Indian movie hero Saif Ali Khan's most ambitious movie Agent Vinod--the title borrowed from the spy flick made in 1977-- got released all over on March 23, 2012. The movie till its second week was not declared a hit and its business was not overwhelming. It had earned quite a few bad reviews and caustic comments from Indian movie goers. The mood of the viewers for the film seemed to be biased, preconceived and downright unworthy.
A few prominently bad reviews could be a reason for the unsympathetic audience response. One or two very good reviews did not seem to be enough to resurrect the movie. A faulty marketing strategy projecting Saif as funny or as a joker intelligence agent oblivious of the actor's intense performances in other flicks earlier, publicity reels showing only dances or item numbers and the actor's avoidable public outrages-seen as publicity stunts-could be the other reasons. So one had to resort to a sort of 'seeing is believing' tactic!
The film is a hardcore spy flick which is also a rare genre in Indian cinema. Though the title is borrowed from the movie made in 1977 this is not a remake and there is no resemblance in the storyline or its dress and style codes. While Mahendra Sandhu became a household name in the key role of an agent in the movie that became a surprise hit, Saif in the same role in a more stylized, intelligent, well-structured and complicated version was still struggling to establish his new-found identity.
The basic plot of the movie is a nuclear bomb being transported to its destination and its detonator to be transferred to the terrorists in the innocuous garb of Omar Khayyam's Rubbaiyat through an extraordinary auction. Murder of a colleague takes Vinod -a secret agent from an Indian intelligence agency-to Moscow with the only clue of code '242' and after shootouts with the suspect Abu Nazer ( Ram Kapoor) gang he follows leads to arrive in Morocco. There he confronts David Kazan (Prem Chopra-the eternal villain of the classic era of Hindi cinema) and his mysteriously beautiful assistant Dr. Ruby (Kareena Kapur). After a series of intrigued conflicts laced with dry humor Vinod discovers the enormity of the auction and finds himself in hot pursuit of the elusive Colonel (Adil Hussain).
Through high-paced action, twists and turn the movie takes you on a global tour starting from Afghanistan, Moscow, Russia, and Morocco and through Riga, even Somalia, Cape Town, Karachi to finally climax in New Delhi and London with shootouts, Hitchcock-type suspense at times, breathtaking car and auto-rickshaw chases and extraordinary locales. Apart from keeping you engrossed it never even allows you to think where it is leading you to. Seemingly unconnected scenes will remain unconnected for you if you do not follow the well-knit and intelligent script and dialogues so crucially important in any Hollywood thriller. Brilliant cinematography and razor-sharp editing add to the pleasure of watching. When you finally feel it is all over in New Delhi you are taken over to London for another shattering climax. Mystery and intrigue concerning the characters of Dr. Ruby, the Colonel and Mr. Metla gives you the suspense treat and surprises. At one or two points you feel there are link breaks, but you can think it over only after the thrilling fare is over!
Agent Vinod in no James Bond, no Bourne and not even Mahendra Sandhu. It proves to be a most positive addition to the Indian spy film genre. It is not a typical Bollywood fare and maybe that is the reason why it is going over the heads of many movie goers. Eventually this movie looks set to score high.
Director Sriram Raghavan who gave Bollywood slick flicks like Ek Haseena Thi (There Was a Lady Once) and Johnny Gaddar (Johnny the Traitor) earlier deserves a pat on the back for bringing Indian spy movies at par with any international productions.
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