Kidnap

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!).

As a non bollywood film watcher I took the opportunity to diversify my cinematic interests on the plane to London via Dubai. I had heard that Indian films often have musical numbers, but I still was suprised at how random the placements of them were. I specifically enjoyed the kidnapped woman performing a number. Apparently every genre in one movie is also common in Bollywood and I can confirm it did deliver on that front.

I really enjoyed not knowing what to expect and the bizzare clinch point conflicts due to the poor writing, but this movie was overall a mess.

The acting was alright considering they didn't have much to work with.

'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'.

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.

Maybe I just didn't know what to expect but the genre of this film could just as easily be musical as it is crime or thriller. If your not ready for the victim to spontaneously break into song and dance ala cheesy Indian music video skip this one. Still I was mildly entertained. As the title suggests the story is about a kidnapping but you just can't take it seriously.Many of the characters and locations look like Miami Vice if it had been shot in India on a low budget. I'm probably not reviewing this fairly as it needs a unique genre. I was also the only Non Indian in the audience. OK so their was a kidnapping. And the kidnapper takes the parents to go on a wild goose chase.All you need to know is Indian music video crossed with low budget Miami Vice.