Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Big B no stranger to pull it through

Ek Ajnabee (Hindi)

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Perizaad Zorabian,Arjun Rampal

Director: Apoorva Lakhia

Much about Amitabh Bachchan is understated, not the least among them is his ability to rise above mediocre films. Throughout a career of three-odd decades he has made it a habit to tower above the film.

He revels in all the spotlight here - and his fans won't complain. But look a bit deeper, this Apoorva Lakhia film though a vast improvement on his earlier foray `Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost' is actually just a single-layered, one-thread film. There is Bachchan. Period. He needs nothing else.

Script falls through

Many of his expressions are multi-layered, you derive the meaning you want - the master artiste reveals the art, conceals the self, the spectator participates. There is just a small little problem all the way - there is not much of a script. And in this thriller where Bachchan acts as a bodyguard who fails in his duty to protect the child, there is as much surprise as yesterday's weather bulletin. The film involves the viewers all right but never really has them in a thrall.

Bachchan as colonel finds himself defending the life of a millionaire's kid. The plot is a challenge to logic - Army top guns are not really known to be going around playing a driver, swimming instructor, a bodyguard to the high and mighty.

Enjoy the moments with Bachchan - and he is there in almost every frame. Keep a little corner for Perizaad Zorabian too, who never loses her composure in front of the veteran. And just turn a blind eye, oops, deaf ear, to Arjun Rampal. A smashingly good looking guy, he is yet to understand the A of acting.

Want to make friends with `Ek Ajnabee'? Go ahead, Bachchan never disappoints.

Ziya Us Salam

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