Haywire heroics

Johnson Thomas

Ajay Devgn has been nurturing his action hero image for a long time now. So, it’s no surprise that after the debacle of the love story ‘U, Me aur Hum’, he has returned to action again.

Shivaay (Ajay Devgn), the adrenaline-junkie mountain guide with a Shiva tattoo close to his heart, snake on his arm and a trishul on his back, who resides in the hills and takes trekkers out on treacherous routes in the Himalayan region, is also an undercover informant for the Indian Army. He leads a trekking team up a precipice and when faced with a potential avalanche, ends up with the heroine Olga (Erika Kaar) in a plastic tent hanging from a trekkers’ rope over a deep ravine. The lady’s ankle is broken and the tent is tossing in the tumultuous aftermath; the flimsy plastic might not even be able to bear the combined weight of the two, but they still manage to make love! 

Olga has responsibilities in Bulgaria while Shivaay, a loner, is not cut out for home and hearth. Until, they learn of her pregnancy within a couple of weeks; Shivaay suddenly discovers that he has the heart to be a father! Olga leaves the kid behind and Shivaay brings Gora (Abigail Eames) up for the next eight years. 

Cut to Gora; she discovers that she has a mother and wants to go find her. Most of the action then is set in Bulgaria where Shivaay and Gora go in search of Olga. Shivaay, who unearths a child trafficking racket in his hotel, suddenly finds his daughter kidnapped and seeks the help of the Indian consul General’s (Sourav Shukla) assistant Anushka (Sayeesha) to trace her. Cat and mouse games, chase theatrics, lacerating violence and intrigue follow.

The over-indulgences in the narrative spiel are dreadful and the elongated runtime does little to ease the discomfort. The film is at best a blinkered monument to a father’s love for his daughter!