Holiday

Akshay Kumar is back after his last dud "Boss" and back with the two genres he does best, Action and Comedy.

"Holiday: A soldier is never off duty" is an interesting take on the unexplored subject of Sleeper Cells. The plot is interesting and is executed well by the director. It is a refreshing dispatch from the usual films made on The Indian Army. The film is triggered when Captain Virat Bakshi played by Akshay Kumar, intelligently stops 12 serial blasts with his team. Thus ensues a cat and mouse game between the sleeper cell head played by Freddy Daruwala and Captain Virat Bakshi.

The music is not up to the mark and the romance between Akshay and Sonakshi gives a few light moments. The chemistry between Sumeet Raghavan and Akshay Kumar is better than that between Akshay and Sonakshi. Sumeet Raghavan gives a good performance among the cast. Freddy Daruwala as the antagonist fails to leave an impression but the film is carried beautifully by Akshay Kumar who gives a superlative performance. He throws himself into the action sequences and performs them excellently, he has spot on comic timing and also gives a restrained performance when he is needed to. The actor is in top form here. Sonakshi Sinha doesn't have much scope.

Overall, "Holiday: A soldier is never off duty" is worth a watch for its novel concept and makes one stand and salute the Indian Army. Go Watch IT!

A remake of the 2012 Tamil film Thuppakki, 'Holiday' is A Super Entertainer, that ranks amongst the better films of 2014, yet. Its well-written & sharply executed!

'Holiday' Synopsis: A military officer attempts to hunt down a terrorist gang & deactivate the sleeper cells under its command.

'Holiday', despite a running-time of over a 169-minutes, never really loses pace or momentum. Sure, the romantic-track could've been shortened & even the songs could've been avoided, but other-wise, the action-sequences as well as the thrilling moments are hugely arresting.

'Holiday' is sharply executed by A.R. Murugadoss, who directed the engrossing 'Ghajini, a few years back. Murugadoss's Screenplay, after a slow-start, gathers tremendous momentum & manages to hold your attention till the very end. The second-hour, especially, is top-notch! Cinematography is good. Editing is fairly done. Action-Sequences are outstanding. Music by Pritam is lovely, however, the songs act as a deterrent in the narrative.

Performance-Wise: Akshay Kumar is in top-form. He enacts the heroic solider with amazing energy. He owns the film! Sonakshi Sinha does an okay job. Freddy Daruwala is impressive as the menace. Sumeet Raghavan is first-rate. Zakir Hussain is adequate. Govinda, in a cameo, is terrific, as always.

On the whole, 'Holiday' works big time as an entertainer. Recommended!

Akshay Kumar is an amazing actor. His stunts are jaw breaking no doubt. But, the film hits the write notes. Sonakshi Sinha was wasted. Freddy Daruwala makes a god villain.

This is an edge of the seat thrilled that will keep you hooked right till the end!

It's just as hard to imagine "Holiday" without Akshay as it is to imagine last week's elegiac and thoughtful "Citylights" without Rajkummar Rao.

They both breathe life into their characters from different respiratory systems.

We often tend to think the grammar and language of mainstream cinema to be far easier to convey than the language of the so-called serious cinema.

Wrong! A full-on massy product, which doesn't resort to outlandish inanities or outright vulgarity, is the most difficult form of filmmaking. In "Holiday", Murugadoss has some absolutely unflinching support from his writers and technicians, all out to create that increasingly elusive cinematic entity .

The perfect entertainer.

Not that "Holiday" is not without its flaws. What would life in the movies be without those?

Sonakshi Sinha's role and presence in the plot can at best be termed as comic relief. She is less diva, more Mehmood. It is interesting to see how the director weaves the romantic element into what is predominantly a rugged man-to-man confrontation between an armyman on leave and a super-intelligent terrorist, who is seen to work out not from a dingy warehouse, but a normal home teeming with the scents and images of domestic harmony.

Remake of the 2012 Tamil super-hit-Thupakki,Holiday has the essential trappings of a commercial potboiler. An interesting premise, lots of action, drama and patriotism -all in abundance. Director A R Murugadoss(Ghajini fame) who also directed the original, shifts his sensibilities to Bollywood and teams up with the ace team of Vipul Shah/Akshay Kumar(who also co-produced the movie)to deliver the rock- solid punch, so much in reverence of the Indian Army.

Holiday inhabits the space that we are flagrantly aware of - the terrorist outfits and the massive havoc they caused in the latest times. It dabbles with 'Sleeper cells' who are the terrorists guised as common men and so much identifiable with the crowd, and insinuates the presence of danger at every step. Now, here is the plot.Capt.Virat Bakshi(Akshay Kumar) who is on a holiday break to meet his family in Mumbai, unearths a sinister plan of a terror outfit after witnessing a bomb-blast in a bus in the heart of the city. Virat, who is also a covert intelligence operative, creates a 12-men army ( as a nod to the film's tag-line, A Soldier is never off duty)with his fellow squadron mates who track down different terrorists set out to implant bombs at different parts of the city and shoot them point-blank. This act of valor agitates the head of the terror group in terrifying proportions and he comes out of his closet to seek vengeance, thus heralding a cat-and-mouse game.

Brimming with testosterone-charged stunt sequences and impressive prod- designs, the screenplay is compelling and keeps you engaged in the mind games of the hero-villain. Murugadoss bases his story on terrorism , yet steers clearly out of unnecessary blood, gore and violence. While an intelligent audience may react with acute strictures at some of the loopholes in the plot, you need to have a suspension of disbelief and approach with a entertainment viewpoint. The narrative suffers occasional lapses with gratuitous song sequences which dilute the underlying tension including a manipulatively staged farewell ode to our army men.This may irk the discerning viewer, but leaves most of us moist-eyed.

Akshay Kumar is in superb form and he literally carries the enterprise on his shoulders. He looks dashing, fits into the uniform and character with consummate ease and takes the action-n-stunts to the next level.Sonakshi has a wonderful comic timing and she complements Akshay in every frame, but sadly her character doesn't cross tracks with the main plot. Sumit Raghavan is endearing as Akshay's friend and his natural performance leaves you in complete awe. Newcomer Farhad(Freddy Daruwala) comes off as a rather wooden antagonist, failing to evoke menacing fear. Cast in a cameo as Akshay's senior, Govinda makes a comeback and his goofy act does provide avenue for occasional laughs.

Combining the sheer energy of Akshay Kumar and sharp intellect of Murugadoss, Holiday guarantees wholesome entertainment and offers full paisa-vasool moments. Not to be missed by action aficionados and Akshay Kumar fans. Take your family along and have a great time !

Akshay kumar had won heart of Indian as he played a positive role of Indian army... very nice movie.. if songs are nice then i might give 10 instead of 8

in Hollywood we watched many movies of U.S. army and we like it... but watching this movie in Hollywood we feel proud

also some comedy to entertain a lot and hope akshay kumar will continue making this type of SUPER HIT movies...

and what to say about sonakshi..she always rocks

don't miss this movie to watch in theater and now Indian army will go too high ,kyu ki abki baar MODI sarkar