Sanjay Gupta has been associated with a big list of inspired films in the past and his "Acid Factory" too follows the same trend fearlessly. Directed by Suparn Verma the film heavily borrows most of its content from the English thriller "Unknown" released in 2006. With more legal remakes in the scene I hope the makers have acquired the rights of this adaptation, since it has scene to scene to similarities with the original.
The movie as a whole is an OK thriller for the Indian viewers who may not have seen masterpieces such as "Saw" series" & "Cube". But for an avid movie lover who is well familiar with this intense, psychological, brain twister thriller genre of the west, "Acid Factory" is just a rehash version of the Original, accompanied by some un-required stunts and usual Indian elements. In fact the deliberately added flavors to suit the Indian audiences take away the essence of an otherwise well directed but inspired attempt from White Feather Films.
It starts in an abandoned factory, where five men wake up from an unconscious state with a zero memory about their names and origin. Suspecting each other for their current state, they have a mutual conflict, trying to know the real truth about themselves and the others. The first half only deals with their small fights along with a few glimpses of their individual past. But it's the second half which has a better grip, unfolding the real mystery behind the game played by all. The movie builds up slowly raising your expectations for an explosive climax which sadly remains unfulfilled. The concluding moments in the script are not that convincing as they should have been to end up a tense psycho thriller.
Performance wise everyone is just there with nothing exceptional delivered by any particular actor. The most talented among the star-cast is Irfan Khan who is simply wasted in the few scenes he gets. Diya Mirza, who was majorly used for the Net publicity campaign is hardly there in the movie (she enters after the intermission). And it was nice to see "Neha" back on screen after a long time. Cinematography is first rate with Sanjay Gupta's favorite green tone on the screen. But the lavishly shot actions scenes and the few songs were completely out of place and were not needed at all.
In few words, "Acid Factory" is a borrowed movie coming from the director Suparn Verma. It can be given a chance by those who haven't seen the original western flicks and love this intense, brain twister genre of movies where the hidden truth gets revealed in the climax.
Frankly speaking, it's really tough to write about a movie which straight away starts with a completely inspired scene where even the location, ambiance and characters are purely an imitation of the original. It simply takes away the joy of watching a movie. In other words it's like watching a painting in a gallery, signed by an artist who hasn't painted it at all.
