It is quite hard to decide what is more exasperating in A
R Murugadoss’ HOLIDAY- A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, the distasteful-impolite
& offensive exposé of modern Indian women or the overenthusiastically proud
praise of Indian Army? The leading lady here [Ms ‘100 Cr’ Sinha] is apparently
a new-age rebellious daughter who could give serious threat to the mother and
slap hard to her father if asked to do something not of her interest. Meanwhile,
she’s also dumb as a doll to decide getting married instantly whoever comes in
way as guys with sharp brain & good looks are vanishing fast from earth. Right!
And now the driving force; if not busy in trying to
fulfill his lady’s wish to perform a kiss [???] or shaking his legs too often,
the soldier never off duty [the ageing Akshay Kumar] constantly gets into a
preachy mode to justify and establish how and why the Indian Army men are
better & more dependable for country’s security than police and civilians. Yeah!
Right!!
HOLIDAY- a remake of Murugdoss’s Tamil superhit THUPPAKKI
is not a bad film at all as it has all the possible & potential ‘masalas’
for a ‘dhansu’ action entertainer. A hero who’s always a step ahead of villain’s
deadly plans of mass-destruction, a heroine who’s ever ready to step in to the
dancing shoes, non-stop action, solid dialoguebaazi but what it lacks is the
sense of being and belonging. Though I know this is not a kind one should look
out for much reasoning but the common sense not to be found even in traces is rather
hurtful.
Film sustains and succeeds in introducing the concept of ‘sleeper-cells’
in India but sadly it is presented more of as a plain verbal threat and no
inside out hard-hitting visuals to support the premise. I wish it could have
explored the functioning of this dreadful modus oparandi of terrorism rather
than just focusing on one man behind all this especially when you aren’t
equipped with an impressive antagonist. Though he has the built and basics of a
good baddie, Freddy Daruwala as the brainy guy behind terrific act of terrorism
looks more like a sidekick to Vidyut Jamwal who had played the same role in the
original. Govinda makes a short & sweet special appearance but looks
completely off sync. He sure deserves better roles to justify his age and caliber.
Sumeet Raghvan is some relief.
On the whole; with a nearly 3 hours of duration, this ‘trying
to be smarter than the smartest’ thriller-cum-entertainer is like a dull, boring
and extended holiday trip where you don’t really have much to explore and
sight-see but the luxury and comfort of a premium hotel. Just fall in the bed,
sleep, eat, sleep again and come back with a promise never to be back in the
same territory again. Hope Akshay could hear this out! [2/5]
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