In terms of a story the was deserves no marks at all as Apoorva Lakhia has lifted the entire story from MAN ON FIRE. Right from the characterisations down to individual scenes the movie has been copied. The screenplay too has been rehashed and for those who have seen MAN ON FIRE the film holds NO novelty at all as far as the story is concerned.
Colonel Suryaveer Singh(Amitabh Bachchan) was a brave soldier in the army. In one mission he accidentially shot some kids and failed in his own eyes. Despite leaving the army his past still haunts him and Suryaveer finds solace in drinking. Shekhar(Arjun Rampal) used to be in the army with Suryaveer. The two share a history as Surya had saved Shekhars life and vice versa. Shekhar invites Surya to bangkok where he is settled lately and offers Surya a job so that he can get his life into order. Surya accepts the job only to find out that its babysitting an 8 yearold girl Anamika(Baby Rucha Vaidya) who is the only daughter of a rich couple (Vikram Chatwal, Perizaad Zorabian).
Despite a shaky start Suryaveer slowly starts forming a bond with Anamika and over time becomes her friend...she gives him a reason to live again!
Suryaveers life takes a turn for the worst when Baby Anamika is kidnapped and later shot dead. Suryaveer has 3 bullets pumped into him but manages to survive. A heartbroken Suryaveer now swears revenge and vows to kill each and every person involved with the kidnapping.
One by one Suryaveer tortures each and every member of the kidnapping unit to reach the mastermind behind the whole plan, but what he discovers takes him by surprise.
The only difference between EK AJNABEE and MAN ON FIRE is the climax and the "twist" in the end. Apoorva Lakhia has changed the end slightly and turned the Christopher Walken character(played by Rampal here) into a villan who is the mastermind behind the whole syndicate. This works in the films flavour and gives it that much needed edge.
As a director Apoorva Lakhia is superb! He takes LEAPS forward as a director compared to his debut in MUMBAI SE AAYA MERA DOST and is technically one of the slickest directors we have in the industry today! After Sanjay Gupta(KAANTE), Sanjay.F.Gupta(KARAM), Suparn Verma(EK HASEENA EK KHILADI) and Rohan Sippy(BLUFFMASTER) we have another director who takes the slicker than slick approach to tell his story and it works remarkably well. As a storyteller he manages to grip the viewers interest right from the very start. The bonding between Amitabh/Baby Rucha is well played out in the first half(if not slightly short) but its the entire revenge that follows in the second half which is the films mainstay. Lakhias biggest trump card is presenting Amitabh Bachchans "angry young man" persona again at the age of 64--and boy does it work!! Lakhia still has room for improvement and hopefully next time he chooses something orignal although to his credit EK AJNABEE is comparable to the orignal MAN ON FIRE if not BETTER!
The performances are of a high order here..
To put it simply and easily Amitabh Bachchan is the movies lifeline! A revenge/vendetta theme would've fallen flat if it wasn't for Amitabh Bachchans slightly nostalgic performance holding the entire movie together. Yes-the angry Amitabh from DEEWARR, ZANJEER, right through to films like INDRAJEET and AKAYLA is back here with a vengeance. Of late most directors have promised Amitabh in some kind of action oriented role(SARKAR, VIRRUDH) but those movies turned out to be performance based rather than action based(and boy what performances they were). Here Apoorva Lakhia extracts a superb performance from Amitabh, but hasn't dwelled on the characterisation too much. Instead Lakhia has reinstates Amitabhs image as an action icon...be it gun fights, car chases, vilence torture scenes, or fist fights...Bachchan packs a PUNCH. Bachchan even pokes fun at the action image himself and his one liners are clapworthy " Humari Yahaan Isko Happy Diwali Kehte Hai".The manner in which Bachchan exacts revenge is brilliant and is bound applaudworthy(specially the "finger chopping scene" and the "bomb in the ass scene"). His fight scene in the climax is also applaudworthy. In short.....Amitabh Bachchan is reason enough to see EK AJNABEE!
Arjun Rampal is good in a poorly etched character, but Rampal manages to rise above the script. Since a splendid debut in MOKSHA, the actor hasn't been able to impress much with the exception of AANKHEN and VAADA. EK AJNABEE ranks as one of his best performances to date. The actor seems totally comfortable in front of the camera and oozes confidence. His voice modulation has improved as well and his looks merge well in the film.
Perizaad Zorabian played her part well although the actress does need to brush up on the way she presents herself. In a male dominated action flick she does leave her mark in the few scenes she has.
Vikram Chatwal plays his part well.
From the supporting cast everyone is cast aptly.
Dayashankar Panday manages to raise a few laughs in his role, although one hopes the actor isn't regulated to a mere comedian. Akhilendra Misra, Aditya Lakhia, Raj Zutsi and Kelly Dorjee are as expected.
Lara Dutta and Abhishek Bachchan provide a nice touch at the end to the movie in guest roles and add star power.
Sanjay Dutt is aptly cast in a guest role at the end in a item number...I couldn't help but wish that Sanjay Dutt should have played one of the villans here--now a showdown between Sanjay/Amitabh would've been ace!
Technically the film is Avante Garde and is akin to any Hollywood film. The cinematography Gururaj RJ is truly of international standard and the entire film has a slick look throughout. The entire city of Bangkok has been magnificentially captured.The editing and the fast cuts too add to the excitement and is a job well done. Abbas Ali Moghuls action is superbly canned! The stunts all look real and the action scene at the end is ace!
Musically the film is OK. A action film like this doesn't have room for music but the film surprises.
TERE LIYE rendered by Kunal Ganjawala is excellent and is well picturised. THEY DON'T KNOW which comes at the start and end sets the pace off for the movie. The rap number at the end with Sanjay Dutt is a treat for the viewers with its MTV feel and look! Background Score by Amar Mohile too is great.
All up where does that leave EK AJNABEE? A great or path breaking film it is NOT, but for Amitabh Bachchan fans like myself the movie is a TREAT and a MUST-SEE IN EVERY SENSE just to see Bachchan kick some ass like old times!
Final Rating: * * * ¾
