Friday, April 27, 2012

Tezz Movie Review - Edge of the seat Action Thriller


Gear up for a fast-paced thrilling ride of a movie, Tezz. Priyadarshan, one of India’s most dependable directors has delivered, and how! The movie that had been making for a long time now (as you can confirm from the height of the ‘little’ Avika Gor in the film) ran into lot of problems that resulted in low-key promotion of the film. Most people who are not so cued in about Bollywood had no knowledge that there is a movie like Tezz till it actually released today. How is this for a Eureka moment!! Following an issue between the producer Ratan Jain and the director and some ego issues that pandered along, Tezz suffered and the promotional activity took a beating which was really sad considering a big-budget movie shot in a canvas like this really needed a promotion that the likes of Karan Johar could muster. Anyway, what the marketing could not offer, the product has.



Story of Tezz

The story of Tezz is simple as it gets and as you could make out from the trailer, it is inspired from the likes of Speed. The Hollywood blockbuster was a spin-off of a Japanese thriller Shikansen Daibakuha (1975) which can be translated as Bullet Train, which was actually the original name of ‘Tezz’. However, let it be known that Tezz is not a copy of either Speed or Shikansen Daibakuha. Apart from the concept of the train/bus to travel at a certain speed, below which it could explode, the other elements of the Hindi movie are different from the original. The movie has shades of 'Unstoppable' and our own 'A Wednesday' too.

Three Asian people plant a bomb on a high speed train in London en route to Glasgow. Boman Irani, Chief Police Officer gets a phone call from a bomber (Ajay Devgan) that a bomb in the train will explode if the speed of the train goes below 60 miles per hour. There is panic in the train and the police try their level best to negotiate with the Asian terrorist who will settle nothing less than a ransom of 10 million Euros. At the same team, the other police team goes to nab the people behind this ruthless plan.

Aakash (Ajay Devgan), the brain behind this terror plan used to run his own company Global ServiceS in London, but was deported to India for doing business that violated immigration laws His assets were seized and in an altercation, his wife Nikita (Kangana Ranaut) was injured. Suffering along with Ajay and his wife were his protégé Aadil (Zayed Khan) and his girlfriend Megha (Sameera Reddy) who were working in Global Services without proper visa and work permit. Aakash has now returned to London and along with partners in crime, Megha and Aadil, hold English government to ransom.

Plus points of Tezz
1. High octane chase scenes, superior thrills and fast pace of the film turn this film into a really engaging watch. Tezz is edgy as it can get.

2. Director Priyadarshan has cut right through the chase, there is nothing filmy here. One thing really commendable is he manages to give us a background of the three people in just one scene, and we get an implied effect as to why they have turned partners in crime (even if they do not seem so plausible). There is nothing over-dramatic here; the tension is reserved for the police who are at their wits’ end as to how to intercept the terrorists.

3. Splendid cinematography, high production values and quick-silver editing ensure that you do not have time to think much about the loopholes in the plot.

4. Stunt choreographers Gareth Milne (Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and National Treasure: Book of Secret) and Peter Pedrero (Braveheart, The Bank Job, The Bourne Ultimatum and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) have upped the ante for Tezz with their splendid craft.

Minus points of Tezz
1. High on thrills, Tezz is a let-down on emotional component. There is not much focus on the bonding between Ajay Devgan, Zayed Khan and Sameera. So we do not know why they are so determined to help Ajay in this dangerous plan, putting their lives at risk.

2. The justification given by Ajay in the climax to Anil Kapoor (I am fighting for my right) is lame and to add that Anil who usually is duty-bound, gives in easily seems ludicrous. Even if the reasons for Ajay to take this unfriendly route were not warranted, at least he could have used more plausible lines, for the sake of the audience.

3. Some scenes especially train clash avert scene look wee-bit artificial.

4. The dialogue are a weak point, some really chilling one-liners could have rocked the proceedings.

5. The foreigners speak in Hindi, even the black Americans and the whites. Okay, may be it was to make it understandable to everyone. But then it is inconsistent. One English officer who was otherwise speaking in Hindi , then suddenly does not seem to understand what Anil Kapoor says and quips, "What?"


Best scenes in Tezz
The past few months have seen a huge upgrade in action scenes in Bollywood with Don 2 and Players but Tezz has done it better. The car thrills, the chase sequences and the moving train scenes are on par with a Hollywood thriller. The three best scenes of Tezz are as follows

1. Sameera Reddy bike chase scene, gripping and tense as it can get. This is easily one of the best Bollywood bike chase scenes till date. Most actresses talk about doing 'kick-ass' stunts only to find that all those 'stunts' are a joke. Sameera's rocking bike chase, however, is high on adrenalin. Atta girl ! Finally, some testosterone inducing action from a Bollywood babe.

2. Zayed Khan chase scene. This is also another huge high point, a never before seen dramatic ‘chase sequence with edge of the seat excitement. We are sure you will not take that call during this scene.

Performances in Tezz

All the actors excel. Anil Kapoor is such a delight and he seems to be heading the reverse order as far as age is concerned. He is supremely in sync with his character, and gets everything right from the body language to his dialogue delivery. He is equally adept in those high energy action stunts.

Ajay Devgn gets a dream role and does it with total conviction, yet in an understated manner. He also gets enough action pie to relish, and he does it with gusto. His character has an emotional layer under the cold veneer, which manages to strike a chord with the audience, primarily because of his superior portrayal of the wronged person.

Priyadarshan’s favorite actor Mohanlal, better known as one of the biggest superstars of India, gets a brief role in the film. He has no confrontation scenes with any of the characters, he is in the train most of the time, trying to save the passengers and maintain decorum.

Boman Irani would be our pick of the lot among the best performances in Tezz. As the Railway Control Officer, Sanjay Raina, he is so perfect in the role that you cannot even think of anyone better than him for the part.

Sameera Reddy, one of Indian’s under-rated sex symbols, is an action gal in Tezz. She has got enough scope in the film, a powerful role with moments and sequences that are solely dedicated to her. She steals the thunder in the action scenes and even excels in those shady sequences. Zayed Khan seems to have come on his own in Tezz, he is brilliant in the chase scene and he has given what seems like his best performance till date. Kangana is okay, she does not have much to do save for the emotive scene in the penultimate moment of the film.


Conclusion- Tezz lives up to its name. it is feverishly fast-paced, an uncompromising action-thriller. If you like action and nimble pace in the same breath then go for Tezz.


1 comments:

Neha said...

south blockbusters from the recent past and remake it in bollywood like all other so called superstars have done (srk-billu,salman-wanted-ready-bodyguard,aamir-ghajini,hritik agneepath(from old cult classic agneepath of great amitabh) movies commercially success not due to acting but intence hype,creating mass hysteria through various medium like internet,electronic media,tv cannels moving from one city to other with huge promotion & of course realeased on holidays with long week end.I think ajay & anil has not understood yet this type of marketing tricks that is why their movie are not clicked same is the case with abhisek & akshay.e case with abhisek & akshay.

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