X factor amiss

Johnson Thomas

Lame tricks take centre-stage in this familial (read Bhatts) attempt to grab back the box-office after a series of woebegone flops. After a string of lacklustre movies that failed to create any ripples at the box-office, Vikram Bhatt gets back into the saddle with a Mr India wannabe, top-lining cousin Emraan Hashmi with uncle Mukesh Bhatt as producer.
This romantic thriller opens with anti-terrorist experts Raghu (Hashmi) and Simi (Dastur) setting out an escape plan for a busload of terrified passengers held to ransom by a gun-wielding terrorist. The opening sequence reminiscent of Speed gets executed rather quickly and we are transported into the next phase of the movie. The two ATD operatives, quickly enough, gun down the suicide-bomber and usher the hostages out of the bus. A wounded man is left behind in the bus and the righteous Raghu, putting his life on the line, leaves his colleague/lover to detonate the bomb while he gets into action trying to save the life of the wounded survivor. That dramatic beginning notwithstanding, the narrative flares into romantic interludes that emblazons the love between the two operatives.  But Raghu’s involvement in a nasty conspiracy where he’s forced to commit a crime at gun-point by chief goon (Arunoday Singh) puts the brakes on that. The special effects do not have the Hollow Man finesse though.
The story is a little too oft-kilter with the convoluted plotting, low-on-quality special effects and implausible sci-fi elements. Tanmay, the famed internet funny-bone, is reduced to playing a geek while Arunoday Singh, who probably is exercising another lifeline in his slow-burn career as actor, rarely hits the venomous notes required of him. With Emraan Hashmi on board, there has to be smooching and it’s done here too but with an invisible Hashmi and a puckered-lipped Dastur. There is also a copious display of new-found Hashmi brawn, but it’s not all that becoming either. Hashmi tries hard to make this flaky fantasy stick but the rest of the cast don’t have the restraint or the skill to provide him with the required support. Vikram Bhatt’s ham-handed helming doesn’t allow for any great thrills either.