Review: Agent Vinod
Simply put, Agent Vinod is a story of a RAW agent who finds out about an explosion which is about to kill millions, and shows that he can go to any extent to prevent it. Now as far as the story is concerned, this isn’t exactly a novel concept. Therefore, the entire movie depended on how well the plot could be executed.
After having watched director Sriram Raghavan’s Johnny Gaddar, my expectations were set pretty for Agent Vinod. However, in comparison, the film turned out to be disappointing. Even though the movie has been shot in an extremely sleek and stylish manner, it fails to create an impact.
Saif Ali Khan, I believe is one of the industry’s most under rated actors. However, in this movie, he fails to deliver his best, though he does fit the role of the ‘suave spy’. Kareena Kapoor, on the other hand, does a fairly decent job of being on screen for quite a long time without adding any substance to the movie – an art which she seems to have mastered in recent times. Prem Chopra, Shehbaaz Khan and Ram Kapoor’s acting is so bad that it almost made me cry. Thankfully, there’s Rajat Kapoor and Ravi Kishan in the movie; both of whom have very small roles, but portray them well.
The cinematography in the movie is disturbing at the beginning, but it gradually gets better. In fact, it is because of the way the fight sequences and several other shots are captured, that Agent Vinod somehow manages to keep the audience captivated to an extent. However, the editing in a movie as fast and lustrous as this had to be absolutely top notch, and there again, this film falls short.
The film shifts between a million locations and the transitions aren’t quite smooth. The result being that the audience gets confused as to what is happening on the screen. Moreover, the movie drags on for nearly three hours, making it a tremendous bore towards the end.
Pritam’s music is in keeping with the pace of the film, with his typical peppy and fun elements present. I also enjoyed the way the opening credits were shown – like a graphic novel, something Raghavan seems to have carried forward from his last venture.
Agent Vinod is not an extraordinary film. However, it is an honest attempt at crossing the thresholds of Bollywood and making a Hollywood-like extraordinary film. Watch it not for a brilliant cinematic experience, but for the thrills of watching an action-packed Bollywood thriller.
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About the Author: Rajdip Ray
