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Black Mail Movie
Review
An oft-repeated Bollywood formula flick in a new
avatar is what BLACKMAIL is all about. Only the
characters of yore are replaced with the new
leaders of Bollywood with a strong dose of
laudable Devgan action.
Sadly, the storyline, despite all its thrills,
due to its age-old formula, makes one see
answers before the questions are asked. And
therein lies the problem.
Shekhar [Ajay Devgan] is car-racer who he uses
his skills to help prisoners flee from jails. To
him, the Himalayan rally and the Mumbai roads
seem the same when it comes to displaying his
driving skills - he is unstoppable.
ACP Abhay Rathod [Suneil Shetty] is leading a
content life with his wife [Priyanka Chopra] and
son Chirag [Parth Dave]. Their dream world
collapses when Chhota [Mukesh Rishi] hires
Shekhar to settle scores with Abhay.
Besides, Shekhar has a score to settle with
Abhay as well. The cop, in his bid to nab
Shekhar at some point in time, was indirectly
responsible for the death of Shekhar's wife [Dia
Mirza] in an accident. And as time flies, Devgan
also has Devgan's child with him kept someplace!
BLACKMAIL takes inspiration from the Hollywood
flick RANSOM [1996; Mel Gibson]. Come to think
of it, BLACKMAIL has two factors going in its
favour - the emotional moments and competent
actors - and is also garnished with some
excellent stunts. But the film is not without
its share of blemishes...
The problem is, BLACKMAIL doesn't take a lot of
risks. It follows the mundane predictable path
and the effort gets diluted in the process.
To be honest, BLACKMAIL could've been a taut,
compelling, heart-wrenching thriller, but is
ruined by an oft-repeated plot. The writers have
packaged the routine formulae and presented it
in a new garb. Besides some brilliantly executed
action scenes, there's nothing that really
arrests your attention.
Director Anil Devgan has made a slick product,
but he ought to realize that it's the story that
does the talking. After an interesting start,
the graph of the film starts going downhill
primarily because predictability seeps in at
this juncture.
The action, backed by the right sound and
editing, makes for some interesting moments. In
fact, the action portions are the mainstay of
the film. The music [Himesh Reshammiya] is a
disappointment simply because the songs are out
of place and have not been weaved into the
story. Even the item song looks completely
forced. If deleted, it might help in perking up
the goings-on. Cinematography is quite good.
BLACKMAIL belongs to Ajay Devgan completely. The
actor puts his best foot forward and delivers a
striking performance. Suniel Shetty is adequate,
while Dia Mirza stands out in her scenes.
Priyanka Chopra does not have much to do. Parth
Dave is convincing. Mukesh Rishi is as usual.
On the whole, BLACKMAIL is not as gripping as
one would've expected it to be. At the
box-office, nothing to rave or rant about! |
