Zinda

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 !!!

Having seen the Korean movie that Zinda is based on, and realizing how difficult a job Sanjay Gupta had on his hands, I went into this screening giving Zinda all the chance I could. What I eventually ended up watching got me thinking: Since Gupta has seen the original, what did he see at all in his version that he let it be released in cinemas? He should have left this movie on the shelves, or let out a quite Home video release and saved himself a lot of face. Or be man enough to announce that he failed. It is impossible that he could have been satisfied with the end-product. For a movie where the director deceives himself, what chance do the audience have? Zinda follows the life of Bala (Sanjay Dutt) who is plucked off his beach-house in Bangkok without notice, shortly after arriving there with his wife. He is imprisoned in a hotel-room, fed & cared for and yet devoid of all human contact. He is not even allowed to kill himself. His only contact with the outside world is a Television set which eventually gives him news that his wife has been killed and all evidence points to him as the murderer. 14 years of solitary confinement followed by sudden release fuels Bala's quest for vengeance against his captor (John Abraham). At his aid are a Female Punjabi Cab Driver (Lara Dutta) and his childhood friend (Mahesh Manjrekar).

Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt as White Feather Films make a formidable team. Since rediscovering himself as a 'remake' film-maker, Gupta has been Indianising movies quite well. Somehow, they have always managed to entertain the testosterone audience. But here Gupta sets himself too high a target. Oldboy, the Korean film that Zinda is a remake of, is a masterpiece in film-making. The movie cannot and should not be tinkered with in its story and characters. All Gupta wants to do is pick the stylization from Oldboy and fit it into a movie he has imagined he can make. Yes, style has sold film before, but a minimalist interest in the script only works to negate any effect that the sleek-look may have. To give credit where due, Sanjay Gupta does make an attempt towards a movie like nothing we have 'seen' before. But a failed attempt does not a good movie make. Sanjay Gupta has always been a master technician of his movies, but this movie falters at a more basic level - it's writing. The theme of the movie is Revenge. But is Sanjay Dutt's Bala interested in revenge at all? Yes, to begin with: when he tries to discover the place where he was held captive. But thereafter all he is interested in is staring, walking, staring, running. With such a strong motive behind a well established character, where is the pay-off? Dutt himself gives a good performance. But with no backbone. This is not an act where even if the movie collapses all around him, his performance will emerge from the rubble as a saving grace (as it was in Pitaah). We have seen Mr Dutt do a lot better than this before, and in contrast, his Bala is too mediocre. John Abraham also does a good job - but unfortunately, the consistency and fierceness of his character does a 180 at the end, thanks again to the writing. He takes the entire movie to prepare this wonderfully evil character and ends it by adding a teaspoon-full of sugar. Lara Dutta does her best to look babe (she succeeds), but fails to convince us as a Punjabi or a cab-driver. Another White-Feather alumnus Sameera Reddy could have been a better choice. Mahesh Manjrekar is a lost cause.

Sanjay Gupta and his cinematographer Sanjay F. Gupta (Oh, the number of Sanjays!) work well to mood the film right - but while the color-grading worked well in Musafir, and in Sanjay F Gupta's Karam, here the entire movie ends up with a grainy look. That, my dear Guptas, is definitely a not. The lack of dance-numbers and only background tracks is a positive, and Vishal-Shekhar with Strings add to a wonderful soundtrack. Down the years, maybe that's all this movie might be remembered for. And a somewhat decent, but copied, hammer-sequence.

My Rating --> 2/5

Warning: I'm a German-Japanese / Poor English

Abnormally, i'd generally like to experience remade flicks. More so the if i loved the original. I know there are extremely few which equals or excels to the original but it's not a big problem for me 'cause i don't even expect them to. It is to me like a bonus track of a beloved album, no more no less.

So i got no hesitation in checking Zinda as well (i was even excited actually) 'cause the original must be in my all-time best 10, but, oh my..

I won't say any more about this XEROX COPY crap. (copied on retarded machine, moreover) Nough said by nough people.

Now one thing i just can't believe is how this could be legal. As far as i've read on internet articles, Sanjay and his people haven't even paid a penny to the original Oldboy makers for doing this, which means Zinda is not an official remake of Oldboy. Then what the h..! is Zinda's identity? Some's gonna say it's JUST BASED ON or INSPIRED thing but you know it's way beyond those kinds. Then what?

Sort of Homage thing ? Yea possible, but Sanjay and his company have hardly mentioned about the original on either official ads & reports or non-official comments. Instead, Sanjay's kept saying he's got a bit INSPIRED ONLY and Zinda is totally different from Oldboy or something like that. Besides, more importantly, while shamelessly copying scenes-by-scenes from Oldboy, Sanjay intentionally missed the KEY-POINT of Oldboy's story for his own audiences' taste, for COMMERCIAL PURPOSE in other words. Then how can we call it Homage anyway ?

My conclusion is : Zinda is not only a copy crap, it's rather A CRIME, LITERALLY. I don't understand why Oldboy makers let them make money with this stolen thing.

Am i disappointed ? No i'm fine i didn't even expect. I'm just p***ed and upset for this shitmakers' shamelessness that's all.

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".

Many have said this before, but I'm afraid I have to repeat the opinion on the account that a surprising many have decided that Zinda is worth of anything more than 1 star in IMDb. Zinda is a unscrupulous photocopy of the masterpiece Oldboy, and should be avoided, if not boycotted.

Some will claim that Zinda is a 'tribute' or a 'remake' of the Oldboy. To them I ask one question: "What kind of filmmakers make remakes of a movie when the original came out two years ago and has been selling DVDs very well internationally?" It seems that this particular brand of Indian cinema has decided that it is quite content making money off of other people idea for free. And though it is impossible for the original filmmakers to sue the filmmakers of Zinda (on the account that Indian copyright laws does not allow for such suit), Zinda should be remembered as a true stain on the development of Indian Cinema.

Because it has photocopied a great movie, Zinda avoids being an absolute terror of a movie. However, this does not excuse Sanjay Gupta and the section of 'Bollywood' that has involved itself in Zinda's production. Because of the blatant plagiarism, and the Zinda's makers absolutely refusing to apologize and reimburse the original filmmakers, I must say Zinda deserves 1 star, if not 0.