Ajnabee (2001) Reviews

• A easy enough film to watch but yet again it's a copy of a Hollywood film

  anonymili2006-04-16

  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.

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• One of the best suspense thrillers Ever made

  mustafapopal32001-09-23

  Much hoopla has been made about the Americanization of Indian cinema and how Abbas-Mastan have dared to cross all barriers of culture by copying a bold film like "Consenting Adults", the theme of which revolves around wife-swapping. Well, rest assured - this is Hindustan and our "lajja" is still intact (R.K. Santoshi might feel otherwise). Let me dare to reveal to you that though the idea of wife-swapping does come up, it never really occurs. Still - Neeraj Vohra has managed to write an entertaining story which Abbas-Mustan have infused with their usual slick direction. The film follows the plot of a newlywed couple - Raj (Bobby Deol) and Priya (Kareena Kapoor). They move to Switzerland so Raj can be a professional polo player where they encounter another couple - Vicky (Akshay Kumar) and Sonia (Bipasha Basu). The couples become close but it becomes apparent that the husbands share more common interests with the opposite wives. To top it off - Sonia tries to seduce Raj and Vicky goes one step further. He suggests to Raj that they swap wives for one drunken night. The next day things go haywire as we learn that somebody is murdered. And somebody is framed. Or are they guilty? Abbas-Mastan do a good job managing what would otherwise be a confusing narration. They manage to reveal just enough to keep the plot tracking along the line of indifference. The problem is that with four lead characters and one supporting actress introduced pre-intermission in a fleeting scene - it isn´t too hard for the audience to put two and two together. This is not a complex "who-done-it". Still, they are somehow able to maintain as neutral a narrative as possible which is commendable in Hindi cinema - where nothing is really a secret. We all know not to believe somebody is dead unless you see their body and they attempt an interesting twist to get around that fact. Enough said. The performances of their lead cast add to the slick direction in maintaining any suspense possible. Akshay Kumar is the real star here - but this is his third film with a similar role. It didn´t work for Shahrukh and it gets tiresome even here. Bipasha Basu makes a commendable debut in her seductive, confident role. Just brush up those dancing skills, honey! Bobby Deol does his job as the protagonist well. And Kareena Kapoor breezes through a relatively simple role. She is particularly good in the comedy scenes (David Dhawan, are you listening?). Music? It does the job. The one song that really sticks in one´s mind is the one that is already there - "Mehbooba Mehbooba" - which is nicely shot. Cinematography? Switzerland. Nobody has the power to make it look fresh at this point. Comedy track? DA. That´s "Don´t ask" for those that have seen the film. This isn´t necessarily great cinema. Still - in a time where the world is at war, it managed to make me forget about that fact for almost three hours. That in itself is a commendable feat. "Ajnabee" is Hindi cinema at its escapist best.

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• creative

  anjshaik2005-12-19

  this was one of the most planned scripts written in all of time good direction as usual from the Abbas-Mustan duo and a script that's written by all of the known sweet writers into an ultimate story songs are pretty average and the acting by Akshay Kumar is great he delivers his dialogues with lots of fun and passion Shyam Goel dialogue writer delivers dialogues with passion and writes with wit screenplay is average but good story by Neeraj Vora us good being Bipasha Basu's debut is good overall average film with great acting story every element a movie needs this has songs need a little work and the screenplay could do with that as well but overall good movie by creative directors and highly enjoyable action direction

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• Nothing new, nothing great, but not that bad either.

  Peter_Young2009-08-25

  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.

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• Average film, but great fun for someone who lives in Switzerland :)

  Pedro-372002-06-08

  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

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