Ajnabee

Of all the Bollywood-films I've seen, "Ajnabi" is one of the mediocre ones. The songs didn't work for me, the tension was flat and the actors were average. Bipashu Basu made a gorgeous debut, but that's about it. Oh and the comic relief was bad. Really.

But, as many Bollywood films do, this one has some scenes in Switzerland. Actually about 50% of the movie takes place somewhere in the country. I don't want to blame the film because many movies treat geography rather loose, but "Ajnabi" is a hoot on that level. I'll start with the policemen. They swap languages in every scene - from English to German to French. Trust me, I know that Switzerland has a French part, but then the Police-cars should be labeled "Police" not "Polizei" - the film does it vice versa: In Luzern (German speaking part. With many *bad* extras!), no police car would be labeled "Police".

The funniest stuff is in the court room sequence. This doesn't look like a Swiss court room at all, but I didn't mind. Then, Raj jumps out of the window and runs. He runs through streets with many Asian looking people. Tourists perhaps? Well, even some Chinese signs. And what's that? A subway? There aren't any subways in Switzerland! Wow! It's Singapore! He ran around the world in a couple of seconds, hunted by Swiss policemen. Well, what shall I say ... I had great fun with stuff like this.

But the film itself is mediocre, so I give it a

5/10

Way ahead of his time.

Might be copied from some Hollywood flick but it takes courage to make such movie in that era in Bollywood when SRK's so called love story crap bandwagon was in hype

Mind blown when saw first time . What a twist !

Far ahead of its time.

This one's of a Hollywood level. Fst away from melodrama, and full of twists and turns.

Will keep you hooked till the very end

From songs to storyline. Loved it. !!!

Raj (Deol) and Priya (Kapoor) meet, fall in love and get married in India. Shortly after their marriage, they move to Switzerland due to Raj's job as a polo player/teacher. Once settled into their new home they meet their glamorous neighbours Vicky (Kumar) and Sonia (Basu), also a married couple and the two couples become close friends very quickly. Whilst Priya is not very good at cooking India food and is quite a party animal, Raj craves home cooked Indian food and a peaceful home life. Vicky seems to be a party animal whilst his wife is very homely and loves to cook Indian food.

It soon becomes apparent that both men are more than a little attracted to each others' wives (mainly due to their similar tastes) but when both couples are on holiday in Mauritius Vicky suggests a wife-swap to Raj, Raj loses his temper, fights Vicky and breaks off their friendship. They return home to Switzerland. Do you see where the plot is going? Not yet? OK read on… By chance, Raj ends up saving Vicky's life and they become pals again and after an evening out celebrating a birthday and their renewed friendship, a drunken Raj ends up going towards his neighbours' house whilst Vicky heads off towards Raj's home. Waking up in the morning, Raj leaves the house in shock, only to find out later than Sonia has been murdered and he is the prime suspect.

This plot was lifted straight out of "Consenting Adults" which was released in 1992 and starred Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Kevin Spacey and Rebecca Miller. Being a film aimed at the Indian market, the storyline was toned down somewhat.

Not an original story, so you can guess the ending if you've seen the Hollywood version, nice scenery, pretty good acting, good-looking Bollywood star cast - all round I'd give Ajnabee a generous 7 out of 10.

Another unoriginal fare by Abbas-Mastan, Ajnabee does work maybe because it was generally well made by the directors-brothers duo Abbas Mastan who often prefer to concentrate on the making of a film rather than invest time and write a new script. Well a job is a job and everyone is working for money, so remaking a foreign film is a much easier way to make money. Creativity/originality is not the word to describe this duo but they do manage to make an enjoyable flick every once in a while so let it be. Ajnabee is quite an interesting watch - it has good cinematography, very good editing, exceptional music, suitable actors and a very modern concept. The portrayal of Indians living in a foreign country is well done, the suspense is successful, and it uses the usual Bollywood clichés from time to time. The film is mainly surprising because of Akshay Kumar's shocking villainous turn (well if he had accepted the directors' early film Baazigar maybe things would have gone differently for him). He is convincing and wins most of the viewers' attention. It has a very lovely newcomer named Bipasha Basu who makes a confident debut. It also has an average Kareena Kapoor, a Bobby Deol (about him I don't have anything good or bad to say), and a hilarious Johnny Lever. I was annoyed at the beginning of the film to see Dalip Tahil who laughs and laughs for no reason - very disturbing. Anyway, you can try it if you like, it is a decent Indianised, fairly updated and changed version of Consenting Adults.