Review: AIYAARAY

Ai Yai Yaar! Yeh Film Kab Khatam Hogi?!

2 stars

Mini Review:

An Indian Army Covert Unit has gone rogue and threatens to

expose Army-Politicians-Arms Dealer nexus, thereby exposing

his own unit. The Covert Unit head goes undercover to catch him

before he sells out. The goings on seem interesting enough and

you know patriotism will win, but it takes almost three hours for

this supposed thriller to unfold. If it weren’t for Manoj Bajpayee,

this tedious thriller would have been even duller than it is.

Review:

Major Jay Bakshi is an important part of the special covert unit

called Data & Systems Diagnostics or DSD. Mid-surveillance,

he’s gone missing, and they’re looking for him. His Unit chief

Col. Abhay Singh (Manoj Bajpayee, the best thing about this

movie) goes AWOL after shutting down the regular offices and

moving them to a hangar and goes off in search of Jay.

Jay, the Intelligence Officer (who does not know how to hack into

a computer, seriously?!) of course has fallen in love with a girl

who teaches him how to hack (Rakul Preet Singh, rather

unimpressive). And you’re groaning into the multiplex coffee.

Then groan some more when you realise that his ‘hacking’ is

then never really utilised and he’s only listening in to

bugged recordings.

However, you’re on the side of the sharp-mustachioed

Colonel Abhay who is righteously angry about being betrayed.

Jay Bakshi (played by Sidharth Malhotra, who has fewer

expressions than John Abraham) and his girl are in London

now. So is Abhay. Abhay meets Anupam Kher who plays

Tariq Sahab, a player who knows everything about everything.

They need not have wasted Anupam Kher’s talent at such a

poorly written role (he has to send texts to Abhay organising

‘things’). The same goes for the big bad guy Mukesh Kapoor

who stands around holograms of guns to prove he is the big

gun runner doing deals with everyone. Why did they need

Adil Hussain? Anyone could be that guy.

But you like Manoj Bajpayee, so you watch. A few more

groanworthy, and eminently editable flashbacks happen where

Jay reminisces about the valor or Abhay Sir and we see how

cool Indian Army guys are and why Jay wants to be like

Abhay Sir. The hacker girlfriend is reduced to someone making

coffee for Jay. You know by now, or begin to suspect that Jay

and Abhay are on the same side. But Abhay sir telling all the

bad guys, kill Jay is just a ploy because Jay has learnt all the

techniques from Abhay sir only!

There’s also Naseeruddin Shah practically locked up in a hotel

room who has enough proof to blackmail to the Arms dealer in

India (Ex Army general Gurinder Singh played quite nicely by

Kumud Mishra). Why he needlessly cackles is a directorial

debacle, but hey, it’s Naseer-ji! Who can tell him to keep it

understated like he did in A Wednesday?

 

It takes almost three hours to get to the point. And by then you

know Jay and Abhay will be the best chaps in the Army. You

wish someone would teach Indian directors to tell their stories

simply and quickly. They’d be so much more thrilling.    

(this review appears on www.nowrunning.com )