The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A diluted acid at work

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Saturday, Oct 10, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A diluted acid at work

Film: Acid Factory

Cast: Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpayee, Danny Denzongpa and Dia Mirza

Direction: Suparn Verma

The promos of his films are better than the films themselves. Producer Sanjay Gupta lives up to the image as he passes the directorial baton to director Suparn Verma who seems to share Gupta’s taste for edgy action thrillers. He retains the colour scheme of “Kaante” and “Zinda”. His protagonists are suitably cocky in their designer outfits. There is plenty of action as a business issue is decided through a bike race and a plot is hatched on a luxury cruise liner. Many of the sleek scenes could pass off as an advertisement for an apparel or automobile brand. But does all this indulgence translate into bringing us to the edge of our seat? Not quite!

It turns out be a diluted acid at work. We were not expecting the meat to be substantial, but Suparn could not even imbue the form with the desired frills.

A man (Fardeen Khan) wakes up and finds himself marooned in an acid factory. Soon others (Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpayee, Danny Denzongpa and Dia Mirza) also come out of unconsciousness but all of them suffer from amnesia. They eventually discover that the memory loss is caused by a gas leak and that they are in the midst of a hostage situation but none of them remembers who the hostages and kidnappers are.

Meanwhile, outside the factory, the gang’s leader (Irrfan Khan) is out to gather ransom money and the officer’s superior (Gulshan Grover) is after him. Then, the narrative takes convenient turns.

The gang leader disappears from a tunnel and surfaces in a limousine! When things get stuck, Suparn returns the characters their memory. Fine, we wish to discover how the equations change, but instead of delving into details, Suparn opts for a quick climax without a bang.

Perhaps he knows the limitations of some of his actors!

If cinematic hunger is giving you acidity, visit this factory, else wait for the Deepavali feast!

ANUJ KUMAR

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