Having seen the Korean movie that Zinda is based on, and realizing how difficult a job Sanjay Gupta had on his hands, I went into this screening giving Zinda all the chance I could. What I eventually ended up watching got me thinking: Since Gupta has seen the original, what did he see at all in his version that he let it be released in cinemas? He should have left this movie on the shelves, or let out a quite Home video release and saved himself a lot of face. Or be man enough to announce that he failed. It is impossible that he could have been satisfied with the end-product. For a movie where the director deceives himself, what chance do the audience have? Zinda follows the life of Bala (Sanjay Dutt) who is plucked off his beach-house in Bangkok without notice, shortly after arriving there with his wife. He is imprisoned in a hotel-room, fed & cared for and yet devoid of all human contact. He is not even allowed to kill himself. His only contact with the outside world is a Television set which eventually gives him news that his wife has been killed and all evidence points to him as the murderer. 14 years of solitary confinement followed by sudden release fuels Bala's quest for vengeance against his captor (John Abraham). At his aid are a Female Punjabi Cab Driver (Lara Dutta) and his childhood friend (Mahesh Manjrekar).
Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt as White Feather Films make a formidable team. Since rediscovering himself as a 'remake' film-maker, Gupta has been Indianising movies quite well. Somehow, they have always managed to entertain the testosterone audience. But here Gupta sets himself too high a target. Oldboy, the Korean film that Zinda is a remake of, is a masterpiece in film-making. The movie cannot and should not be tinkered with in its story and characters. All Gupta wants to do is pick the stylization from Oldboy and fit it into a movie he has imagined he can make. Yes, style has sold film before, but a minimalist interest in the script only works to negate any effect that the sleek-look may have. To give credit where due, Sanjay Gupta does make an attempt towards a movie like nothing we have 'seen' before. But a failed attempt does not a good movie make. Sanjay Gupta has always been a master technician of his movies, but this movie falters at a more basic level - it's writing. The theme of the movie is Revenge. But is Sanjay Dutt's Bala interested in revenge at all? Yes, to begin with: when he tries to discover the place where he was held captive. But thereafter all he is interested in is staring, walking, staring, running. With such a strong motive behind a well established character, where is the pay-off? Dutt himself gives a good performance. But with no backbone. This is not an act where even if the movie collapses all around him, his performance will emerge from the rubble as a saving grace (as it was in Pitaah). We have seen Mr Dutt do a lot better than this before, and in contrast, his Bala is too mediocre. John Abraham also does a good job - but unfortunately, the consistency and fierceness of his character does a 180 at the end, thanks again to the writing. He takes the entire movie to prepare this wonderfully evil character and ends it by adding a teaspoon-full of sugar. Lara Dutta does her best to look babe (she succeeds), but fails to convince us as a Punjabi or a cab-driver. Another White-Feather alumnus Sameera Reddy could have been a better choice. Mahesh Manjrekar is a lost cause.
Sanjay Gupta and his cinematographer Sanjay F. Gupta (Oh, the number of Sanjays!) work well to mood the film right - but while the color-grading worked well in Musafir, and in Sanjay F Gupta's Karam, here the entire movie ends up with a grainy look. That, my dear Guptas, is definitely a not. The lack of dance-numbers and only background tracks is a positive, and Vishal-Shekhar with Strings add to a wonderful soundtrack. Down the years, maybe that's all this movie might be remembered for. And a somewhat decent, but copied, hammer-sequence.
My Rating --> 2/5
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