Movie Review: Zanjeer

Cast: Ram Charan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Prakash Raj, Mahie GillDirector: Apoorva Lakhia,Rating: *1/2

Published: Friday,Sep 06, 2013 15:43 PM GMT-06:00

India-Forums.com Bollywood Team

Alot of remakes or revisits to the past have been done lately, some went good, some went bad but Zanjeer is a film which cannot be and will not be forgotten. Zanjeer would be remembered by all not because it is another classic on the block but for the simple fact that this film is unforgivable.

You cannot do this to a film which had Amitabh Bachchan in 1973 version. While Amitabh Bachchan was an angry young man in the classic, Ram Charan just seems angry. He plays the character of ACP Vijay Khanna who seems to be the only cop in town. From start to finish, all he does is punch everyone around him for no rhyme or reason. He comes, he hits, he goes and thats the film for you guys. The highly disturbing element about Ram Charan's entry is the background score used. Raghupati Raghav starts to play every time he comes and starts to punch the life out of people. Maybe he took the action hero term way too seriously. Boy, Relax!

Priyanka Chopra (Mala) is the NRI who comes to India to attend her 'facebook friend's' wedding and unfortunately becomes a witness to a murder. It was a very sad moment to witness Priyanka overact in this one. We all know how brilliantly she has performed in her other films but something was not right here. She was loud and over the top.

Sanjay Dutt is Sher Khan who looks deadly when he enters in those pathani kurtas. He looks like a person you would be scared off. He is the only one in the entire film who has delivered his lines properly. He is a criminal but eventually joins hands with Vijay and acts like a shield around him. The surprise element for all the Sanjay Dutt fans in this film is that he has danced on an entire song in the film all by himself.

Now come the comic elements of the film, Mahi Gill and Prakash Raj. Mahie Gill plays this dumb Mona and Prakash Raj plays the character of Teja who happens to be the father of crime. This villain is way too funny for a plot like Zanjeer.

Zanjeer's theme is about the oil mafia and how big and dangerous is this racket. While ACP Vijay Khanna wants to eliminate such dangerous things from society, people like Teja come and make crimes bigger everyday.

Mala and Vijay fall in love and Sher Khan is their godfather. Teja tries time and again to get this uptight police officer killed but this man survives everything. There is a journalist in the trail who is played by Atul Kulkarni. Atul Kulkarni is a very good actor but his presence in this film is unnoticeable. It is a little disheartening to see such wonderful actors play such parts.

One major distraction in the film apart from the continuous hitting and punching by ACP Vijay is the appearing of songs again and again . There are too many songs in the film and they keep coming back again and again. Usually songs

are the connector for film and it takes the story forward. But in this one nothing like this is happening. The proverb too many cooks spoil the broth stands true here.

All and all Zanjeer fails to touch the average mark also. It is a very bad attempt on a remake and it is disappointing to see the talent of such wonderful actors and directors getting wasted. For people who want to see this film please make sure you go with zilch expectations.