Article Updated 16 January, 2006 09:37:16 AM IST   Zinda By Prema K. ©2006 Bollyvista.com   Let's get right to the point: the first half of the film is static. It bores you to a point where you'd almost want to up and out of the movie hall. The second half is gripping in parts but the main drawback of the film is its contrived nature. There's a fake feel about the entire proceedings on screen. Not once does one empathize with the characters. But on the flip side, it may appeal to a section of the male audience, especially the action sequences. But even hardcore Sanjay Dutt fans are bound to feel letdown in this film. It doesn't have anything to do with his performance but his character is so boring and dull. In contrast, John Abraham has the best lines and his character gives more scope for performance. It would be no exaggeration to say that he's overshadowed Dutt in this film. It's probably Sanjay's character; his monotonous look in the entire film and the fact that he hardly has much to say. There's a stony silence about him most of the times. John's styling is excellent. The story may sound very novel but after execution it seems a little stupid. Bala (Sanjay Dutt), a Software Engineer, arrives in Bangkok with his wife Nisha (Celina Jaitley). However, one day he just vanishes without a trace and finds himself in a locked room. His only human contact is a hooded man, whose face he cannot see, who just delivers his meals. His contact with the outside world is a television in his room. He learns that his wife Nisha (Celina Jaitley) has been murdered and he is accused of it. Years pass by. He is released fourteen years later. One day out of the blue, a stranger pushes a cell phone and some money into his hand. Now starts Bala's hunt for his enemy. Circumstances bring him close to a female taxi driver, Jenny (Lara Dutta), who helps him in his quest, first as a cabbie and later as his lover. Bala tracks down his enemy with Jenny and his childhood friend, Joy Fernandes' (Mahesh Manjrekar) help. His enemy is a businessman, Rohit Chopra (John Abraham). Why did Rohit do this to him? This leads to a shocking revelation of Bala's past but in retrospect the reason for Rohit's behaviour seems far-fetched. 'Zinda' comes across very strongly as a wannabe Hollywood film. There's too much violence in it making a few scenes look gory and are a major put off. Like for instance when a smouldering Dutt extracts Raj Zutshi's teeth with a hammer or Dutt using a drilling machine on a guy to extract information from him. Also chopping of limbs seems very commonplace in the film. One would never want to go to Bangkok after this. So women, kids and families are out as far as this film goes. But to give the film its due, the scenes are well-executed and stylish. The only problem is the film lacks soul. The songs playing in the background sound good. Performance wise, Celina is okay in the few scenes she has. Lara hams initially but settles down later. Despite an awesome body, her archaic face takes away from the steamy song that she and Dutt go through in a hotel room. It looks like such a Hollywood rip-off! Manjrekar is his usual monotonous self. Dutt and John are good but it's definitely a film one can skip! You'd be better off watching the original, 'Oldboy'. ** (Two stars) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/6085