Review : Anthony kaun hai

ANTHONY KAUN HAI : A rather slow thriller

I had an inkling that this was one of those different films, but the one review that I read trashed it. However after seeing this film I don’t think it’s all bad. The big flaw is that it’s slow and can’t maintain pace, it being a who-dun-it and all. However the story is diifferent (inspired by Hollywood film “Who is Cletis Tout”) and the narration is unique. The acting is good – Arshad Warsi has a meaty chunk of it. This film is innovative, it strays from that well-trod path of Bollywood masala flicks, so yeah, I hand it an above average rating.

Champ or Champak Chaudhary (Warsi) is a small-time crook, dreaming of hitting the big-time by retrieving hidden diamonds. However, while going by a different name, he is caught by for-hire-killer Master Madan (Dutt). Madan threatens to kill him believing him to be Anthony Gonsalves. Champ has to convince Madan that he is not Gonsalves by relating his very unbelievable story. Does Madan believe him, or is it Adios Champak ?

The film relates Champak’s story in flashback. Anousha Dandekar makes a brief appearance in the film as Champ’s one-time girlfriend Rosa – a role of no consequence if you ask me; it has zero impact on the story. Raghubir Yadav plays a con-man, Champ meets in jail. Minisha Lamba plays Jiya, the girl Champ loves, and the one helping him retrieve those diamonds. Minisha does good, although with each film of hers, I am convinced more and more that she does not have what it takes to make it big-time in Bollywood. Dutt as Master Madan, looks suave in a suit and a Ferrari, is cold-blooded and revels in the part. Gulshan Grover is the detective on the trail of a murder, linking Gonsalves and Lucky Sharma (Hansraj) the actual villain. Warsi as Champ is as always, good. He is in form whether it is comedy, drama or just plain old masala fare; I wish he’d get better roles.

I am surprised to see this film come from Raj Kaushal the maker of such unmentionables as “Pyar mein kabhi kabhi” and “Shaadi ka laddoo”. In this film, he needs to tighten the direction; too much slack in a thriller puts the viewer to sleep. As it did in my case; I had to rewind the film after I woke up. Still, the rewind experience notwihstanding, I’d say give it a dekho – it’s on DVD now.