Big B is definitely angry, and this time he doesn't mouth any dialogues or throws an open challenge to the villains to come and confront him. He just goes and shoots. Bang! Game, set, match! And wow, don't you just like seeing that? Welcome to the 21st century interpretation of the angry old man Amitabh Bachchan who is a man on fire. The man who can gives back to the audience what they had been waiting for him to deliver for quite some time now - an action hero! While Big B shone in central roles for Black, Sarkar and Viruddh, they were still of the kinds that required a certain method of acting where a fine balance was required between catering to class and mass. But not with 'Ek Ajnabee' where he reaches out to masses in a big way! Result is a knockout performance where he looms large in every single frame of the movie from start to finish for this hardcore smasher commercial product by director Apoorva Lakhia.
Storyline is quite simple, nothing path breaking but just enough to make for a technically stylish action-drama. Bangkok is a city that is witnessing kidnapping incidents at rapid pace with rich people in constant fear and trauma. Ravi [Vikram Chatwal] and Nikasha [Perizaad Zorabian] are one such wealthy Indian couple living in Bangkok who want to protect their only daughter Anamika [Baby Rucha Vaidya]. Through Shekhar [Arjun Rampal], an ex-army man, they get in touch with Suryaveer Singh [Amitabh Bachchan], who was once Shekhar's superior in Indian army.
He reluctantly agrees to be Anamika's bodyguard but sticks to a professional relationship sans any emotional strings attached. Slowly, the girl's innocent yet straightforward and open attitude creates a special bond between her and her bodyguard that is impossible to break.
But the gang of kidnappers already has their eyes set on their next 'target' and despite all attempts of Suryaveer, Anamika gets kidnapped. In the process, Suryaveer is hit and while he is recuperating in hospital, Anamika is killed by her kidnappers. Stunned by the flow of incidents and distraught condition of Nikasha, Suryaveer vows to go to the root of the entire episode and kill each and ever player.
In this mission of his, he is supported by local police [Kelly Dorji] and an Indian settled in Bangkok - Kripa Shankar [Dayashanker Pandey]. On his journey he comes across various people who were involved at different stages; a local goon Lee Kap [Denzil Smith], a discotheque owner [Aditya Lakhia], tha man who staged the entire kidnapping drama [Raj Zutshi] and a couple of other faces that baffle his sensibilities!
It is commendable for director Apoorva Lakhia to present such a regular 'man takes revenge' story in such a captivating manner that you are hooked to the proceedings from Frame One. Opening shots of the regular life of Bangkok to the crime scenes to high rises to heavy moving traffic to monks - everything gets you the IN feeling for the movie that is absolutely required for a movie of such genre. Generally an action movie with a good plot gets distorted due to unnecessary distraction with either a hero-heroine plot or some other unwanted props or sub-plots. But not so for Ek Ajnabee where the cards are laid down at the very onset.
If the beginning portions are devoted to establishing the characters and creating the much-essential-to-the-narrative bond between Amitabh Bachchan and Rucha, the subsequent portions when the kidnapping drama happens are simply rocking. First few sequences do bring in smiles when the two interact but as soon as the action begins, there is no looking back!
One would have thought that the second half may take a fall with things turning predictable but that's not the case as both script and screenplay continue to be tight. The way Big B continues to be meticulous in his approach while reaching to the bottom of the drama keeps you engaged thoroughly. Yes, the climax seems to be a bit long drawn and how one wishes if this could have been shortened by at least 10 minutes to make it a crisper product.
There are number of sequences that stand out in the movie. Amitabh's first meet with Vikram Chatwal, Rucha and Amitabh in the car where the former looks for his friendship, Perizaad slamming the door on Amitabh, dinner table conversation with other housekeepers, Rucha's kidnapping, Denzil's torture, Amitabh 'bombing' one of the criminals, the climax where all the villains assemble.....its a long list.
For the lovers of action movies, it is one of the best churned out product in recent times with the technical wizardry standing out throughout the movie's duration. The movie can easily stand tall even with its Hollywood contemporaries as far as the 'look' is concerned due to an imaginative camerawork [Gururaj R J], stylish action [Abbas Ali Moghul], razor sharp editing [Steven Bernard] and to compliment this all, an exciting background score by Amar Mohile who goes completely techno with 'Ek Ajnabee'. In fact the background music is one of the prime factors that lifts the proceedings in a major way. Manoj Tyagi's dialogues are effective as they manage to even an average moment. Music by Amar Mohile and Vishal-Shekhar is good and fits in well with the narrative.
Special mention should be made for the way Apoorva introduces his characters. His aim at creating a stylish product is evident from the fact that he even manages to give someone like Akhilendra Mishra a high-tech entry. Though Big B and Arjun Rampal are capable of carrying off any kind of entry, there is hard work done on introducing someone like Raj Zutshi and Kelly Dorji as well. The director certainly knows what he has set out to make!
'Ek Ajnabee' completely belongs to Amitabh Bachchan - Period! Arjun Rampal is sincere as well but is hardly there in the second half. Baby Harsha acts her role with utmost maturity and sincerity. In fact it is surprising to see someone of her age coming up with varied range of expressions that are way above expectations. Perizaad is natural once again and adds meat to her character every time she appears on screen. Vikram Chatwal is average. Kelly Dorjee does well in a small role while Dayashankar Pandey and Akhilendra Mishra bring on smile at a couple of places.
Good part about the movie is that it is consistent in flavor from start to finish and never once lets the boredom set in as it involves the audience in the narrative. The technical expertise of the film's crew further helps in making 'Ek Ajnabee' a visually appealing product. Result is a hardcore masala entertainer of the kinds that Amitabh Bachchan excelled in his angry young man days. The movie should be a definite success as days progress.
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