AVOID. Review on Ek Ajnabee

I have a feeling. Amitabh Bachchan does very few movies for the sake of the love of acting. I think Black and Virrudh fell into this category. The others he signs up for the moolah. Apoorva Lakhia’s Ek Ajnabee is probably his payment machine. That brings up another issue – Apoorva Lakhia is a brilliant technician reminiscient of the late Mukul S Anand with whom Amitabh had done Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah. But like Anand, Lakhia too is devoid of script sense. He is too busy concentrating on the camera angles and lighting up shots that he forgets to give his narrative the push it needs. Alas! Ek Ajnabee had the premise to be a really taut tale. But it falls flat.

Amitabh is an ex-army officer who is summoned to Bangkok by his friend Arjun Rampal. He gets the job to save Baby Rucha from potential abductors. The minute the army man is hired the bad men get into action. Bullets are fired randomly and the girl is kidnapped. Big B is shot several times by the abductors but he survives somehow only to learn that the girl has been slayed. He sheds a few tears for her and promises revenge.

The story then reaches a point where explosions, gun shots and blood n’ gore seem inevitable. The story turns and twists. There are a few surprises. But by the time you reach the climax and the REAL BIG ONE is revealed, you are let down. “Hey, I knew this all along.” The reason the villain gives for his villainy is even more hackneyed and clichéd.

Bachchan is great in the first half but like the movie in the post-interval he gets predictable and boring. Arjun Rampal looks stylish and sexy. Baby Rucha is a real revelation though I admit to have found her irritating initially. Her charm won me over. Perizad Zoriban is efficient as Rucha’s mother.

The music left me bruised and battered.

All in all, see this movie only if you are a die hard Bachchan fan and feel terrible about his illness. I did and thus saw the movie. And ever since I have been feeling ill.