Mission Istanbul is Bollywood's waking up to terrorism and conspiracy theories. While most of the world is suffering from Afghanistan-inspired terrorism fatigue - irrespective of the reality in the geo-political scheme of things - director Apoorva Lakhia, Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms and Suniel Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment believe it's time for Indian audiences to be initiated into these themes.
It's not a bad move, given that Indian moviegoers have matured in recent years and opened to more diversity in their cinema experiences. Except I left the cinema more amused than not, which I'm pretty sure wasn't the intent of the filmmaker or the producers.
Mission begins with a Daniel Pearl-like beheading scene except that the headless body turns out to be that of an Indian doctor and not an American journalist. The opening montage sequence comprises news reports of international terrorist attacks with Zayed Khan and Shriya Saran as anchors on Aaj Tak.
A video of Abu Nazir, an Osama Bin Laden lookalike, is screened on Aaj Tak warning Indians of fresh attacks in its cities to avenge the goings-on in Kashmir.
Vikas Sagar (Zayed Khan) is supposed to be a top anchor on Aaj Tak and married to Anjali (Shriya Saran), who is also a journalist with the channel.
Vikas takes the decision to join the Al Johara channel (Al Jazeera anyone?) and accepts an offer for a three-month orientation in Istanbul. His move creates marital rifts in an already fractured marriage, totally lacking in on screen chemistry.
So Mission Istanbul begins, where Vikas is greeted by Al Johara colleague Owais Hussain (Suniel Shetty). During the grand tour of the premises, he's shown the Hall of Martyrs, where photos of Johara Journos killed during the call of duty hang.
Al Johara, owned by Gazni (Nikitin Dheer), despatches Owais and Vikas off to Afghanistan for an exclusive interview with Khalil, an Abu Nazir operative, who has kidnapped Western tourists.
During the Afghan mission, Hussain is shot and it's at his funeral that Vikas comes into contact with the mysteriously appearing and disappearing Rizwan Khan (Viviek Oberoi).
Rizwan, a former Turkish commander, lost his family in a terror attack and is determined to vanquish terror. He warns Vikas that any attempts to leave Johara will result in leaving the real world as has happened to previous journos in the channel.
And so, we the viewers are told that Al Johara has taken the idea of Abu Nazir and used it to keep terrorism and fundamentalist ideologies alive. In a matchmaking of convenience the newsmakers and news media come in hand.
Vikas and Rizwan join forces and seek to secure all the evidence, which lies locked up on the 13th floor of the Al Johara tower.
In a nutshell, the story is ridiculous and utterly convoluted. It's made far worse by the twisted sub-plots of a RAW agent, who betrays the good guys in order to win over the trust of the bad guys.
Chases are aplenty as the filmmaker and producers have capitalised on the stunning landscapes offered by Istanbul. So we have chases in the streets, the souks and even in the Indian Embassy.
And yet, I found it funny. Abu Nazir as Osama Bin Laden, Al Johara as Al Jazeera, Omar Abdulla as Omar Abdulla, and impersonator Brent Mendenhall as George Bush kept me wondering whether this was navet on the part of Apoorva Lakhia or sheer satire.
Mission Istanbul is supposed to be a thriller with twists and turns, but it really is a film that takes on a conspiracy theory and gives it an Indian context.
The music in the film is limited to just three songs - including an extremely badly timed item number with a misplaced Abhishek Bachchan. Other songs are catchy in that copied-from-Western-remixes kind of way.
Now for the cast. Of the main leads, the show really is Viviek Oberoi's. I feel bad for the guy. He's really one of Bollywood's brightest actors, but so terribly wasted. Although Rizwan Khan doesn't compare to his Maya Dolas from Shootout at Lokhandwala, Viviek does extremely well as the cocky, but charming, revenge-seeker.
Zayed Khan as Vikas Sagar looks every bit the television reporter, except that in reality the Indian journalist has a lot more attitude and arrogance. Khan is restrained and mercifully, not over the top. But the flip side is that he's also emotionally stunted in scenes that matter particularly when a gun is held to his wife's head
Zayed's on screen chemistry with Viviek Oberoi is much more crackling than with his on screen wife, Shriya Saran, who is a total waste and should be banished from Bollywood. With immediate effect.
Suniel Shetty doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, but doesn't make you cringe in your seat, which I suppose is point in favour.
Overall, Mission Istanbul's trailers gave me the impression that it might actually be an intelligent take on terrorism. At 2 hours and 20 minutes, it has loads of desi-style fighting and dancing and the men do make it just about watchable.
While I wouldn't give it an all-out dismissal, it will be hard for it to compete with Hollywood's finest week in a long time as you'd probably be much better off watching The Dark Knight.
Cast: Zayed Khan, Viveik Oberoi, Suniel Shetty, Shriya Saran, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Nikitin Dheer, Shweta Bhardwaj
Director: Apoorva Lakhia
