Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena

Suparn Verma is at it again after Qayamat, Janasheen, Zameen and Karam. This time he's done the screenplay as well as the direction and the results aren't too bad.

Arjun, a conman, messes with the wrong guy, Sikandar, on one of his jobs and in return has to face the death of his best friend as well as having to pay back the duped money, with interest (Rs. 400,000 in total). The problem: He's spent all the money. So he gangs up with 2 other friends, Jack and Rohit, along with Kaif (who is Sikandar's watch-dog, played by the brilliant Kay Kay Menon) and they have to pull a heist where they can recover the money in 10 days. Enter Natasha, a behavioral psychiatrist who wants to do a research study on the everyday life of Arjun. She joins forces with him and unfortunately gets deeply involved with the crime. The result: the heist is a success, but not how you would expect it.

Anyways, Sikandar is a little too impressed and blackmails them into another job, a bigger one this time, and it involves stealing from the regional underworld kingpin, Jahangir Khan (Feroz Khan, who else??). So a plan has to be schemed up to steal Rs. 25 Crores from Jahangir Khan. Now it gets a bit complicated, because a few characters are suddenly put into play together, as well as the introduction of Sharad Kapoor who plays a CBI officer on the hunt for Arjun.

From then on, the film becomes a little hard to keep up with because the characters become interspersed within the multiple stories and it all boils down to a not-so-explosive end.

A little about the cast: Fardeen has done a decent job, not having been given too much dramatics. He's had to just look cool and deliver straight-faced dialog. Koena Mitra does nothing much except confuse us with her personality and wear lingerie-like clothes in public. The by now infamous steamy song is a bit too steamy for family viewing. Gulshan Grover: nice and evil, the usual fare. Feroz Khan: ha ha.. u know Feroz Khan... he's still looking lecherously at woman and guessing the brand of perfume they're wearing while he runs his many business ventures. Mukul Dev, Kay Kay Menon and Rohit Roy are good in their roles. Being TV artists they have learnt to be patient and do justice to whatever roles come their way.

The film packs too many songs which sometimes break the flow, and I think almost every song is a remake of a popular Hip-Hop/R&B number from recent times. As far as the story goes, be prepared to see "inspiration" from Hollywood flicks like "Matchstick Men" and Confidence". Still, "Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina" is one of the better attempts at the currently popular crime thriller genre.

I think this is a great Hindi movie I have watched after a long time. Of course this is a great Bollywood Masala. I hope people remember what Bollywood is about and forget about comparing it to Hollywood. In comparison to other Hindi movies' of the year, this is definitely on the top. Fardeen acting is great, Kay Kay really shows what he is all about. He has really done well. Of course Feroz Khan is at his best as he is always. Even though he shows visible age, the dialogue delivery is as ferocious as always. I wish he had a bigger part in the movie. The romance in the movie is about right and where it should be. The movie has really been edited well. The pace of the movie is about what it should be. I usually, will finish a 2Hr 30m movie in 1Hr, FF all songs, unnecessary scenes and mocked fights. But I really enjoyed all bits of this flick. I really think that Fardeen has a making of a great actor if he is cast in these sophisticated roles.

I was simply blown by the opening scene itself, which starts in reverse. Each frame was simply poetry and also an indicator that the director Suparn Verma is setting up the audiences for a ride. I'm a fan of film noir something missing in Indian cinema for a long long time. But Suparn Verma's debut film is a landmark in its style and plotting. In fact this film was recommended to me by a group of filmmakers and its already become a cult film. Much ahead of its times in the execution and knowing that was it was made for a ridiculously low budget, hats off. The story has been inspired by a few con films, but this film is about the execution. A must see in my book. This is one of those films that will garner appreciation over time as new and younger viewers keep watching it and the word of mouth keeps growing

It is not an adaptation; it was copied from two very good movies, House of Games & Confidence

House of Game, which revolves around how a group of Con artists con a Psychiatrist (The water pistol scene inclusive) and the over all premise is from the movie "Confidence" by James Foley. No imagination has been wasted in directing or writing screen play for this movie.

It almost appears like the director and screen play writer, well why stop there include light set up, camera angles, make up, costumes every one has decided to preserve their creativity (if any) for future I guess.

The cast has done a below average job when compared to the original cast. However, Feroz Khan was a breath of fresh air and has done an excellent job.

Hi Everyone, Some commentators have written that the movie is a copy of two Hollywood movies, most Bollywood movies are inspired by Hollywood and the songs are also often inspired without giving due credit.

The plot is is quiet original for Bollywood, a Con man (Arjun) played by Fardeen has to steal money for a gangster (sikander) from another big shot banker/money launderer/business man (Jehangir Khan). I found the songs to be great as well.

I enjoyed the movie because I had not seen the Hollywood movies the plot was inspired from. There is a lot of action and suspense. A very entertaining movie. Fardeen Khan plays his role really well and is well supported by the other cast. I found the main actress to be less glamorous, used to seeing the likes of Preity Zinta, BiPasha Basu and Ashwariya Rai. I guess I did not find her to be outstandingly "haseena" beautiful for the role.

If you have not seen the Hollywood movies its allegedly inspired from and you like thrillers à la Bollywood with some good songs then I recommend you watch it or rent it. A good movie to watch on a rainy weekend.

Bye, Jawad