Verdict - poor writing, direction and editing. Saif tries hard as an actor but really fails as a producer.
Yet another film that made me hate my job. Director Sriram Raghavan follows up his hugely popular cult film Johnny Gaddar with the very long and extremely tiresome Agent Vinod. The film was a long time in making and is an equally lengthy watch.
To begin with, the screenplay is choppy and traverses across cities and continents without much addition to the plot or for that matter sense. It is clouded with multiple characters, cheesy dialogues and scenes that overstay their welcome. At one point in the film, Kareena's character utters that she doesn't understand what's going on. My sentiments exactly.
Saif Ali Khan does much justice to his character. Unfortunately the writing of the character is very inconsistent and it seems like a cross between many Hollywood spy-type heroes. Kareena as always is herself; shallow and highly stylized. The supporting cast is mediocre and most of them seem misfit in their roles. I would fire the casting director of the film if I was the captain of this ship.
This brings us to the man himself; Mr Sriram Raghavan. When Johnny Gaddar released, he was one man to watch out for. Sadly his next cannot be even mentioned in the same breath. Not only has he failed as a co-writer on this magnum opus but his lack of originality almost shocks you. The film is a mishmash of random scenes from spy flicks across the ages. The cinematographer tries his best to lift the film but honestly you could not go wrong with this multitude of exotic locations. The editing department disappoints the most and seems as confused as the writers.
As IPL dawns upon us, the period of big films ends and many small budget films will release. Most of them seem promising, especially John Abraham's Vicky Donor. As for Agent Vinod, the season ends on a very unfulfilling note . 2 stars.