By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network
In Kuala Lumpur, there's an assassination. Before the bloke is bumped off he manages to send off an influential email 'EQUINOX 666...' How do we know its Kuala Lumpur? Well, the name of the place is flashed on screen. A scene later there's another flash on the screen and this time there's a date, September 22, and the action moves on to London!! How come the date (or time frame) was not mentioned in the opening scene (or in the second scene Eg: three days later)? Was it of no relevance? The audience is as confused. Did the assassination take place on the same day, three months earlier or a decade ago? Bhatt looses the plot in the first scene. However, before the last scene, after the action, there is a mention "Two Months Later." Could the mistake in mentioning the date in the opening scene have anything to do with Vikram Bhatt being unsure of when the film would release? After all, it has been in the making for a long time now and Tanushree Dutta in exasperation was quoted as saying "I will break a nariyal if the film releases!" Well, the film has released, and to top it, it's the only release of the week, but a weak script is what lets it down, although director Vikram Bhatt does manage to speed up things in between. An Indian Prime Minister is going to be assassinated on her visit to the UK. It's her son who is behind the plot and he has roped in a disgruntled Aftab who has earlier served the Indian Intelligence. Obviously the plot fails. So what we can talk here is about performances. The goons guarding the place where Urmila Matondkar is held hostage look anything but hostile. Aftab with his long locks tries to scare you. Is anyone afraid? Sanjay Suri who is an undercover agent, but chooses to portray himself as a chef, is the one on whose shoulder the assassin's gun lay. Frankly, he has been wasted here. Ditto Urmila. Zayed Khan does better than CASH. Tanushree Dutta is as bewildered as you or me. Amrita Arora, has never looked so good on screen. But the two actors who catch the eye are Ashish Chowdhary and Sophie Choudry (no relatives). As the cocaine sniffing chief of security, who has a sinister face, Ashish comes out trumps. He is believable and deadly. Thumbs up to his performance. Sophie, for her part, as Aftab's partner, does lash out with venom. In a negative role, she gives it her all. She may have to fight hard to break this negative image! There are some good scenes, but not enough to rope in the crowds. SPEED lacks momentum.
