Review : Zinda

[amazon_link id=”B0016GOMWO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Poor (2.25/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2006
Running time : About 2 hours
Director : Sanjay Gupta
Cast : Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Celina Jaitley, Mahesh Manjrekar, Raj Zutshi

ZINDA : Blood and gore !

Undoubtedly the most violent Hindi film I’ve seen, Zinda is a direct lift of the award-winning Korean film “Old Boy”. I haven’t seen “Old Boy” but am told that “Zinda” is almost a frame-by-frame copy, except at the end, where the original motive (incest) is replaced by one (apparently) palatable to Indian audiences. I, for one don’t get that. Oh, we can’t see incest, but any other form of female degradation is quite acceptable !

Balajit Roy (Dutt) a software engineer has come to Bangkok , with wife (Jaitley) in tow. One day he mysteriously dissappears. He’s held in solitary confinement in a one-room jail, for 14 years, with only a TV for company, by an unknown adversary for some unknown reason. His wife is killed, and he is setup for the murder. After 14 years, he’s released into the outside world, and his one mission then is to find his enemy and the reason for the imprisonment. This he does with (little) help from cab-driver Jenny Singh (Dutta), and comes face-to-face with his nemesis, rich tycoon Rohit Chopra (Abraham). What follows is pure cinematic drivel.

The story of the film is interesting and keeps you hooked. What doesn’t is Mr. Flab himself, Sunjay Dutt. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the guy couldn’t act !The non-actor has company though, there is John who in this film comes across as the stony faced sophisticate (here lack of acting skills actually help him remain expressionless !), and there is Lara who’s acting as a Punjabi kudi. Never mind that she can’t carry off a Punjabi accent, and speaks Hindi like she’s spouting French ! If Her Hipness can be an earthy “Jenny Singh”, then the day of dumb directors has come. Jaitley flits through the 2 miniscule scenes she has in low-waisted hipsters. Mahesh Manjrekar appears as Roy’s friend. And Raj Zutshi appears convincing as the local mafioso handling the details of the imprisonment (the one actor in the entire film who can actually act, but alas, he hardly has a role).

The film is sickeningly violent, the weapons of choice being an automatic drill and a hammer. Along with visions of the drill tearing into human flesh, and dental extraction (sans anaesthesia) with the help of the hammer, we also get ringside seats to watch Roy getting stitched up after attempting suicide. Definitely not a film for the faint-hearted.

Apart from the stomach-turning visuals, Gupta has nothing to offer. The film is insipid with the watered down motive, and the characters appear unbelievable. Dutt’s character shows less signs of being a (relatively educated) software engineer, and more signs of being a depraved whacko. Manjrekar, as his odious friend doesn’t add to the upliftment much.

The film’s music is the only good thing coming out of here. And for that you need the Cd, not the DVD. A firm Do-NOt-WATCH for this film.