Sanjay Gadhvi's Kidnap carries a lot of expectations. After all, this is a film by the man who gave us thrillers like Dhoom and Dhoom 2, but yet holding a desire to prove that his films were driven by him, and not Aditya Chopra. Hence for Sanjay Gadhvi, he had a lot to prove. Kidnap begins promisingly the premise is strong and even the treatment of the opening credits sets you up to expect a great film , but unfortunately you are left disappointed with the treatment of a screenplay which otherwise could have made for a very enjoyable film. It kick starts well but then stumbles pretty quickly and is never really able to get back on his feet. The climax lacks bite and, for a thriller, it surprisingly lacks that edge of the seat feeling. The film is not about suspense of the plot at all, as Kabir (Imran) reveals early on why he has kidnapped Sonia (Minissha) and why he seeks revenge from her father (Sanjay Dutt). However, the film could yet have maintained a nail biting edge if the audience were left wondering what Imran's culmination of revenge would be, which is actually something which falls very flat in the film. In fact, the main problem with the film is that it is flat; in terms of direction, treatment and hence even the honest performances do not stand out because everything seems flat in the film.
The premise, or the central question, which actor Imran Khan's character posits is indeed very interesting. I mean, what really makes a criminal? When Imran's character Kabir Sharma, plays the game with Vikrant Raina, Sanjay Dutt's character, he makes him do things, which entail a blatant breaking of all laws of the country and are actually, criminal acts. So does that make him a criminal? The question is very interesting and could have done with some mature handling. Even the tasks that Kabir forces Vikrant to do are interesting in thought, but the execution is amateurish, diminishing the impact. It is not enough to have a great idea, one need to be able to do justice to it in the screenplay. Writer Shibani Bathija's story is in fact quite interesting and she gives Gadhvi enough to work with to make a good thriller. But Gadhvi seems a bit too intent on focusing on skin show and cheesy dialogues (dialogues are by Gadhvi) that the thrill and pace of the film are lost, along with any emotional connect with the characters. Several parts of the film don't make much sense, mostly because the precursor scenes have been edited out, but there is no point editing out scenes which explain other scenes because in the end, the viewer is left confused with the unexplained events. Case in point is Sanjay Dutt's supposed water phobia; it is neither important, not explained, so why have it there at all.
Dr Mallika (Vidya Malwade) is divorced from her husband, Vikrant Raina, one of the richest men in the world. Their only daughter Sonia (Minissha Lamba) a 17 year old wants her father to be there for her 18th birthday. There follows a spat between the two and the daughter storms out. The mother gets into a panic when Sonia does not return till late in the night. Then she gets a call from a strange man, saying that he has kidnapped her daughter and that he will only negotiate with Vikrant Raina. Mallika is forced to get in touch with Raina after so many years. Raina comes with his entire entourage, security personnel included. But Kabir makes it clear in his phone call that he will deal with only Raina; no police, no security, otherwise the tycoon can say goodbye to his beloved daughter.
It's a little difficult for the arrogant Raina but he has little option than to toe Kabir's line. The kidnapper forces him to play a cat and mouse game with him, wherein, he sends him running on all kinds of impossible tasks to collect seemingly nonsensical clues, which will supposedly lead him to his daughter. Gradually, the story starts unfolding and Raina finally stumbles onto the identity of the kidnapper. He does everything that the kidnapper tells him to do, which includes breaking into his old business house, break into a jail and rescue a prisoner. The final task before him is to commit a murder. The scenes between Kabir and Sonia are interesting and have a certain kind of intensity.
The film has been very well shot by the cinematographer Bobby Singh but has a very weak background score, something so crucial in a thriller. Even the action is a huge let down, especially considering the genre of the film.
What redeems the action of the film is largely the presence of Imran Khan. The young actor is definitely going to go a long way. He manages to get into the skin of his character and infuses his character with the right kind of angst and fire. But it is a cold fire and he underplays it perfectly. This is an actor who has the potential to keep getting better with every film that he does. Imran at times seems a bit uncomfortable but that seems to be more a characteristic of Kabir, which Imran has played to the tee. He is supported by veteran Sanjay Dutt, but this is far from one of his better performances. The director is not able to extract much from Dutt and hence we see him almost sleep walk through the role while mumbling his dialogues. He is also completely physically out of shape. In fact, in spite of a weakly etched character which is never fleshed out, Vidya Malavade does a commendable job and makes her character more believable, hence supporting Dutt's character as well. Minissha Lamba is a stunning revelation in this film proving that she is not just the powerhouse talent that we saw in Yahaan but that she can also play the glam doll on screen to the hilt. The skin show is a bit excessive and unneeded at time, yet she carries it off with aplomb and even though her character too is a bit sketchy, she gives it the subtle comic undertone required. Watch out for the scene where Imran has been shot and she tries to escape. However one fails to understand the need to tag her as an 17 year old. In fact the story just demands that she is a young, "bindaas", carefree girl, but it is in fact irrelevant whether she is 17 or 23. Her character and her relationship with her mother would have been more believable if we were not forced to believe she was 17. Reema Lagoo and Rahul Dev hardly have much to do.
On the whole, Kidnap is a letdown. The thrills are few and the director is unable to capitalize on his racy opening. After a smart beginning, the film actually goes downhill. It lacks the feverish pace quite necessary for a film of this genre. A good screenplay gone wrong in execution.
