Ek Ajnabee

All was fine while watching this movie until the small girl jumps into swimming pool, and then encouraged by Bachan to swim and after that, gunfire fear talk... I was like, hold on... have i watched this movie before? and figured out after a short thinking that yes, but it was the movie named "Man On Fire" last time I watched it... I love Amitabs acting and all... but I was really disappointed in the writer, I think more could be done to make the copy look a bit different than original. Some one said rightly "Nakal ke liyey bi akal ki zaroorat hoti hai" (you need wisdom even to cheat), and of course, if the writer had some sense, he would come up with an original idea in the first place...

I have only one request to the movie makers... Please don't waste money on stealing the scripts and filming them, you can rather dub the movie in Hindi and put some songs at end and it will work just as fine...

I hope Mr. Amitab knows the fact that the movie was based on the cheated story line...

Ek Ajanbee is a great movie! I mean, c'mon! High production value, awesome scenery, and very clever camera work. I was impressed, and even though I had already seen Man on Fire , and was aware this was a remake of it, Ek Ajnabee held its own plenty. I know that a lot of people on these boards are saying that it is a "rip-off", "this is Bollywood at its worst", and other mindless comments, they fail to realize a few key points. As far as I'm concerned, everyone knows that USA's Hollywood is king of the hill due to the sheer amount of money that is available. But India's movie industry may not have the same worldwide recognition as we do, but that doesn't mean their movies are crap. Think about how much foreign talent comes to the USA (Ridley Scott, Colin Farrel, etc) - this virtually annihilates the talent pool in their home countries, and they come here to act and direct under the banner of Hollywood. SO the USA just has it that good. A lot of Indian flicks (lol, I just thought about it - "Indie flicks". LOL!!) borrow heavily from established USA movies, that's obvious. But they aren't ripping off Hollywood, they're using tried and true formulas that sell tickets over here! Ek Ajnabee is not a virtual copy of Man on Fire, although it is awfully similar. But it has its own plot twists and new characters that make it unique. I liked the movie for several reasons - the "Creasy" character (who's name I can't type or pronounce) has awesome screen presence, the Paul Stanley (his buddy) looking guy made an awesome villain at the end, and it managed to be a fierce and powerful thriller without any profanities.

Okay, so I did think that Ek Ajnabee was a bit TOO stylized (too many complicated camera edits, over-the-top dialogue, people calmly walking in slow motion away from cars as they explode, the hokey special forces flashback scene and, oh yeah - the bad guys just happen to drive a 1970 Pontiac GTO that wouldn't be very hard to spot in Asia!!), but then again most movies that we are familiar with are too, i.e. the US version of Man On Fire, Catwoman, Armageddon, or any other bug dumb action movie... I wasn't sure what to think when the movie turned into a music video halfway through, and the coda scene "15 years later", the lead character looks EXACTLY the same and is still wearing the same sunglasses!!! Still, I was pleased with Ek Ajnabee - and I'll watch it again.

It's a very big role for actor Amitabh after long time, who plays as a bodyguard for a small girl around 8 years old.

First of all it is a plagiarized movie – from Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire'. But let us put that aside since many Hindi movies are photocopies. (Some are 'inspired' but the bulk are total rehashes with not an iota of conscience.) So having put that to rest let us see if the movie stands on its own feet. Swish-swish editing - seems like an editor gone mad. Scenes from the future coming before, scenes from the past repeated ad nauseum - same takes get featured again and again, totally irrelevant to the story. Obviously the director is clueless about what it takes to tell a story in a celluloid medium. Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost was bad - Ek Ajnabee is pathetic. With a cast of hams - Arjun Rampal(leading the pack), Perizaad Zorabian, Vikram Chatwal, Kelly Dorje and a whole host of insignificant actors. But never mind – what about the Big B?? You can flog him all you want; flaunt his talents but sir we are disappointed since you involve yourself with such low-grade productions.

The script is a copy of Man on Fire. The movie is a scene-to-scene, dialog-to-dialog translation.

Still, I enjoyed it, but the fact that the movie was so shamelessly copied over from a big Hollywood movie without even a touch of hint of acknowledging that left a really bitter taste in my mouth.

The only positive message I want to convey to the entire crew involved in the movie is this: Look, you had a great looking movie in the end, with slick action shots, fantastic characterization, really stylish look and feel for the movie. So that means you are good. But hey, just spend some extra time, effort and money to write a script yourself - and you will have a winner on your hand next time!

I rate it 8 out of 10 simply it is a good movie to watch. Ethically speaking, this movie should be given a 0 out of 10.