Yet another espionage saga. A sold premise that doesn’t deserve any retelling. A nobody with nobody to care is picked up by Indian Intelligence and moulded in to a killing machine. Reminds you of the inimitable James Bond? Indeed, it does. There are no full marks for guessing what unfolds in this raunchy, stylish, lengthy and mostly predictable sequence of events.
Dhurandar does say ‘inspired by true events’ but it could have been a tad better if the commentary went something like this – ‘A collage of all the terror attacks that have fallen upon India with disgrace, and India’s bravados infiltrate the most menacing terror organisations to seek retribution’. Well, that’s it. That summarises the movie for me.
Well, I am yet unsure about all the hype and the footage this film managed to garner. It is an ok film, watchable once but it set the cash registers on fire. I think there is so much of mediocrity thrown at us these days that anything close to ‘ok’ is quickly lapped up by the audiences and made to look like a great film. No disrespect intended to the makers, you have definitely succeeded in shattering the box office records but for someone who admires real, authentic, unflinching cinema, it wasn’t ‘Dhurandar’ enough for me.
But one thing is for sure and real – it’s cashing in big time on human emotions and sentiments, especially with the recent tragic events that unfolded in the country. People are high on patriotism and ‘Dhurandar’ is the most desired medicine at the moment, which is being served, hot!
I would certainly like to single out a performance that will shine through for sheer arrogance, uninhibited swagger and electrifying screen presence. Akshay Khanna as ‘Salman Dakait’ is brilliant. Though an example of pure evil, his character’s demise takes the sheen away from an otherwise ordinary, run-of-the-mill story telling. It does manages to run through with abundance of violence, massy moments and an impressive retro soundtrack but at the end, the same questions lingers around. What’s new?
The teaser of the sequel wasn’t very intriguing either. I exactly know what’s coming next, so not expecting any surprises there. So it could be a sequel no one wanted but we will nevertheless wait and watch.
@Lifeoholic 