AB makes film watchable

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Perizaad Zorabian, Vikram Chatwal, Dayashankar Pandey, Akhilendra Mishra, Baby Rucha Vaidya
Director: Apoorva Lakhia
Rating: * * *

In his angry young man days, Amitabh Bachchan must have done this revenge number countless times. It's amazing that he can still bring strength and conviction to a standard-issue kind of a role. Without him, Apoorva Lakhia's film would have fallen totally flat, in spite of all the technical gimmickry on show. Lakhia's Ek Ajnabee is lifted from Man on Fire, with Bachchan playing Denzel Washington's role. He is a washed up, alcoholic ex-colonel, who comes to Bangkok to take on the job of protecting a little Indian girl, Anamika (a very sweet Rucha Vaidya) since there has been a spate of kidnappings in the city.

Why a rich man (Vikram Chatwal) would hire an over-the-hill drunk is made clear later, when other hidden villains are unmasked. But the film follows a typical trajectory — the precocious kid irritates Colonel Suryaveer at first, but soon wins him over. So when she is kidnapped and he is shot and left for dead, it is believable that he should want revenge. He promises the child's mother (Perizaad Zorabian, immensely likeable) that he will kill all those responsible for the crime.

Of course heroes in films always get willing helpers – in this case old friend Shekhar (Arjun Rampal), a streetwise petty crook (Dayashankar Pandey) and a frustrated cop (Kelly Dorji) — who do the information ferreting, while Suryaveer goes about eliminating the vermin — all of whom are of Indian origin, believe it or not! The film is not really a whodunit, but when the plot is unravelled, the real villain comes as a surprise. Lakhia has done without the usual five-song, romantic-interest-for-hero routine, and has concentrated on giving the film too many stylish flourishes. But with all that, if the film is watchable it's only because of Amitabh Bachchan.