The trailers promised a good time what with a tried and tested Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi combination. The expectations were built up with the sleek promos and some good (now mandatory) Himesh numbers. The movie being inspired by an English movie and being directed by a guy who has given only duds in the past were the dampeners which reduced expectations.
Anthony Kaun Hai? This is the question uppermost in the viewer's mind while venturing into a Cineplex to view this movie. Does the movie answer this question? No! Till the end Anthony is not really shown though he is shown in shadows and it is mentioned he was a journalist.
The movie is about a hit-man Madan (Sanjay Dutt) out to kill Anthony. He picks up Champ (Arshad Warsi) who is masquerading as Anthony. Champ tells Madan his story about stolen diamonds, which he had come to know while in jail and how he ended up being Anthony. This is the crux of the story.
Now when you have such a story the drama should be gripping. That is what is missing. Editing is not good. There is lot of things which could have been avoided. The entire Rosa (Anusha) track could have been avoided as also a couple of songs removed from the narrative as they act as speed breakers. The screenplay is the culprit here. The movie is slickly shot though. Bangkok is captured well and gives the film a glossy look.
On the acting front, the movie basically rests on Arshad's shoulders and he delivers. You can make out he has put in a lot of effort and he makes some tepid scenes also work. He is definitely one of the most underrated actors around. Another big plus is the chemistry between Arshad and Sanjay Dutt. The amazing chemistry promises a lot when Lage Raho Munnabhai comes in a couple of week's time. The music is decent but what was it that made the director to put two songs back-to-back at the end!! People out to see Sanjay Dutt will be disappointed as he hardly has 25-30 mins of screen time. His role is nothing but an extended guest appearance, though he is good as the stylish hit-man. The style statement coming out by the Ferrari that he drives! More scenes of Sanjay Dutt would have been better Minissha Lamba needs to look pretty and does that. In fact she is better than the minuscule role she portrayed in Corporate. She has a long way to go to be taken seriously. Raghuvir Yadav is a disappointment. Ravi Baswani as the doc brings some smiles. Gulshan Grover is OK. Anusha Dandekar does a lot of swimwear ads, so to say, in the movie. She is better off being a VJ where her dress sense and giggles might be appreciated but not on big screen.
Raj Koushal has shown improvement, but not in story telling which is the hallmark of a good director. He has taken care of aesthetics but forgets that it is the story that takes a film forward. His good luck charm i.e. his wife Mandira Bedi, in a walk in part also does not seem to work for the movie.
The movie can be termed thriller which has comic situations but is definitely not an edge of seat thriller nor is a comedy! Overall a disappointing movie which has its moments and you can watch if you have time on your hands and have lesser expectations. I think you are better off waiting for a few months by when this should be coming on channels.
PS: Though it was touted that the hit-man character is a bollywood buff, there are only 2 instances when this is shown. Once when he mentions Andaz (Mehboob Khan's 1949 movie) and once when he says the story should be like Yash Chopra movie.
Anthony Kaun Hai? This is the question uppermost in the viewer's mind while venturing into a Cineplex to view this movie. Does the movie answer this question? No! Till the end Anthony is not really shown though he is shown in shadows and it is mentioned he was a journalist.
The movie is about a hit-man Madan (Sanjay Dutt) out to kill Anthony. He picks up Champ (Arshad Warsi) who is masquerading as Anthony. Champ tells Madan his story about stolen diamonds, which he had come to know while in jail and how he ended up being Anthony. This is the crux of the story.
Now when you have such a story the drama should be gripping. That is what is missing. Editing is not good. There is lot of things which could have been avoided. The entire Rosa (Anusha) track could have been avoided as also a couple of songs removed from the narrative as they act as speed breakers. The screenplay is the culprit here. The movie is slickly shot though. Bangkok is captured well and gives the film a glossy look.
On the acting front, the movie basically rests on Arshad's shoulders and he delivers. You can make out he has put in a lot of effort and he makes some tepid scenes also work. He is definitely one of the most underrated actors around. Another big plus is the chemistry between Arshad and Sanjay Dutt. The amazing chemistry promises a lot when Lage Raho Munnabhai comes in a couple of week's time. The music is decent but what was it that made the director to put two songs back-to-back at the end!! People out to see Sanjay Dutt will be disappointed as he hardly has 25-30 mins of screen time. His role is nothing but an extended guest appearance, though he is good as the stylish hit-man. The style statement coming out by the Ferrari that he drives! More scenes of Sanjay Dutt would have been better Minissha Lamba needs to look pretty and does that. In fact she is better than the minuscule role she portrayed in Corporate. She has a long way to go to be taken seriously. Raghuvir Yadav is a disappointment. Ravi Baswani as the doc brings some smiles. Gulshan Grover is OK. Anusha Dandekar does a lot of swimwear ads, so to say, in the movie. She is better off being a VJ where her dress sense and giggles might be appreciated but not on big screen.
Raj Koushal has shown improvement, but not in story telling which is the hallmark of a good director. He has taken care of aesthetics but forgets that it is the story that takes a film forward. His good luck charm i.e. his wife Mandira Bedi, in a walk in part also does not seem to work for the movie.
The movie can be termed thriller which has comic situations but is definitely not an edge of seat thriller nor is a comedy! Overall a disappointing movie which has its moments and you can watch if you have time on your hands and have lesser expectations. I think you are better off waiting for a few months by when this should be coming on channels.
PS: Though it was touted that the hit-man character is a bollywood buff, there are only 2 instances when this is shown. Once when he mentions Andaz (Mehboob Khan's 1949 movie) and once when he says the story should be like Yash Chopra movie.
