Well.. I dint have many expectations especially after the disastorous kabul express. Moreover, Katrina Kaif, John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh are definitely not the 'actors' who have impressed me in any way. But i was pleasantly surprised to say the least. The storyline is nothing new, performances are not that great but still the movie scores for me. Nicely shot, simple movie which doesnt do too much of 'experimentation'. Go to the theater, Watch, Enjoy and Come back types. nothin more nothin else. Definitely a must watch, atleast once.
Plotwise, its an extension of khuda kay liye and talks abt the treatment of muslims post 9/11 in the US and how the brutal mental and physical torture in the name of interrogation leads an otherwise 'normal' guy to take up terrorism. Take that and Add to it a hint of Departed where the cops send an infiltrator(who incidentally is the terrorist's friend) to spy for them. And ya, thoda sa love triangle ka tadka and perfect masala movie with a difference ready to be served.
Performancewise, I give full credit to Kabir Khan!!! I never thought i would actually be happy with the performances of any of the three actors in any of the movies ever in life. But i think Kabir has taken out Fab work from all the three. John and Katrina are damn neat, they dont look like the 'model types' in any of the sequences. As far as Neil Nitin Mukesh is concerned, I have always had a problem with his voice. He just doesnt sound right ever. But nonetheless, does a decent job. Irfan Khan as usual is pretty amazing and does justice to his character
As far as Direction is concerned, although the movie looks like a hollywood ripoff(The shots are so similar to any of the A list hollywood movies and i mention this as a compliment). In no shot you get the 'bollywood' feel. But the frisk scene where the cop 'feels' Katrina is a striaght lift from a movie(Crash if i am not wrong). Overall Top class work. Be it the arial shots in the opening sequence or the tight shots in the emotional scenes. Good job there.
The script is very tight and never gives you a dull moment. From the very first shot you are engrossed in the movie(even though the story is quite predictable), the chemistry between the three friends has been portrayed very neatly, you actually start feeling like 'part of the gang'. Although i thought the love triangle bit was not required. But what the heck. I like it anyways
Overall: The movie is very well made and shot, with a tight script, pretty decent performances from 'non-actors'. It has its moments of ups and downs and scores in the end. The plot and a few scenes seem too 'inspired' but a good watch nonetheless, atleast once. Go for it. IF you have not seen it already!!
Feel-O-Meter: 7/10