Officer (2001)
Starring: Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon
Director: Naeem Sha
Music Director: Deepak Chaudhary
Synopsis: Cheap reworking of Vertigo would have Hitch turning in his grave!
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

Set against a blazing sunset, our protagonist Sagar Chauhan (Suniel Shetty) comes charging towards the camera as the credits roll. Intercut with shots of our hero diving, flying and performing assorted feats of athleticism are scenes of a gang of villains preparing for an attack. It appears that Sagar, an officer in the Special Protection Unit, has been assigned to protect a judge being threatened by the underworld to "exercise caution" when sentencing criminals if he values the safety of his family.

It sounds like a fairly routine Bollywood action film.

Then, unexpectedly, it takes a rather different path.

A friend introduces Sagar to businessman Pratap Rai (Danny Denzongpa), who asks him for an unusual favour. His wife Meenal (Raveena Tandon), devastated by the death of her father two years earlier, appears to have lost her grip on reality, and Pratap wants Sagar to discreetly watch over her from a distance.

For seasoned film buffs, the plot has already given the game away. For those less familiar with old Hollywood classics, I'll avoid spoiling it—for now.

Meenal, draped in heavy saris and laden with jewellery, drives recklessly, sits by the sea staring into space and, for no apparent reason, suddenly throws herself into the water, only to be rescued by our gallant hero, who seems to have become rather more interested in following the damsel in distress than in protecting the judge assigned to him.

Inevitably, they fall in love.

One day, while riding a Ferris wheel at a fair, Sagar suffers a dizzy spell and reveals that he has a fear of heights.

Taken to a doctor by his concerned beloved, he is informed that he suffers from... agoraphobia—which, incidentally, is a fear of open spaces, not heights. Even more remarkably, the prescribed cure is that if he ever finds himself in danger, he should simply close his eyes.

Medical science has clearly moved on.

Realising that their relationship cannot continue because Meenal has decided to leave her husband, Sagar attempts to end the romance. Distraught, she speeds away in her car with Sagar pursuing on his motorcycle. She races to the top of an old building, our hero following close behind, only to be overcome once again by his dizzy spells.

Remembering the doctor's sage advice, he closes his eyes.

Miraculously, he manages to grab Meenal's sari just as she falls from the building. Unfortunately, the sari tears and she plunges to her death.

Blamed for failing to save her and tormented by guilt, Sagar takes a holiday in Goa with his loyal servant Lobo. There, strolling along the beach, he spots a bold, busty young woman who looks exactly like Meenal.

Pari.

A nightclub dancer with plenty of attitude, she wants nothing to do with him initially, but Sagar becomes obsessed with pursuing her. Before long, he even persuades her to wear the bridal outfit Meenal had once dreamed of wearing for him.

Is she Meenal's long-lost twin? A lookalike? Something else entirely?

To reveal any more would spoil the remainder of the plot, but from here the film becomes increasingly convoluted, introducing a masked avenger who resembles Michael Myers and a scantily clad gun-toting assassin who wages war on the Special Protection Unit. The plot grows steadily more absurd, although it manages to retain a modest degree of suspense for viewers unfamiliar with the film that inspired it.

For anyone still wondering, Officer is essentially a reworking of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo—that extraordinary meditation on obsession, illusion and identity. One suspects Hitchcock would be turning in his grave at seeing his masterpiece reduced to such a clumsy, overblown crime thriller. It is less an adaptation than an act of cinematic vandalism.

Viewed on its own terms, Officer is simply too slow and too dull to generate much excitement. Indian audiences are hardly strangers to stories involving lookalikes and long-lost twins, so the appearance of Pari comes as little surprise. Nor does the eventual revelation of the villain. Casting Danny Denzongpa almost guarantees where the film is heading. He appears in barely three scenes during the first two hours, making it abundantly clear that he is destined to emerge as the prince of darkness later on.

Ironically, Tej Sapru provides the film's one pleasant surprise. Having spent much of his career playing villains, he appears suspicious from the outset, only to prove entirely innocent—a refreshing change for once.

Naeem Sha has simply borrowed Hitchcock's story and several of its most memorable scenes while stripping away everything that made Vertigo profound. Gone are the themes of obsession, illusion and psychological torment. In their place is a routine thriller lacking imagination, atmosphere and directorial flair.

Suniel Shetty is reasonably effective and continues to show improvement as an actor. There is an easy charm about him that works in his favour.

Raveena Tandon, however, looks tired throughout much of the film. Draped in heavy saris, she resembles a middle-aged housewife rather than a mysterious object of desire, while as the spirited Pari she appears surprisingly awkward and devoid of glamour. Her nightclub dance number is particularly unfortunate, doing neither her nor the choreography any favours. Her performance, like the film itself, is merely adequate.

The music makes little impression. Most of the songs are instantly forgettable, with only "Na Jaane Kyon" proving remotely listenable.

For anyone who has seen Vertigo, Officer is a depressing experience.

For everyone else, it is merely an ordinary and overlong thriller that never comes close to justifying its existence.