Written & Directed by: Kaizad Gustad
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Gulshan Grover, Javed Jaffery, Padma Lakshmi, Katrina Kaif
Boom is written and directed by Kaizad Gustad. This movie came in after the director’s highly acclaimed and successful (in relative terms compared to other cross-over/independent films in India) Bombay Boys. The movie boasts of an ensemble cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shorff, Zeeenat Aman (in a sort of comeback to the silver screen, it was her second movie in fourteen years) and the three gorgeous models Katrina Kaif (this was her launchpad), Madhu Sapre and Padma Lakshmi. Again, with Kaizad one hopes we get to see something different from normal commercial pot-boiler stuff and here he attempts to make a dark comedy about the mafia. In doing so, he delivers as a director but falters as a writer.
The story revolves around three models Anu, Reena and Sheela (Sapre, Kaif, and Lakshmi) staying together in Mumbai. During a ramp show, Anu gets involved in a catfight with another model, who happens to be a part of a mafia gang smuggling diamonds. During their catfight, the other model–who is supposed to smuggle thirty antique diamonds–loses them on the stage, resulting in a stampede and the diamonds going missing. The other model “dissapears” and the mafia get to Anu and her two friends for payback. The gang is operated by Bade Miyan (Bachchan) from Dubai with his distant cousin Medium (Grover) and his keep (mistress) Alice (Zeenat Aman) along with their Indian counterparts, Chotte (Jackie Shroff) and his sidekick, Boom Shankar (Javed Jaffery), who along with smuggling diamonds also run a human trafficking chain.
[ad#longpost]Each of the gang members nurses a hidden desire to eliminate the one above him in the mafia ladder. Boom Shankar hatches a plan to double cross Bade Miyan of a 100 million dollar diamond deal and get away with the money with the help of the three models under his captivity. But the three of them have other plans of escaping from Boom and the Mafia. Does Boom succeed in double crossing Bade Miyan and climbing up the mafia ladder? Or do the models get the better of him and his gang? The answer to these questions forms the main crux of the story.
Amitabh Bachchan gives an excellent performance as the comics/Bo Derek loving don operating from Dubai, who has many wives and has lost track of his children. There is an entire sequence of events dedicated to this, which is hilarious though it does not relate in anyway to the proceedings on screen. Another scene worth noting is his dream sequence with Bo Derek, which brings out his boyish charm as he finds himself running on the beach with Bo Derek emerging from water. Zeenat Aman is apt as his keep…but she could have chosen a better script as she rarely does movies these days. Her role does not demand much from her other than dancing to her superhit tune of “hare Krishna hare raam” from her first movie. Gulshan Grover is perfect as the scheming “Medium,” waiting for a chance to knock off Bade Miyan and take his place. Jackie Shroff is just disappointing–there is not much scope for his performance and his dialogue delivery left me numb. Subtitles were of great help there. Javed Jaffery as Boom Shankar is amazing–he acts well and deserves all the kudos. He has the best lines of the movie and his lingo of a south Indian is hilarious. Coming to the three leading ladies: all of them light up the screen whenever they are on it. Their acting is strictly okay, but they are certainly pleasing to the eye…and they’re playing models so that should come as no surprise.
A bank robbery scene has to be seen to be believed…it’s a hilarious tribute to song and dance movies. The camera work is excellent, so is the direction, but it’s obvious the script needed more to it. It tends to drag at places and in scenes involving Chotte (not sure if Shroff being the producer of the movie did not let his part be edited out at the editing table–if that been allowed, the movie could have been tighter). The screenplay does build on the suspense and maintains it for most part of the movie, but the climax is a letdown. This movie has several scenes which are way too bold for the normal Indian audience, so no wonder it got right away into controversy during its release.
Overall, the movie has its moments but the script adversely affects the pacing. It is watchable, however, for the performances of Amitabh, the one-liners of Jaffery and the screen presence of the three gorgeous models. Just go in expecting a story without a lot of punch.
