Zanjeer

Zanjeer 1973 propelled Amitabh Bachchan's career also it brought into existence "angry young man". How on earth, Apoorva Lakhia decided to remake this iconic movie and played with its novel values. It is just a crisscross of all the elements required to make a movie and the results are gauche, tiresome and mediocre.

'Zanjeer' is about.C.P Vijay Khanna (Ram Charan) who is transferred from Hyderabad to Mumbai (Note: He has been transferred 17 times in merely 5 years). He teams up with the murder witness Mala (Priyanka Chopra) and investigates the murder. All these investigations connect the dots to the oil mafia Mogul (Prakash Raj). Vijay tries to expose Teja, but in process he gets suspended.

Although story is the exact mock-up of Zanjeer (1973) but it is no match. It insults the cult scene between Amitabh & Pran in the police station; the fight between them is obnoxious, Priyaka-Ram Charan romance track is flat, Prakash Raj-Mahi Gill look unbearable and vulgar.

Ram Charan reprising Bachchan's role as Vijay Khanna, who tries really hard to get the Angry Young Man avatar but fails absurdly. He couldn't flex his facial expressions according to the role however; he sustains the only one facial expression throughout.

Sanjau Dutt looks ridiculous & indifferent as Sher Khan; it is definitely no match to iconic Pran. He does not share any chemistry with Ram Charan as both look distant.

Priyanka's character, NRI Mala, is intended to add some comic reliefs which are banal. She performs "Pinki Item Song" in her facebook friend's wedding and witnesses a murder and start living with Ram Charan. It does not give any reason behind the love story also any emotional grounds.

Prakash Raj is doing the same thing over and over again which is intolerable now and he also dresses like a ring master of any circus. Mahi Gill only does "MEOW", what a waste of such talented actress.

Unfortunately, I do not have an Idea what was Atul Kulkarni doing?

I don't remember any song of the movie but inappropriately used "Rghupati Raghav Raja Ram" track during fight sequence, which was atrocious.

It is high time, such nonsense should be stopped. 2.8/10

Zanjeer review:

The hero of this movie is Ram Charan. His father Chiranjeevi's debut hindi film,"Pratibandh" (1988) was almost an unofficial remake of the original "Zanjeer"(1973). This ones an official remake.

Forget the original Amitabh Bachchan classic, beta's film cannot even match up to his pitaji's Bollywood debut. Bachchan's yesteryear classics (Sholay, Don, Agneepath) have been badly spoofed (in name of remake) in recent times by some maverick directors (RGV ki Aarrgghh remember?!). Add one more to tht blacklist...and guys, please STOP this remake business now. ENOUGH !!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Talking about this latest addition in this questionable trend of re- visiting the Classics, it will be a big disrespect towards Prakash Mehra, Amitabh Bachchan, Pran & Jaya Bachchan's original ZANJEER if I even go for writing a few paragraphs on this Apoorav Lakhia's ridiculous version. So instead of a review I will mention some great features of this well publicized project and then you can decide on your own that whether you wish to take it as a description of a film or a JOKE loudly cracked by its makers in a proud style.

1. The film opens with a long credits song showing a half naked lady, which straight away puts you off as far as the excitement factor is concerned. 2. Within next three minutes you have a fight sequence of Ram Charan with the background music of "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram" going in a vague manner, which keeps on playing in the entire film as if its a patriotic venture made by the likes of Jha. 3. Priyanka Chopra enters with dance sequence in the Pinki song, whereas in the script she is supposed to be a well educated NRI girl visiting India for a friend's marriage. 4. Including the credits track, the film features five songs before the interval quite absurdly. 5. Prakash Raj plays Teja in his repetitive style and Mahie Gill is Mona playing it like a silly girl knowing only one thing, i.e. Mona aur Sona (Completely clueless why did she even opt for it in the first place). 6. In one scene of the film, both Teja & Mona are sitting on a couch watching the original ZANJEER scenes of Ajeet and Bindu together. And here Mahie (Mona) says to Teja (Prakash Raj), "Tumhara Chehra Is Teja Se (Ajeet) Kitna Milta Hai?????" Indeed a great insightful thought in a remake. 7. In another scene Mona comes in with a tablet pack for Teja on which its written VIGRA. 8. Sher Khan (Sanjay Dutt) deals in stolen cars and a garage doing their makeovers?? 9. Both Vijay (Ram Charan) and Sher Khan (Sanjay Dutt) are shown playing play station games sitting on the same couch in one scene. 10. One of the most bizarre sequences in the film is when Ram Charan straight away drives his car into the slum crashing into people's homes and crushes them blindly like a mad man. Now he is a suspended ACP who does not really care that there are poor people including old, women, children and animals too living in that congested slum area. And he drives a good distance right into the slums with bombs exploding side by side????? 11. In the climax scene, when Teja's hand is covered by his shirt's sleeve then he simply pulls it up deliberately so that Vijay can see the tattoo on his arm and remember his parents murder! 12. Moreover, what can be said about the below average mediocre qawaali which has been added on the lines of the incomparable "Yaari Hai Imaan Mera" so lavishly. 13. Last but not the least, there is one particular dialogue in the film which is disgustingly written in a cheap manner just to bring in that kinky humor pointing towards the sexual relationship between Teja and Mona, which I find highly disgraceful to even mention in this write-up very frankly.

Reading the above mentioned points myself, I don't think there is anything else required to write about this complete avoidable movie made by a questionable creative team. Putting it bluntly, this is not the work of any film-makers to be precise, but only a planned marketing product by some businessmen who are just looking for a project to get them fair returns. And in the process, they damn care about any respect for the original or creative aspects of the remake which is clearly visible throughout the film till the end.

Anyway, what disturbs me the most after watching such nonsensical and not-required kind of remakes is the impact they are bound to make on the current generation, who haven't watched those famous original classics ever before. To give you a clear idea, just try to imagine what would come to the minds of young boys & girls in the age group of 16-30 years, after watching this brainless new age version of ZANJEER?

Unarguably they would think that, "Was this the one movie which turned the 'not-in-demand' Amitabh Bachchan into the 'much-in-demand' angry young man of the 70s?". And "Was this the movie which became a cult hit, making way for a new trend in that decade, without having anything substantial in its storyline, content or execution?"

No doubt there questions all seem to be logical but the point is that, "Who would make them aware of the painful anguish felt in the eyes of its original characters in Prakash Mehra's version of the 70s?" "Who would make them aware of the landmark confrontation scenes between Vijay and the delightful Sher Khan in a fabulous get-up? "Who will make them feel the subtle romance between the helpless Jaya and Vijay?" "Who will introduce them to the cunning enigma enjoyed for years around Ajeet and Mona Darling?" "Who will bring forward the "real friendship" depicted on screen in those years so impressively?" and…… "Who will make them listen to the memorable ageless track, "Yaari Hai Imaan Mera, Yaar Meri Zindagi" which still forces all to dance and feel the magic of music and relationships together?"

I hope somebody takes that step and brings back the magic once again on the silver screen soon. May be, by taking an initiative of organizing "Exclusive Classics Festivals" at some selected theaters like they used to in the 80s. But even if it doesn't happen, we still have got our DVDs at home, so please spare us and stop making such disrespectful remakes of all our loved, reputed classics.

Just when you thought that there is some good left in the world, the movie Zanjeer punches you hard and brings you face to face with the disastrous disaster of Hindi Cinema. Pushed by circumstances ,in my case an exam of General Pharmacology, one usually goes to a place faraway and happy, also dark, and so did I. My friends and I, we ended up in a theatre. Wasn't zero cars in the parking, or no people in the vicinity or the lifelessness of the Theatre enough to scare us off? Obviously Not.

One ticket worth 130 Rupees, and we barged into a hall full of nothing but an ogre-face sprawled all over the large screen. That was the defining moment when we knew that the coming 3 hours of our lives were in vague danger, but being a Desi breed we didn't turn back. 130 Rupees ka sawal tha.

The initial shock of an atrociously hideous protagonist or an awfully dumb Priyanka Chopra was nothing. There was so much more they had in store for the scanty audience.

A hag-faced Sanjay Dutt who insisted on wearing nothing but colours that could sore your eyes for a century, a nauseating woman named Mona, a dark and gross villain with massive one-liner-failures, a dizzy sound- track, a horrific and passé story-line, a dance step that looked pretty much like an epileptic seizure, a 150-minutes-of-my-life-never-coming- back later here I am thanking the almighty that I am alive. Barely.

Only one bearable ending could've come out of this traumatic movie, if that mutant-lips-cop shot himself in the end, and the screen splattered with his pathetic blood. Or not. No way on Earth can this be a better movie, because this is it, the worst movie I have watched in my lifetime. I am scarred for life. Rating this movie in stars? I wouldn't rate this in bullshits.

This movie typifies the malaise within the Indian mainstream film industry. To think that if you can cram together all the elements that might go into making an entertaining film will ensure a successful film is not stupidity or ignorance, but hubris (thus demonstrating that hubris is stupidity and ignorance). Apoorva Lakhia must take all the blame for this film. But special mention must be made of Ram Charan as well. To think that an artist of his stature doesn't do enough of a quality check - it's a betrayal of the people spending time and money on this film. Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Prakash Raj and Atul Kulkarni do their bit of course and can't be faulted - except that maybe they shouldn't trust Lakhia again. Mahie Gill makes you wonder. Such a promising career and such talent. Choices likes these have the potential to ring the death knell for wonderful actors like her, and it is the corruption of the Indian film industry that forces actors to make terrible choices that ultimately backfire.

And why remake a movie if you're not going to elevate the original? This is tantamount to abuse and exploitation, and quite simply unforgivable. Karan Malhotra's reboot of Agneepath, on the other hand, was tribute to the original metamorphosing into truly surpassing the original (which, despite being a "cult classic", is shockingly poor in several bits).

The lesson to take away from this is that such a waste of resources is an insult to the audiences, and must have longer-standing consequences. The question is: the next time Lakhia gets a chance to put together an excellent cast and crew, will you forget that he was the one who demeaned you and belittled your intelligence with a 2013 film called Zanjeer?