Musafir (2005)
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Sameera Reddy, Koena Mitra
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Music Director: Vishal Shekhar
Synopsis: Cheap, flashy and decidedly tacky regurgitation of Oliver Stone's U-Turn
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

Musafir represents the new face of Bollywood—slick, fast-paced and desperate to beat Hollywood at its own game. Unfortunately, originality is in desperately short supply. Sanjay Gupta's film is little more than a regurgitation of Oliver Stone's U Turn, filtered through the stylistic excesses of Sam Peckinpah and, more recently, Quentin Tarantino. The result is a glossy imitation whose chief characteristics are flashy camerawork, gratuitous sensuality and an almost obsessive desire to shock.

Lucky (Anil Kapoor) is a drifter and small-time crook looking to pull off one final job before starting a new life. Having completed his latest con, he watches his girlfriend (Koena Mitra) lovingly soap down his gleaming Mercedes while simultaneously appearing to give herself an equally enthusiastic massage. It is an absurdly salacious sequence and sets the tone for what follows. Moments later the pair are frolicking in a jacuzzi, with Anil Kapoor sporting a freshly waxed chest in keeping with Bollywood's new millennium makeover. While Lucky splashes around blissfully unaware, his enterprising girlfriend quietly disappears with all the money.

So begin his problems.

The cash belonged to feared drug lord Billa (Sanjay Dutt), who offers Lucky a simple choice: recover his losses by completing a dangerous drug deal or die trying.

Lucky completes the deal, only to lose the money yet again.

As if that were not enough, another storyline soon collides with his. Sameera Reddy plays the sultry wife of an abusive brute (Mahesh Manjrekar), who approaches Lucky with a proposition—to murder his wife. Lucky hears the husband's version of events before listening to Sameera's equally convincing tale. Both promise him enough money to replace what he owes Billa, leaving him uncertain whom to trust.

When Lucky finally arrives to make his decision, he discovers that the seductive femme fatale has already solved the problem herself by killing her husband and is ready to disappear with both Lucky and the money.

Could it be that the alluring siren is every bit as manipulative and dangerous as her late husband claimed?

Stylistically, Musafir is undeniably impressive. Gupta injects the film with tremendous energy, and the first half races along with a pounding momentum that rarely allows the audience to catch its breath. Unfortunately, the pace falters badly after the interval. The obligatory songs grind proceedings to a halt, while an ever-growing collection of plot twists and additional characters steadily dilute what little focus the narrative possessed in the first place.

By the final act, one almost wonders what the central story actually is.

Technically, the film stands comparison with many contemporary Hollywood thrillers. Had it not worn its inspirations so shamelessly on its sleeve, Gupta might have deserved considerably more credit. Instead, style consistently overwhelms substance. There is little emotional depth or thematic richness beneath the polished surface.

Equally distracting is Gupta's persistent need to linger over scantily clad women at every available opportunity. The camera ogles with such determination that it often feels less like storytelling and more like an exercise in adolescent titillation. A genuine auteur should never have to rely on such obvious vulgarity.

Anil Kapoor anchors the film with another committed performance, once again demonstrating his versatility as an actor willing to experiment with unusual roles. Sanjay Dutt, despite limited screen time, makes a strong impression and continues to show that he values interesting characters over lengthy appearances. His only real problem today is the danger of becoming permanently typecast as the gangster—a trap from which Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. offered such welcome respite.

Sameera Reddy undoubtedly exudes sensuality, but the film never quite belongs to her despite early publicity suggesting otherwise. She has undeniable screen presence but still needs to move beyond smouldering looks and an overly theatrical dialogue delivery. Mahesh Manjrekar is excellent yet again, bringing real menace to the role of the abusive husband. Aditya Pancholi, however, merely complicates an already overcrowded narrative and feels like one twist too many.

On the whole, Musafir possesses style, confidence and technical polish in abundance. What it lacks is originality, emotional depth and a story worth remembering. The soundtrack made virtually no impression on me, and I would happily have dispensed with the songs altogether.

I left the cinema remembering little more than Billa's switchblade.

Slick, stylish... and ultimately eminently forgettable.