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By Taran Adarsh, February 4, 2005 - 16:10 IST
Hindi cinema has often attempted spy thrillers, with the protagonist masquerading as James Bond. BULLET - EK DHAMAKA takes a leaf out of the James Bond flicks, but talks of the oft-repeated and done-to-death terrorism issue that has been witnessed since time immemorial.
The silver linings are some well-crafted stunts and the special effects, at places.
Iqbal Khan is a cop turned intelligence officer whose sole mission in life is to get Don Raja [Aseem Merchant], the badshaah of the underworld, back to India. Don Raja is operating from Sofia [Bulgaria] and has now hatched a plot to create terror on India's Republic Day.
However, Iqbal decides to resign from the job when his boss refuses to let him go to Bulgaria. Instead, another secret agent Sasha is entrusted the responsibility of flying to Bulgaria and nip the terrorist-activities in the bud.
A Kashmiri terrorist Asad [Asad Sikander] lands in Bulgaria to work on the game plan. But Sasha meets him and makes him realize that if he executes the devious plan, he'd be killing hundreds of innocent citizens.
Meanwhile, Don Raja gets to know that Iqbal has arrived in Sofia to confront him. But instead of eliminating him pronto, he decides to play the cat and mouse game with him. Then there's Meera [Saadhika], an actress, who's now working for Don Raja.
BULLET - EK DHAMAKA starts off on an electrifying note, with stunts and chases in snow-capped mountains holding your attention. But the moment the story shifts to Sofia and the two characters - Iqbal and Aseem - come face to face, it becomes one routine saga of good versus evil.
The basic flaw that catches your attention at the very start of the film is, why doesn't Aseem eliminate Iqbal, when he knows fully well that he's arrived in Sofia to take him back to India? With the clout and power that Aseem enjoys, he could've easily taken Iqbal to task the moment he set foot in Sofia.
BULLET - EK DHAMAKA abounds in special effects and action scenes [Asad Sikander] and in those departments, the film does impress a great deal. But, on the flip side, showing the verbal confrontation of Iqbal and Aseem within a computer, when Iqbal tries to hack into Aseem's accounts, looks completely far-fetched.
Director Irfan Khan has come up with a polished product, but in an effort to make a slick spy thriller, he has not really concentrated much on the script. The film relies on the same old punches and that is its biggest undoing.
Music [Anand Raaj Anand, Somesh Mathur] is functional. The title track, although well tuned and rendered, loses its impact because its placement comes during an important chase. As a viewer, you're more inclined towards the visual than the composition. The track filmed on Saadhika at the start of the film, 'Ishq Aasaan Hain', is well filmed. Cinematography [Emillion Christoff] is first-rate.
Aseem Merchant does an able job. He looks the character he's portraying. However, he needs to go easy on his expressions at times. His villainous laugh at the interval point mainly is quite irritating. Iqbal Khan does quite well. His voice is a major asset. Asad Sikander is exceptional in stunts. Saadhika radiates oomph and does well.
On the whole, BULLET - EK DHAMAKA doesn't have much meat to create any kind of a dhamaka. At the box-office, releasing the film with two biggies [BLACK, SHABD] will only prove disadvantageous.
 
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