All audience reviews of Agent Vinod

The movie starts with an allusion to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" with the use of harmonica in the opening scene. The premise starts with a bang, like any other Bond franchisee, but what would have become an edge of the seat flick loses its pace with a clichxe9d plot and meanders through some pretty guessable twists and turns. The story explodes in Afghanistan and the smoke trail leads to places like Russia, Morocco, Delhi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Latvija, London, Cape Town. One can write a nice travelogue after watching the film.

r

Adding an insult to the injury is Saif Ali Khan in the title role, and he makes nothing but a joke of himself by doing this film. The aim was to present him as a crossover between James Bond and Jason Bourne but he fits neither. AV lacks the spark, the style, and the aura of Bond and the agility of Bourne. But he can be termed as a mixture of wit and sarcasm with his one liners such as "Suna hai kuch paane ke liye kuch 'Khaana' padta hai," "Tumhaari aankhein kisi ka qatl kar sakthi hai par tum nahi." Sometimes, his deliberate attempt to make us laugh makes him tiresome to watch. Kareena makes her way effortlessly, throughout, in an otherwise male-dominated film.

r

Background music by Daniel George keeps up the pace and complements the spy thriller. AV's signature tune is also perfect. Watch out for the song "Kuch toh hai tujhse Raabta" which is stylishly made in a single-shot sequence. The last song, according to my poor knowledge, in single shot was "Roop tera mastana" from Aaradhana. Director Sriram Raghavan's love for retro and classics can be seen through the movie. His references to Charlie Chaplin, Mahendra Sandhu, Clint Eastwood, Orson Welles are enough to make you think. The credits seem like an ultimate combination of the 70s and modern films. Good news to Rajnikanth and Ilayaraja fans - During a brilliantly shot flashback-intercut-with-real-time-action sequence in Trincomalee, Srilanka "Rakkama" song from Thalapathi can be heard in the background.

r

Bottom line: Watch "Agent Vinod" at your own risk and only if you need a film to kill your time on a weekend. It has everything - stars, style, budget, action, chases, exotic locations except a "Kahaani."

r less

Agent Vinod, the most awaited long in the making magnum opus by the reputed Director Sriram Raghavan tells thestory of Agent Vinod (Saif) who is a RAW agent who is sent on a mission to unveil the mystery of 242, which was being tracked by his friend & Colleague Sinha (Ravi Kisen) who gets killed trying to solve the mystery, this journey takes Vinod from Russia where he encounters international criminal Abu Nazer (Ram Kapoor) who is financing the 242, to Morocco where he encounters Kazaan (Prem Chopra) a multi billionaire who acquires the 242 for Colonel (Adil Hussain), who is executing the plan, but why does Colonel want the 242? Who is behind this international conspiracy? Who is colonel and whom does he work for? Forms the crux of the movie wherein Agent Vinod travels from Morocco to Riga, Lativia to Somalia to Pakistan to India and end s in London. In between he meets Iram (Kareena Kapoor) an undercover agent from Pakistan. Phew quite a trip

Agent Vinod is more like Bond meets Bourne and the biggest drawback of the movie is the script written by Sriram Raghavan & Arijit Biswas which is long, too many characters which are not well defined and the story does not conclude well at the end even after a prolonged climax. It starts well with the action in Afghanistan but somewhere the movie loses its grip, though the plot is interesting but the screenplay lacks the punch.

The biggest highlight of the movie are its action sequences by Arturas Nemanis, Ruta Nemanyte &Cedric; Proust which are of International standards especially like the introductory sequence in Afghanistan, the car chase in Riga, and the climax sequence in Delhi.

The second highlight of the movie is the riveting background score by Daniel B. George which enhances the effect of the sequences. CK Muraleedharans camera work captures various locations well.
Amongst the cast Saif Ali Khan (Agent Vinod) tries to don the role of an international spy, but somehow does not impress in totality, Kareena as Iram looks confused and completely disconnected with the proceedings, she looks gorgeous and used as an eye candy. Rest of the cast like Ravi Kisan (Sinha), Adil Hussain (Colonel), Prem Chopra (Kazaan), Ram Kapoor (Abu Nazer), Shahbaaz Khan (Gen Lokha), Gulshan Grover (Tehmur Pasha) and last and not the least Dhritiman Chatterji (Sir Jagdiswar Metla) do justice to their specific characters.

Sriram Raghvan, the captain of the ship who had previously made classics like Ek Hasina Thi & Jhonny Gaddar seems clueless and less in control of the movie. Some sequences are bright spots like the assassination attempt on Agent Vinod in Morocco or the pre climax sequence in Delhi are well shot but overall the movie does not come together. Srirams fetish for retro is showcased in this movie just like his previous once, the sequence wherein Iram seduces the Airport Security Chief, he uses song from The Train, Aa meri Jaan Tune kaha.

Overall Agent Vinod is a disappointment and proves again that good script is the most important ingredient and style & glamour can be used more as a packaging. I give 2.5 stars to Agent Vinod. less

This movie is very good, we want again see saif and kareena toghter. less

Its just a time pas movie. less

An average film by saif less