Zinda

Bollywood should NEVER try to be as ambitious to tackle films like Oldboy. Indian morality eventually gets in the way. Such attempts are cringeworthy. Do not bother watching Zinda unless you like talentless 'eye candy' type films. Watch the original instead. What is it with Bollywood anyway? They shamelessly copy from oriental cinema/Hollywood and try to pass it off as their own. You can't help but feel disappointed. It was a massacre of the cultish Oldboy. You have to have a strong stomach to stomach some of the things that happen in Oldboy. Its like Bollywood was sugar coating the themes in Oldboy and what do you end up with? A version which your granny can watch with you without feeling too offended. If that was the case then Zinda should never have been made. Well it shouldn't have!

... I totally agree with the previous comments, how can someone copy shameless a good movie AND took out the best scenes and best story elements? Oldboy is definitely one of the best movies (that's why it's good story copied that often), but when I try to copy something than I try to IMPROVE the copy, not to omit the best things! I'm sure the good voting only were given by people who didn't see the original movie.

Please watch Oldboy - you will not waste your time. I really don't understand this Bollywood "Hype", bad actors, bad cinematography and a copied or other well known story - it's always the same. Finally I only recommend you to spend this 116 minutes of your valueable life with other things than watching this movie!

I can't believe they got the rights to crucify OLDBOY with this trash!!! I mean why bother... They have totally destroyed a cult movie of very high standard. The acting in this"effort" is shabby, the cinematography is amateur, the dialogue had me in stitches from start to finish. I found myself in tears of laughter at how bad this really was in every way possible.

I think the most tickling moment is when they tried to re enact the "hammer" fight scene with a hugely inflated Sanjay Dutt - it was like seeing a hippo on speed - the original was one of the most memorable fight scenes ever choreographed but this was like a terrible outtake.

I hope the actors and director of this nonsense look back at it and cringe with embarrassment because I certainly did.

Hollywood have their crack at Oldboy released some time this year, I hope and pray it's not as bad as Zinda - one thing this film is not is Zinda for sure - its DEAD from the opening scene !!!

I've read the user comments on this forum and found a blithe lack of concern in many of the posts for the fact that 'Zinda' is a total ripoff. Here are some telling examples, along with my own not-very-profound responses. I trust I need do no more than that to make my point:

"It is unfortunate that bollywood ripped off OLDBOY, but if that is the only way that the Indian audiences would get a glimpse of what the original was like, so be it" (Huh? Ever hear of buying the rights to do an official remake?)

"I am reading the reviews of OLD Boy too, which i have not seen. But I should say that it is a great experiment by Indian cinema" (Yeah, a repeat experiment -- like where somebody else first came up with the ideas and took the risks before you came along and decided to do the exact same thing)

"The legendary action-scene with the hammer looks as hard as it was in Korean version". (the Korean version? Almost makes it sound like 'Oldboy' ripped off 'Zinda')

"First things first , i haven't seen Old Boy so just cant judge Zinda by it's standard... He did full justice to the role of Balajeet Roy(on par with Choi Min-shik" (So you haven't seen 'Oldboy', but you HAVE seen Choi Min-Shik's performance in it? Do the police come to you for psychic impressions when they run out of clues?)

(And what does this mean): "There is no doubt that 'ZINDA' is a complete rip-off of Korean movie 'OLDBOY' but I must add that it is an excellent adaptation of 'OLDBOY'".

--And I won't spoil the pristine effect of these following remarks by adding my own commentaries:

"Hollywood is also planning a rip of this one, so what's the fuss all about"

"People tell me that this movie is inspired/copied or total remake of a Korean masterpiece "OldBoy"; but I don't mind it"

"Yes agreed that he copies other films scene by scene, but who doesn't? Why is he called a copycat, when i can add a long list of other copycats? Take Ek Ajnabee - which was an exact copy of Man On Fire, or Vivek Agnihotri for Chocolate - which was a ridiculous version of the classic 'The Usual Suspects'. At least Sanjay Gupta makes a good replica of a film"

"Copy of old boy backed up with Sanjay direction makes it truly a ride you will never forget".

"The story may be inspired from a Korean film, or so we are told, but is doesn't matter because no one's really seen it".

It's not something new for bollywood to copy foreign movie's script. I guess they (actors, director and creative staff members...) all gather around and watch the movie to be copied so that there will be no confusion what they are really after. Frame to frame. That's a shameful act for any responsible main stream actors and director. I am glad that Zinda is now under investigation for violation of copyright. Its about time now to stop this shameful piracy. Another thing is, Hindi movie don't have guts to go that extreme like jaw-dropper "Old boy". Pathetic. They make movie according to the public taste, mostly rickshaw pullers. I wonder where they found in between the plot to plant some songs and crazy dance. Somebody really needs to tell bollywood artist that movie is a serious art business. There is a very bold thick red link between copy and adaptation, and Zinda is way far across the line.