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DVD Review |
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By Joginder Tuteja, November 22, 2008 - 14:35 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Shiney Ahuja, Esha Deol, Kaveri Jha, Sunil Godse
Director: Kunal Shivdasani
Producer: Dinesh Vijan, Kunal Shivdasani
Music: Justin-Uday
Lyrics: Kumaar
THE FILM
With his debut film, director Kunal Shivdasani proves that he has it in him to get some cutting edge frames in place in spite of a limited budget at his disposal. A fine technician, he does well in creating a thrilling atmosphere in the proceedings of Hijack. Ok, so one may not call it as a 'nail biting' affair but at the minimum Hijack is a decent popcorn entertainer which brings with it enough exciting moments to keep you glued to the screen.
What's the weak link in this film about a common man (Shiney Ahuja) foiling a hijack plan of a bunch of terrorists? Shiney acts decently in the film but somehow his persona on screen isn't striking enough to make you believe that he could actually act as an 'action hero'. He is quite good in each of the intense roles he has performed so far but for a film which takes its cue from the Die Hard series, a more convincing choice for a lead role could have made the project further exciting.
No wonder, Hijack doesn't revolve around Shiney with him hogging all the limelight. There are quite a few sequences focused on terrorists, the Ministry and passengers on the plane. While some of the best portions of the films are those which feature the Home Minster (Sunil Godse) and officials around him followed by the ones that involve terrorists, the ones where snippets around the lives of passengers are shown (bunch of friends running away for a party, an old Parsi couple, a newly wed couple) are plain average. In fact the sequence around an onboard politician trying to take advantage of the situation seems forced as well.
However, it is to the credit of Kunal Shivdasani who lets go of such 'skip them quick' sequences and brings his technical expertise to fore by keeping the clock ticking in anticipation of some thrilling moments. While the opening sequence acts as a prelude to the film a la a Bond film, the moments after opening credit sequences are exciting as well. The pace drops for around 20 minutes with a couple of songs arriving back to back but the flashback portion revolving around killing of Shiney's wife (Kaveri) is well interspersed with the narrative.
The best is kept for the final moments of the movie though where Hijack becomes an out and out action flick. Note the sequence where Shiney hangs from a chopper, jumps on the wings of an airplane and foils the hijack. One must credit Justin-Uday for their high adrenaline background score here which elevates the impact made by the film.
Even though there isn't much help from the actors (Esha proves yet again why she is just not good enough to be a part of Bollywood), the story telling saves the day for Hijack. Watch it at home while munching popcorn and you wouldn't really mind the couple of hours gone by.
PACKAGING
The film comes in a sleek-n-attractive plastic case.
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the duration being 123 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo 2.0
PRICE
Rs. 199/=
CONCLUSION
It has been quite some while since one saw a 'real' action film. did offer quite a lot at the beginning of year but beyond that, most of the successful films of 2008 have been romcoms or mindless comic entertainers. No, one doesn't mind that at all but sometimes one's appetite does demand some fair dose of action as well. Hijack may not have gone the whole hog in providing this entertainment but at the least it comes close to doing that.
 
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