Kidnap

Sometimes u go for a movie and wonder why the hell didn't i go for an evening walk instead or why i didn't go to bed early today... Kidnap will make you wonder why do i bother to go to movies. Its one of those movies which makes you laugh..... on yourself. The movie has a basic storyline of revenge with unlimited flaws which we can ignore. But can we ignore the below average acting or the poor direction and editing of the movie? Apart from the background music i don't think the film makers have paid a lot of attention to what exactly they want to make. The movie was neither a thriller nor an emotional outburst. In the end it made me wonder was it a spoof of some Hollywood movie. Minisha Lambha looked hot throughout the movie and apart from her cleavage show there was nothing more to the scenes filmed on her. Her mother looked like her elder sister. Sanjay Dutt was average and looked a bit out of shape. Imraan Khan disappointed big time. He is no Aamir Khan and he proved it. His acting was not at all convincing and he looked quite uncomfortable doing a serious villain role. Overall I guess the fine actors are as good as director makes them work and here we know who is at fault. I hope all the review readers to skip this movie and think as if this movie just wasn't released. I made the mistake but I have just came back from the show and I have taken the best possible way to save the world from this movie. God help people who see this movie.

'Kidnap' definitely ranks as one of the worst movies of 2008. With movies like 'Dhoom 2', Gadhavi has already proved to be one of the worst directors ever. The story, not surprisingly, is unoriginal and nonsensical. There is nothing impressive where the technical side is concerned. It has the funniest (unintentionally of course) casting. I wonder how they got Vidya Malvade to play wife of the old haggard Sanjay Dutt and mother of Minisha Lamba. I can understand why any respectable 30+ actor would turn down the role (or anything offered by Gadhavi) but the only reason I can think of is that poor Malvade isn't getting enough roles. Sanjay Dutt mechanically plays a cop for the nth time. Someone ought to teach Minisha Lamba that it is important to be classy in order to look sexy. Otherwise it's just sleazy and/or tacky, both of which apply to Lamba. She could learn a thing or two about class from her on screen mom who looks sensational without having to show any body part. In addition, Lamba's acting is pathetic. However, it is the so called upcoming star Imran Khan who delivers the worst performance. Perhaps this is one of the best examples of wooden acting. 'Kidnap' has nothing going for it. The action sequences are laughable. Even some B-grade films have done better than this. The songs are better forgotten. I'd suggest you take a nap instead of watching 'Kidnap'.

RELEASED IN 2008 and directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, "Kidnap" chronicles events in India when the daughter (Minissha Lamba) of a rich tycoon (Sanjay Dutt) is kidnapped by a man driven by vengeance (Imran Khan). Vidya Malvade is on hand as the beautiful mother and ex-wife of the mogul.

This was only my third Bollywood movie so maybe I'm not the best person to appraise these movies, but I find them interesting for cultural reasons and generally entertaining.

The animated credits sequence is overlong and is curiously followed by a pop music video led by Minissha Lamba before the actual movie starts at the 8.5 minute mark. There are a couple of other music videos thrown in later. The language mixes Hindi with some English here and there, which is interesting (I gather this is how they actually speak over there).

The story and some of the dramatics seem too contrived and sometimes too quaint. The prison break sequence, for instance, is akin to a goofy Spaghetti Western from back in the day. Nevertheless, this is a unique crime thriller in that it bends over backward to entertain, literally throwing in kinetic song & dance routines. Lamba is curvy, the aging Dutt is resolute analogous to Bruce Willis with a small spare tire and the young Khan is unrealistically formidable, but likable. There's a dynamic rooftop chase in the second half and I liked the moral of the story, which is unmistakably driven home. But the movie is overlong at close to 2.5 hours.

WRITERS: Shibani Bathija and six others.

GRADE: C/C-

Expectations are bound to run high especially when you deliver two mega grossers back-to-back ie. Dhoom and D2. And Sanjay Gadhvi is indeed accountable for the missing goods.

Sanjay Dutt:: His Conviction was missing and it was apparent.

Vidya Malvade:: For starters, I "never" knew she was the "Chak De" girl. Fitted well as independent & opinionated Mrs. Sanjay Dutt. But as Mum to Minisha - nay!!

Minisha Lamba:: Try and try harder until you succeed. Well this time around it was trying with the clothes I guess. Skimpy albeit.

Imran Khan:: It was written in bold that he was trying extremely hard to put up an intense emotion in the name of acting. Suggest he should stick doing chocolaty-boy roles and then make a natural progression towards parallel oriented performance. Uncle, where art thou?

At certain places, the movie carries a look which seems to be inspired by Sanjay F Gupta.

Background score is loud. Songs are passable and lyrics are crappy.

The plot simply doesn't connect. And the screenplay seems to be loaded with speed-breakers. Extremely poor in writing department (read that cinematic liberties!).

What can a father, who is filthy rich, do if his daughter, who he hasn't seen for eight years and then one day he finds out that she's been kidnapped? Simple! Try and find out where she's been held and by who and try and find out the ransom amount and pay. But no, its not that simple as it involves someone who is out take revenge.

Imran Khan has definitely grown up from his first movie and to match his character, he has done workout in the Gym and has shown it. He is the saving grace for this film and has matured. The same cannot be said for "Munnabhai," Sanjay Dutt – no doubt in my mind that he is a good actor but he could have performed better. He has played the role of a father before in "Pitaah," but playing the role of a teenager's father could have taken it to stronger position but never the less, not a bad attempt. Rahul Dev, in the meantime, has done a good job of his role in helping the helpless father.

Actresses nowadays can stoop to any length in a film, including exposing and unfortunately for Minnisha Lambha, she has turned to exposing a bit, which I thought was unnecessary. But I can't say the same for Vidya Malvade as she has definitely performed well as a mother. Lastly, there was nothing much for Reema Lagoo, who I felt was wasted when her role as a grandmother could have been improved.

This is not the same Sanjay Gadhvi, who has now separated from Yashraj Films, who previously directed hit movies such as "Dhoom" and "Dhoom2." The script was weak in many parts and this is perhaps the reason why he was not able to do better. The script could have been improvised and this would have made the film a bit better. Something to watch out for is the chasing scenes between the father and Kabir as they are very well filmed. I have been informed that for one scene, Imran Khan actually tried to perform a dangerous stunt himself only to receive a call from his uncle Aamir after Munnabhai gave him a call and informed him.

Conclusion: This is a watchable movie but it could have been better.