Holiday Movie Review

Rating: 3.5/5

Critic Rating: (3.5/5)

Akshay Kumar is back and how!

After doing some idiotic and mindless comedies (remakes of hit south indian movies), it seems Akshay is back to doing what the audience wants to see.. Pure Entertainment!

‘Holiday’ is a remake of the hit Tamil film, “Thuppakki” directed by A.R Murugadoss, who also directs this one.

But does ‘Holiday’ succeed in recreating the same magic? Read on.. Holiday Movie Review

Plot :

Virat (Akshay Kumar) is among a battalion of military officers that comes to Mumbai on a vacation. Virat is also a secret Defence Intelligence Agent (DIA) who cannot lie low, much to the irritation of his friend (Sumeet Raghavan) and sub inspector.

During a bus ride, an attempt to frisk passengers for a lost wallet leads Virat to something much bigger. Within minutes, the bus is blown into pieces and he helps cops nab the carrier of the bomb, who escapes from the hospital only to be caught by Virat again. Using tact, Virat follows one clue at a time hoping to track down the terrorist on whose orders the sleeper cell terrorists plan to cause mayhem in Mumbai.

From then on, he is engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with a terror mastermind (Freddy Daruwala).

How does he do it? Does he succeed? Watch the movie to get an answer to these questions!

Performances and Technical Aspects :

You can call this film ‘The comeback vehicle’ of Akshay Kumar. The reason I’m saying this is because he has virtually remained out of the scene for years now barring a few mindless flicks like “Khiladi 786” and “Boss”. Yes, Akshay Kumar is back!

The film is all about how Akshay Kumar goes on executing his plans. HIs performance is commendable and his comic timing and one-liners are an added plus! He carries the film on his shoulders and keeps the audiences hooked till the very end quite effortlessly.

Akshay plays Sherlock Holmes, Spider man and Jason Bourne all rolled into one. He decimates sleeper cells (a word you will hear very, very often in this film) with his bare hands and unravels their nefarious plans with a little help from a Rubik’s cube.

Sonakshi Sinha does what she does best, play second fiddle to the male lead and just be seen dancing around in the songs and delivering drab dialogues. She doesn’t have much to do in this film apart from giving the film a romantic angle. This track though slows down the film at crucial junctures.

Sumeet Raghavan as the “Back support” of Virat (Akshay) plays his part effortlessly. Sumeet and Akshay’s camarederie in the movie is to watch out for.

Freddy Daruwala, as the villain, plays hi part. Though nothing path-breaking!

Govinda plays a cameo in the movie as the Senior Commanding Officer whom Virat (Akshay) reports to. His cameo was more ‘cute’ than ‘commanding’.

Other than Akshay, no one gets a well defined role in the film. Raghavan, who probably got more screen time than Sonakshi, ended up looking caricaturish.

A.R. Murugadoss who directed the Tamil counterpart of this movie in 2012, is directing this one as well. The director’s last outing at the box office, “Ghajini”, was a runaway hit and was the trendsetter in terms of the coveted “100 Crore Club” in Bollywood.

He lives up to the expectations and delivers a wholesome entertainer to the audiences. The director asks you to suspend disbelief and that done, it is a roller-coaster ride.

Full marks to him for keeping the viewer engaging even after taking a detour in terms of songs and romance a lot of times. His treatment of the story is what keeps you hooked!

The cinematography is amazing and the fight sequences are executed beautifully.

Kudos to the camera man! He makes you go “Woah!” during some of the action sequences which seem difficult yet believable on screen. Way to go!

Hawk-Eye Analysis :

The strength of this film is that despite so many howlers, it carries you along.
The film conveys its message without losing out on the entertainment front. I repeat, The pace is taut and the narration engaging. Action sequences are interspersed with comedy and romance, and don’t allow your interest to flag. The story is intelligent and keeps you guessing about what happens next.

Coming to Akshay, well, he is probably one of the best action stars we have seen in a long time and he again reminds us why he is on the top of heap.

A chase sequence in Mumbai streets while rush hour traffic buzzes by is worth mentioning. Hand-to-hand combat and a fight sequence aboard a ship are also interesting. Watch him climb down from a building after doing away with a bad cop and you’ll get the Spiderman analogy.

Despite the fact that “Holiday” is a film about terror, there is not even one mention of Pakistan. Sarhad is mentioned, dushmans come into play too but they are all generic. When name-calling of terrorists begins, it is not limited to one particular religion. Instead, sleeper cells and terror are explained as byproducts of anger with government/country.

The thrust here is firmly on common man’s duty towards his country.

At close to three hours, the film is way too long. Despite a persuasive story, you wish at times that editing was tighter. Song placement is not that wise and tries your patience.

However, despite these minor hiccups, Holiday makes for a satisfying watch and will keep the audience coming.

Final Verdict :

If you’re looking for a wholesome entertainer this weekend, do watch this one!

Akshay fans should just not miss this one!

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