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'Speed' -Bumpy Ride

By Nikhil Kumar
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

If only the plot of ‘Speed’ had been presented credibly and convincingly, the movie might have turned out to be an interesting thriller.

Vikram Bhatt can be pardoned one more time for making an Indianized rehash of a Hollywood film. ‘Speed’ is a rip-off of Hollywood thriller ‘Cellular’. What he cannot, however, be pardoned for is making a hash of what was originally a fairly gripping plot. Bhatt achieves this partly due to his shoddy direction and partly because of poor casting.

The

irony is that ‘Speed’ has all the trappings of a thriller. There is kidnapping, blackmail, and a covert plan to assassinate a high-profile figure. Interestingly, the would-be assassin is the one who is being blackmailed. He must do the killing or his wife would be eliminated.

The location is London. Urmila Matondkar , an abducted woman, makes a phone call to a stranger and pleads him to save her from kidnappers. The stranger is none other than Zayed Khan , who is anything but serious and has come to London to woo Tanushree Dutta .

On the other hand, Sanjay Suri , an undercover agent disguised as a chef, gets to know that his wife has been kidnapped. The abductors ( Aftab Shivdasani and Sophie Choudhary ) ask him to do a job for them. The job is to assassinate the Indian PM visiting London.

Ashish Choudhary plays a cop assigned with the responsibility of the PM’s security. His demanding girlfriend Amrita Arora is a constant distraction for him.

For Urmila, her call to Zayed is her only lifeline. But what could Zayed with his devil-cares attitude do for her. Will he respond to the gravity of the situation? On the other hand, Sanjay Suri finds himself in a tight corner and has to make a tough choice.

The culmination of the story is predictable.

Briefly, ‘Speed’ has hardly anything more than style and pace. Firstly, the casting is very odd. Aftab Shivdasani doesn’t look even a wee bit dreadful or fearsome despite his stiff posture and intense expressions. And what’s with those long hairs? They only make him look unkempt alongside the sexy and eye-candy Sophie Choudhary.

Urmila manages to sink her teeth into her character (she has mastered the persecuted expressions by now) but Sanjay Suri only puts in a half-hearted performance. Zayed Khan is much better in comparison. He is sincere and doesn’t go overboard.

Ashish Choudhary is another miscast. However, he does show glimpses of good acting. Tanushree Dutta and Amrita Arora are hardly there. But they do add some glamour to the film.

To cut to the chase, ‘Speed’ is just an average thriller with mediocre songs and a few good sequences. Nothing more.

Rating: *1/2

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