Kidnap --- Movie Review

The much awaited Imran Khan starrer Kidnap released on Thursday this week with high expectations and competition from Abhishek starrer big budget film Drona . So does Kidnap provides as expected or disappoints ? The film also has Imran in a slightly negative character , so does he act well in this new avatar ? It is also the third film from Dhoom fame Sanjay Gadhvi , so does he come up with another blockbuster ? These questions will get answered only to an extent as Kidnap is a film that is good only in Bits and pieces .

The film starts off with some Manga animation in the starting credits showing a small boy suffering the tortures of a Jail life . He suffers all the physical tortures which are both cruel and unfair . The film in this way starts with quite a unique way and the animated credits are backed by some nice background music . As soon as the credits with such serious depiction of a Juvenile criminal get over we see Minissha Lamba in a bikini and excessive skin show trying to show you the exact opposite of what life a kid in jail has . She shows her freedom and carefree nature with a wannabe Britney Spears number and shows off not only her skin but also her life . Just after the song she has an argument with her divorced mother , believe it or not Vidya Malvade , over she wanting to meet her father , Vikrant Raina who left them because of the Divorse .

Then after the argument Minissha (Soniya) leaves the home to take a swim in the sea to calm her temper but instead gets Kidnapped by Imran . Imran's introduction shot shows him quite casual making some tea and minissha getting conscious after her kidnapping . The Director probably aimed at an Intense but still casual Kidnapper but instead got only a casual looking Imran in the end . Imran had no intensity in his voice and though her eyes tried a lot to portray the intensity his voice and body language conveyed just the opposite .This is the first short coming of the film where a kidnapper as intelligent as Imran looks more casual than intense . Then after this the whole Kidnapping game starts off where Imran makes Sanjay Dutt who is a billionaire do things that he never did in his life . Imran makes Sanjay feel powerless who otherwise boasts his power and influence in front of everyone . Imran purposely leaves a trail of clues for Sanjay that would lead him to his daughter . The clues that Imran leaves for Sanjay are quite easy and do not require a excessively intelligent man to figure them out .

The whole game that Imran plays is a result of all the trials and tribulations he suffers in Jail because of Sanjay Dutt . He takes a revenge of that torture and makes him realise his mistake . He makes Sanjay realise that how easy life is for a Rich powerful person and how difficult it is for an orphan like him . The film's story is just this much where Imran makes Sanjay realise his mistakes and he does that to make his own life much easier . The film is more like a collection of scenes inspired from here and there put into one single bundle and a loose story being made out of those scenes . The characters have many flaws and some of them being unimportant . The biggest flaw that I could see pretty clear was the fact that after every action packed thrilling scene in the film there was small emotional scene that almost completely broke the momentum of the previous scene . The emotions that were required for the film should have been kept limited to very few scenes .

The problem with Sanjay Gadhvi is that instead of making a nice pacy thriller he makes a commercial film having everything from an Item Number to a Love Angle in the end between Imran and Minissha . Most of the songs were not at all required and the most unnecessary were Mausam ye Awsome and Shaadi Barbadi which are just stuffed in to make the movie long . The intensity was missing from the entire film . The action chase sequence between Imran and Sanjay also comes into the film from now where and also ends in the same way . If you have seen Casino Royale then you would find this scene just a mediocre affair . A lot of things in the film were just stuffed in to make it look much better . Minissha has been just used to show some skin and has no other purpose as such . Imran's character has been shown quite light and such a character would never ever dare to Kidnap a girl single handedly in real life . The intensity is what was lacking the most . The screenplay had many flaws and goes quite lose at many moments .

Talking of Acting , Imran doesn't deliver in the way he was supposed to and his character doesn't appear to be negative for most of the part .His character doesn't play at the Psychological level which in my view is supposed to . He looks fit and good for action but not apt for negative roles . His acting is very limited and doesn't impress much . Sanjay Dutt is good as usual and he does some justice to his character . Minissha as I said earlier is just there for some skin show and nothing much apart from that . Vidya Malvade acts as usual and has not much to do . She suits as a wife of Sanjay Dutt but does not suit at all as a mom to Minissha . Then there is also a small unnecessary role of Rahul Dev as a security specialist .

Talking of Direction , Sanjay Gadhvi makes a very average film that basically has a very short and weak story which has been lengthened . He has put in some unnecessary commercial elements in the film and did no research for his film . It looks good in some parts whereas very amateurish in others. The writer Shibani Bhatija does a below average job and writes a very predictable and simple story . Screenplay as I said earlier has many flaws in it and is very lose . The music of the film is an average commercial track that doesn't impress much . The cinematography is quite nice and even the Art Direction is good .

Overall , it is just an average film that somehow manages to entertain for its length but would leave you unsatisfied in the end . The story won't impress you much and neither will the acting . You can go out and watch the film if you have nothing else to do . Some bits and pieces are good and might keep you a little bit of Interested in the film . The biggest problem being the weak script which is the problem even with previous dhoom . The film could have been much better if the Director would have had a clear mind in terms of what he wanted , a commercial film or a good pacy thriller. He gets trapped somewhere in between and the film turns out to be an average affair .

Movie Rating : Two out of Five Stars ; the film entertains only in bits and is a weak product on a whole .

Kidnap --- Music Review

After wining the showdown against Harman , Imran is all set to have a one on one with Abhishek on the coming Gandhi Jayanti . This time though the contest is little harder and Abhishek is having a fan-following which would definitely be more than Harman Baweja . The common thing though in both cases being that Imran's film is pitched against a high budget Fantasy film . Last time it was Love Story 2050 and this time being Drona . His small budget youth love story became the biggest hit of this year and made him star by night . Though this film would be a real test for him , his acting skills and his stardom . The Music of any film as I always say plays the biggest role in its publicity apart from its stars and in that front Kidnap is definitely scoring some goals over Drona . And as I suspected in my earlier post , Kidnap Vs. Drona , the music of Kidnap is definitely sounding a little better .

The soundtrack consists of seven songs out of which five are originals and two are remixes . The soundtrack of any film has to be according to the mood of the film and should show us the character of the story and film itself . This soundtrack definitely manages to do that . The Pacy Thriller nature of the film can be felt even in this soundtrack which makes it quite interesting . Pritam got his first taste of success in Sanjay Gadhvi's first film Dhoom and then on he has given back to back hits , most of them being lifted from here or there . Keeping the loyalties he has given music to this film also and the lyrics are by Mayur Puri .

The opening track of the OST , "Mit Jaaye" though is not the Title Track but can be called so because it very well sets the mood for the entire soundtrack upfront and even gives you a hint of the film . During the entire song you can imagine Sanjay Dutt chasing Imran to get his daughter . What I mean is that this song has the thriller element in it and is also very pacy . The song also expresses the feelings of the lead character of the film played by Imran . The video on this song is already on air and is creating some buzz . Interestingly the best track on the album is not by Pritam and Mayur , instead it has been written and composed by Sandeep and Sanjeev Vyas and has been very well sung by Sandeep Vyas . The two brothers have single handedly carried the entire song on their shoulders and have come out with flying colours . This song is definitely going to get Popular among the masses . A great job by the vyas brothers . Sandeep is a good singer and has long way to go . They are also great composers . I've become a fan of this track and my personal favourite on this soundtrack .

The next track on the album is a Hip Hop song called "Hey Ya!" by Suzie Q. who recently gave a hit song Jee Karda in Singh is Kinng . This track sounds like and introduction song for Minissha Lamba , the rich daughter . The song is decent and goes about well according to its nature . I just hope that story keeps moving while this song is being played during the movie . That way this song would look good in the film otherwise it might hinder the pace of the film . If properly placed this song would look good in the film with a hot video on Minissha . Suzie sings well and has done her job quite well . The song doesn't deviate from its character and remains Hip Hop through out .

The third song on the soundtrack is a slow song "Mausam" by Shreya Ghoshal . This song is a little different and Shreya has sung it quite well , as usual . It is not something extraordinary but still it has enough music and lyrics to keep it going . This song would be shot beautifully and the video would do the rest of the job . It is a typical track yet it can be heard once . The music is good and the singing is also accordingly . Overall , a different one as compared to other songs on the album yet quite ordinary in general sense .

Next comes a very commercial track called "Haan Ji" by Adnan Sami . Adnan is one of those singers that can even make a very ordinary song sound sound good . This song is a very unusual song and has some very unusual lyrics . The lyrics are more like a conversation and less of poetry .The music is good on this one but it is the singing style of Adnan that stands out . He is a talented singer but sings quite less no. of songs . Overall , the song is a very average commercial track that might work because of its singing . In my opinion this track might damage the film and hinder the pace of the story .

The last original track on the album is "Meri Ek Ada Shola" by Sunidhi Chauhan . This song has very old sounding lyrics and even Pritam has gone about it in a very old style . Pritam has also put in some Shakira like music in this song . This song suggests that when it would be played in the film the story would keep moving . The song has been sung in her typical style by Sunidhi and Sukhwinder has given her good company . Overall , this song is more of a commercial track and would mean more in the film .

Next comes the remix of Hey Ya which is been done by Imran and Vikram . Imran and Vikram do a fair job and they have put in usual remix beats . This one is almost like the original and is as good as the original . The last track on the album being the remix of Mit Jaaye which has been done by Hyacinth D'souza . This one is called the Rock Version and not a remix on the album cover . Whereas this can be called Rock Remix because I don't think they have re-recorded the song for this one . Hyacinth has done a fair job and just put in drums and guitar with the original one . This one might appeal to die hard rock music lovers but I still prefer the original one .

Overall , the album is fairly good and can be listened once . The songs won't look bad on screen and won't cause much damage to the film . Not all of them are potential hits but Mit Jaaye is a big time winner . In all , the album is neither too good nor too bad so you can give it a try .

Album Rating : Two and Half out of Five ; Average album with Mit Jaaye being the best .

This poll has been on since my post Kidnap Vs. Drona , do vote on it :

First Look --- Kidnap and 3 Idiots

The first look of two films , Kidnap and 3 Idiots , are out now . One being the next of Aamir Khan after Ghazni and other being the next of his cousin Imran . Lets talk about the Aamir one first .

The Teaser poster of Aamir's next venture as an actor , 3 Idiots , is out now and its one of those posters that say a lot about the film and create an interest beforehand . The film as everyone knows is based on the Famous novel "Five Point Someone" which is based on a group of students from IIT and their misadventures of their college lives . The film is to be Directed by Rajkumar Hirani who will be directing something different from Munnabhai for the first time . This film would be a real test for him as a Director . The Producer is the same , Vidhu Vinod chopra who has produced both of Hirani's film . The film also starrs R. Madhvan and Sharman Joshi as supporting cast and will also have Kareena as the main female lead .

Now talking a little about the poster which has shown Aamir pressing against a blackboard which has Problems of Calculus written all over it . Amir is having his cropped hair cut and I don't know how would he be able to play a role of Boy who is half the age of what he is right now . We know thatAmir is a a great actor and can almost play any role with utmost perfection but I don't understand till when he and his contemporaries are going to play such roles . The Directors need to find some new talent now and they need to take risks . Anyways , as I said the poster says a lot about the film especially the tag line which goes like this " chose excellence - success will follow" . The poster reminds me of Good Will Hunting and A Beautiful Mind where two geniuses keep solving their calculations with anything that they find .

We know that this film would be adaptation of a famous novel that has been read by a huge block of people so it would be interesting to see for the first time in Indian film industry , people responding to an onscreen adaptation of a Famous book . Though Devdas has also been adapted many times and several such other stories but those stories had been read only by a few selected people and not by a people at large . This would be probably the first such experience when people will react to a film based on a book . This film and book might also lead to a new fashion of Adapted Screenplays and for sure create two new categories in all the league of Awards - "Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay " . The award guys will get too happy since they like to distribute more and more awards and please everyone in the Industry . So even if Hirani doesn't gets best film he can at least get "Best Adapted Screenplay" and be happy .

Well , I still hope that Hirani gets the best film award and the film turns out to be as good as the novel is .

Now Talking a little about the next release of Imran Khan , Kidnap , whose trailer is running in the cinema halls along with Singh is Kinng . This is the second film of Imran whose first film has proven to be biggest hit of 2008 up till now (Singh is Kinng might overtake it ) . In Jaane Tu... Imran Played a role that was meant for him and he had just needed to be natural whereas his acting skills will be tested in this film where he plays a not so good guy and his role has a negative side to it .

The film is Directed by Dhoom Fame Sanjay Gadhvi and it also starrs Sanjay Dutt and Minissha Lamba . This film would be Gadhvi's first film which is not produced by Yashraj . In this one Sanjay plays a role of the Richest Indian in the World and what happens when his Daughter gets Kidnapped by a guy played by Imran .

Talking a little about the teaser trailer , it starts with Sanjay (Vikrant Raina) being introduced and his net worth is shown which is in Billions . Then Imran is shown in a completely different look than what he had in Jaane Tu.. , making the Kidnaper's Call to Sanjay .He Kidnaps Sanjay's Daughter played by Minissha . Then starts a series of scenes which show that Sanjay instead of Paying the ransom decides to chase Imran down and catch him . The film looks like a good thriller from the scenes that have been shown in the Trailer and the background score used in Trailer is also good .Sanjay looks more like a Dude and the title of "Richest Indian in the World" doesn't go with his personality . For such a role a Corporate personality is needed , someone like Rajat Kapoor might have looked better .

Anyways , the trailer looks good and the film looks a little inspired from Mel Gibson starrer 1996 hit Ransom . That one was Directed by Ron Howard (Director - Da Vinci Code) and he is an intelligent man and he made a nice pacy thriller . This one , I am sure has many Indian elements in it with a probable love angle between Minissha and Imran . I hope that Both Sanjay Gadhvi and Imran prove themselves apart from their Debut attempts . Imran has done a great thing by signing this film and would prevent him from getting trapped in a Chocolate Boy image . But this might even prove a big risk if he is not able to play the role properly .

The film is all set to release on October 2 which is roughly one and half months from now . It would be interesting to see audience reaction to Imran especially after Jaane Tu .. which is still running in some of the Cinema Halls . Check out the Trailer :