Starring: Ram Charan Teja, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Prakash Raj, Atul Kulkarni, Mahie Gill
Directed by: Apoorva Lakhia
Music: Anand Raj Anand, Chirantan Bhatt and Meet Bros Anjjan
If remakes are supposed to pay tribute to the originals, considering Apoorva Lakhia’s Zanjeer as a remake wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. After the dud remakes of Big B’s classics Don and Agneepath, the latest in the trend is Zanjeer! Apoorva Lakhia’s Zanjeer, an official remake of the original version of the same name, is nothing like the 1973 blockbuster that made Amitabh Bachchan a superstar overnight and gave him his ‘angry-young man’ tag! Unlike the original, this one comes across as a typical Bollywood flick rather than an action-thriller!
Plot: Apoorva Lakhia has used the same plot with a few minor changes. Zanjeer is the story an angry and honest cop, trying to bash-up an Oil-Mafia who eventually turns out be his parent’s murderer.
Performances: The modern Zanjeer introduces us to Ram Charan, the superstar of Telugu Cinema. Of course, it would be unfair to compare Ram Charan with the Megastar Bachchan but this Vijay looks like a robot than an angry-young man! Except for a few action scenes he does no good to the role of a police officer. He looks robust and heroic with his muscular body and rough looks but his uniform expression spoils all for him.
Priyanka Chopra is a huge disappointment this time. The National-award winning actress looks naive and loud. Trying too hard to be lively and funny, she goes over-board with unwanted giggles throughout the film. This is completely opposite to what we saw in “Barfi”.
Prakash Raj, the ultimate villain of Bollywood, loses his charm of a cruel bad-man. He is more comical than aggressive. Apoorva Lakhia has sadly wasted this man’s absolute talent.
Sanjay Dutt looks tired and dull as the bold Sher-Khan.
Mahie Gill as Mona portrays extreme frivolity. Her dialogues are cheesy and slanderous.
The only relief is Atul Kulkarni, who plays the role of a crime reporter. His acting skills are truly par excellence.
Music: With three composers for an album, the music score could have been magical but Zanjeer fails in this segment also. The soundtrack of the film is an average one with songs not worth listening to.
What’s good: The cinematography is good as well as some of the dialogues that hit the right note.
What’s bad: There is nothing refreshing about the direction as a remake. The performances are dull and disappointing. The music is not so great.
Apoorva Lakhia’s Zanjeer turns out to be a disappointing remake of a vintage classic which could have been left untouched.
Verdict: You can definitely give this one a miss!
Rating: **
