!

The past few days have been filling me with extreme anguish and frustration. Why? I have been reading only bad news from India. I feel sad that our country is under attack from all sides, including from within. People outside can be enemies, I wonder why people within want to destroy what belongs to them.

I have been reading about the blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi etc and was always wondering who is performing these cowardly acts and why? I still don't have answers for these questions, only those who are involved can probably answer them. I couldn't help but vent out my frustration online after I read about the twin blasts today and the Delhi (Mehrauli) blast of the day before. The twin blasts which happened in Maharashtra and Gujarat have taken several lives and damaged numerous others. I am pretty positive that most of these people injured and killed would be common people who were easy targets.

But what further saddened me was the news about the Stampede in the Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan. I wonder why the stampede happened? The newspaper reports say that the reason is not known. I have experienced similar scrambling in famous temples such as Tirumala, Dharmasthala etc. Why do people rush to pay obeisance to the deity? God will not run away anywhere, he is there for us, we can go at our leisure and pray. He is omnicient, omni potent and omni present, he will listen to our prayers, when we offer them with all our hearts. I wish people would be a little more patient and considerate about others who are there to worship the Lord.

Anyway here is my prayer to God to protect India and our teeming millions, give the people intelligence to think out of the box, above the narrow political considerations and work towards making our nation the best place to live in this world.