HOLIDAY(2014)

A.R Murugadoss created an enthralling film in Thuppakki which was released in 2012. Its star Vijay turned in an authoritative performance and backed by some superb action and pulsating background score the film went on to hit the right notes with the audiences. But the problem that the Hindi remake of the same title suffers from is the fact that we have already seen Thuppakki and it has nothing absolutely nothing new or novel to offer in terms of material or entertainment. The director here has done an absolute copy-paste job picking up even dialogs form Thuppakki and just converting them into Hindi. The setting, the action set pieces and even the comedy and the song and dance routines remain the same.

For all those of you who have not seen the Tamil original, the story revolves around an army Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) specialist Virat Bakshi (Akshay Kumar) who has come to Mumbai for a holiday. Once in Mumbai, Virat gets entangled in a chain of events which makes him aware of the presence of large number of sleeper cell terrorist in Mumbai who are led by a lone man who is well connected in the government. He must now track down these cells and finish them all off along with their leaders or else Mumbai will be raised to the ground. In the meantime he also finds time to woo Sonakshi Sinha and exchange comic moments with Govinda who is terribly miss-cast here as a Para Commando.

If you have seen Thuppakki then you have seen it all. There will not be a single scene which will not give you déjà vu feeling. After the rather slow beginning with the visit to the girl’s house right after the soldier lands up in the station after a brief tackily wired fight sequence to show his prowess is exhausting. But thankfully the setting quickly changes gear and for the next few minutes or so we see Virat track down one culprit after another culminating the first half in a sequence where 12 terrorists are shot down in a second’s time. That scene is done as well it was done in Thuppakki. Post interval, the love angle between Akki and Sonakshi and the entry of Govinda as an interesting 3^rd angle pulls your patience to the brink but you are rescued again with the onset of some more action which guilefully culminates in the overdrawn climax.

The film is rendered watchable thanks to a soulful performance from Akshay Kumar. He really suits the bill and looks interested in whatever he is doing. No matter how minuscule the logic and intelligence of the script, he delivers his dialogs no matter how absurd with utter surety. He looks convincing and even though he is under used, he makes enough impact to satisfy his fans. Sonakshi is bore from start to finish and has absolutely zilch chemistry with Akki. Govinda in a guest appearance makes you smile. Another huge let down is the absence of Vidyut Jamwal as the antagonist. The guy playing the baddie here is nowhere in the presence of Akki and Jamwal is sorely missed. He did a fantastic job in Thuppakki giving Vijay a run for his money.

The background score which initiates and animates the action sequences is pathetic here. The techno track which was used for Thuppakki should have been replicated here instead of making do with such a hammy track which never for once makes you stand up and take notice. The action sequences also leave a lot to be desired. The music is ordinary. Overall, Holiday is only for the diehard Akshay Kumar fans. It will be meagerly entertaining for those who might not have seen the original. The problem for me was I had seen the original.