Director: Deepak TijoriCast: Arjun Rampal, Sunny Deol
Rating:
Story And Analysis:
Deepak Tijori’s supposed suspense-thriller comes from the old school of filmmaking where the first hour is exhausted only on character introductions, lousy love stories, redundant songs and an interval point where you realize that you had actually come to watch a who-dun-it?
Arjun Kapoor (Arjun Rampal) is a criminal lawyer having a repute of acquitting the worst of convicts. As realization strikes one fine day, Arjun, seized by guilt pangs, quits his profession and retires to Goa. There he makes friends with an old man who hands him a manuscript which he wishes to get published but before that passes away. Arjun gets the book published to his credit and incidentally it becomes the bestseller.
The same book gets him into trouble when inspector Yashwant Deshmukh (Sunny Deol) arrests him on charges that the novel isn’t fictional but mentions factual murders which Arjun is held responsible for. Now Arjun has to prove himself innocent.
The basic concept of the film is fairly imaginative but could have been more riveting if supported by smarter writing and slicker direction, both credited to Deepak Tijori. Tijori wastes the first half an hour in a prolonged prologue that doesn’t contribute much towards the mystery element. Then there are those pointless and preventable songs backed by yawn-inducing music. The screenplay could have been much concise and cinematography much more consistent. The editing does not complement the thriller genre of the film at all and is too lackluster.
Thematically Arjun Rampal’s attempts to prove his innocence towards the second half is suggestive of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don (1978) though certainly not spellbinding to that effect. While suspense-thrillers are usually mounted on sentiments of deceit and mistrust, here the investigating inspector (Deol) shows enough faith in the convict (Rampal) to bail him out and put him up in his personal bungalow to crack his case. Loose ends like these along with lack of detailing and abundance of loopholes make the plot unconvincing. Then the script has some characters posing as the usual suspects who you obviously know not to doubt.
Thankfully Sunny Deol doesn’t get animated with his act in Fox . He is fairly restrained going low on histrionics, though having his share of two punches and one witness-box scene. Arjun Rampal fares fairly well in the lead role. Sagarika Ghatge is passable while Udita Goswami gets no scope.
The climax could momentarily impress you but on second thoughts when you mull over the mystery, it might sound extremely improbable. It seems as if the real perpetrator was almost laying a suicide trap for himself. On that note, Fox is a cinematic faux pas.
Arjun Kapoor (Arjun Rampal) is a criminal lawyer having a repute of acquitting the worst of convicts. As realization strikes one fine day, Arjun, seized by guilt pangs, quits his profession and retires to Goa. There he makes friends with an old man who hands him a manuscript which he wishes to get published but before that passes away. Arjun gets the book published to his credit and incidentally it becomes the bestseller.
The same book gets him into trouble when inspector Yashwant Deshmukh (Sunny Deol) arrests him on charges that the novel isn’t fictional but mentions factual murders which Arjun is held responsible for. Now Arjun has to prove himself innocent.
The basic concept of the film is fairly imaginative but could have been more riveting if supported by smarter writing and slicker direction, both credited to Deepak Tijori. Tijori wastes the first half an hour in a prolonged prologue that doesn’t contribute much towards the mystery element. Then there are those pointless and preventable songs backed by yawn-inducing music. The screenplay could have been much concise and cinematography much more consistent. The editing does not complement the thriller genre of the film at all and is too lackluster.
Thematically Arjun Rampal’s attempts to prove his innocence towards the second half is suggestive of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don (1978) though certainly not spellbinding to that effect. While suspense-thrillers are usually mounted on sentiments of deceit and mistrust, here the investigating inspector (Deol) shows enough faith in the convict (Rampal) to bail him out and put him up in his personal bungalow to crack his case. Loose ends like these along with lack of detailing and abundance of loopholes make the plot unconvincing. Then the script has some characters posing as the usual suspects who you obviously know not to doubt.
Thankfully Sunny Deol doesn’t get animated with his act in Fox . He is fairly restrained going low on histrionics, though having his share of two punches and one witness-box scene. Arjun Rampal fares fairly well in the lead role. Sagarika Ghatge is passable while Udita Goswami gets no scope.
The climax could momentarily impress you but on second thoughts when you mull over the mystery, it might sound extremely improbable. It seems as if the real perpetrator was almost laying a suicide trap for himself. On that note, Fox is a cinematic faux pas.
