Article Updated 21 July, 2006 11:22:22 PM IST   The Killer By Prema K. ©2006 Bollyvista.com   The film is inspired by Tom Cruise's 'Collateral'. It's decently adapted for the Hindi screen but seems to be let down by the screenplay. Now for the story. Nikhil Joshi (Emraan Hashmi) is a taxi driver in Dubai. He plans to open a travel agency some day and marry the woman he's in love with, Rhea (Nisha Kothari), a bar dancer. One night, Vikram (Irrfan Khan) hires his cab for the entire night. Although he poses as a businessman, Vikram is no ordinary passenger. He's on a mission; to eliminate five people that night, who've decided to speak up against Jabbar (an underworld don). Unaware of Vikram's activities, Nikhil drives him around, drops him to a destination, picks him up and moves on to the next. Soon he realizes that he has been trapped and tries to find a way out of it. Slowly, Nikhil starts counter-attacking Vikram. He is livid when he realizes that Vikram's fifth victim for the night is Rhea. Of course, all's well that ends well. The film starts as a love story but changes tracks when Irrfan Khan enters the frame. It starts moving fast now but slows down in the post-interval portions. But the climax more than makes up for it. This is in a shopping mall in Dubai. Sajid-Wajid's music is pleasant but doesn't live up to that of the Bhatts' earlier films. 'Teri Yaadon Mein' and 'Dil Ko Churaya Tune Sanam' are melodious. The cinematography is superb. The best part about the film is its dialogues, especially between Emraan and Irrfan. Some of Irrfan's lines bring a thunderous applause. Emraan is okay initially but is in form as the film proceeds. Irrfan is brilliant throughout playing his eccentric character with gusto especially when he breaks into a song 'Zara Saamne To Aao Chhaliye' in the climax. Nisha Kothari doesn't get a chance to display her histrionics although she exhibits her body unabashedly. The film had a lot of promise but something seems to have gone wrong. It tends to drag in places especially in the sequence between Jabbar and Nikhil Joshi. But the chemistry between Emraan Hashmi and Irrfan Khan is superb and keeps the film afloat and is the mainstay of this film. The box-office fate of the film is a little difficult to predict. ** (Two stars) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/6875