YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE
Rating: 7 out of 10
All three of his films New York, Ek Tha Tiger and Phantom have one common anomaly though. It is high time everyone realises Katrina Kaif is not an actress. She looks a million bucks (of make-up) and can belong in certain films but with a film like this one, we needed someone who can match up to the content. She always looks manufactured and never like she belongs in this movie. I'm beginning to think she could be cast in a Bollywood remake of Weird Science (1985).
Saif Ali Khan, on the other hand, is in need of a box-office hit. He tried going the silly comedy way but we're glad he came back where he fits. He plays, a phantom, a ghost without any traceable history or a conceivable future. He was in the Indian army but now a mercenary with jazba for his country. His only personal mission is to regain his honour. Saif is a perfect fit for this role and doesn't disappoint.
There are two films that could be taken as a point of comparison for Phantom. Nikhil Advani's D-Day (2013) and Neeraj Pandey's Baby (2015). The former is a better film and had a personal connect with the characters. Phantom does not invest us in the personal lives of the characters. We don't feel much for either of them, they are like blank bullets. Although, Phantom scores over Baby as the climax of the film truly has you hooked. Something that escaped Baby as it imitated Ben Affleck's Argo (2012). Although it does a Jack and Rose which is slightly unimaginative but this terrific finale redeems the previous flaws. Despite not caring about the characters, I found myself moved. These characters who are driven by one thing only - patriotism. Full points to Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub who can make a mark in tiny roles.
It would be easy to call films like D-Day and Phantom 'irresponsible' or 'politically incorrect'. I see them as cathartic, not as wish fulfilment. When Quentin Tarantino took revenge on people who mistreated the Jews and the African-Americans through his fantasies, cinephiles cheered. When films like these are doing the same thing, they hypocritically become the moral police. They laud films like Zero Dark Thirty (2012) or Munich (2005) which are based on factual revenge missions. Most of them would also be fans of vigilantes like Batman. The west does it, it's patriotism and honourable, we do it and it's jingoism and irresponsible (apart from the fact that it's not even real). The ending of this film could have been insensitive and could have made revenge look like terrorism. It never stoops down to that level and doesn't show the characters being celebrated by people on both sides of the border like our very own Bhaijaan. Even if this film is wish fulfilment, the Indian public needs it. What better way than to do it through film, a medium that can evoke emotion and provoke thought.
My only problem with the film is that sometimes it's too pretty. A film like this needed more grit and taut, instead we have a porcelain actress and too many colours. The Pakistan portions especially are bathed in green. The walls, the doors, the clothes, everything is green. The music of the film could have been better, although Afghan Jalebi is moderately catchy despite lyrics that are confounding tosh.
Albeit, Phantom deserves to be seen as it appeals to the Indian heart which craves catharsis. You may or may not agree with what the film has to say and yes, it could have said it better but you will definitely have something to talk about once you exit the theater. How many films made in Bollywood do that? This film is best seen with a blindfold that it's not a true story. This doesn't mean it doesn't contain truth or that we need to be blind to it. Make some time for this film.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Phantom
is a gripping thriller. It works because it remains thrilling despite a few
hiccups. It comes with a tag line - 'A story you wish were true'. It's a story
that isn't afraid.
Phantom is about a vigilante operation to nip
terrorism in the bud. Only in movies, a plot like this could be possible. It
doesn't become too real to provoke its audience into thinking they need to act
on it and yet it moves you to the point where you are glad you're watching a
fictional film about someone who did. It is broken up into episodes that show
Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan) exacting justice by making them look like
accidents. The one where we see David Coleman Headley get his due is especially
riveting. The Syrian episode doesn't work and the Pakistan segment starts off
lazily and becomes boring but soon picks up to culminate into an edge of the
seat climax as Hafiz Saeed shows up.
This is Kabir Khan's second film in a span of two months. A one-two punch, if you may. It's the angry yin to the brotherly yang. Both films are fantastical in their approach as they show an alternate reality. Although here it's slightly less utopian. It is aware of political events and doesn't paint a rosy picture between the two sides. The two sides here aren't India and Pakistan as much as it is humanity and terrorism.
Kabir Khan was a product of Yash Raj Films but he refused to be a director for hire for the production house. He never made films that were easy. With Bajrangi Bhaijaan he found the sweet spot between what he wants to say and what the audience wants to hear. He returns to his politically inclined brand of filmmaking. I'm slowly becoming a fan of his films. He doesn't make easy films, which he easily can. He has stars who would line up to do anything he wants to make, yet he continues to tell stories he wants to tell within a commercial space. They may not be exquisite pieces of filmmaking but I'd rather watch this than a masala potboiler.
This is Kabir Khan's second film in a span of two months. A one-two punch, if you may. It's the angry yin to the brotherly yang. Both films are fantastical in their approach as they show an alternate reality. Although here it's slightly less utopian. It is aware of political events and doesn't paint a rosy picture between the two sides. The two sides here aren't India and Pakistan as much as it is humanity and terrorism.
Kabir Khan was a product of Yash Raj Films but he refused to be a director for hire for the production house. He never made films that were easy. With Bajrangi Bhaijaan he found the sweet spot between what he wants to say and what the audience wants to hear. He returns to his politically inclined brand of filmmaking. I'm slowly becoming a fan of his films. He doesn't make easy films, which he easily can. He has stars who would line up to do anything he wants to make, yet he continues to tell stories he wants to tell within a commercial space. They may not be exquisite pieces of filmmaking but I'd rather watch this than a masala potboiler.
All three of his films New York, Ek Tha Tiger and Phantom have one common anomaly though. It is high time everyone realises Katrina Kaif is not an actress. She looks a million bucks (of make-up) and can belong in certain films but with a film like this one, we needed someone who can match up to the content. She always looks manufactured and never like she belongs in this movie. I'm beginning to think she could be cast in a Bollywood remake of Weird Science (1985).
Saif Ali Khan, on the other hand, is in need of a box-office hit. He tried going the silly comedy way but we're glad he came back where he fits. He plays, a phantom, a ghost without any traceable history or a conceivable future. He was in the Indian army but now a mercenary with jazba for his country. His only personal mission is to regain his honour. Saif is a perfect fit for this role and doesn't disappoint.
There are two films that could be taken as a point of comparison for Phantom. Nikhil Advani's D-Day (2013) and Neeraj Pandey's Baby (2015). The former is a better film and had a personal connect with the characters. Phantom does not invest us in the personal lives of the characters. We don't feel much for either of them, they are like blank bullets. Although, Phantom scores over Baby as the climax of the film truly has you hooked. Something that escaped Baby as it imitated Ben Affleck's Argo (2012). Although it does a Jack and Rose which is slightly unimaginative but this terrific finale redeems the previous flaws. Despite not caring about the characters, I found myself moved. These characters who are driven by one thing only - patriotism. Full points to Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub who can make a mark in tiny roles.
It would be easy to call films like D-Day and Phantom 'irresponsible' or 'politically incorrect'. I see them as cathartic, not as wish fulfilment. When Quentin Tarantino took revenge on people who mistreated the Jews and the African-Americans through his fantasies, cinephiles cheered. When films like these are doing the same thing, they hypocritically become the moral police. They laud films like Zero Dark Thirty (2012) or Munich (2005) which are based on factual revenge missions. Most of them would also be fans of vigilantes like Batman. The west does it, it's patriotism and honourable, we do it and it's jingoism and irresponsible (apart from the fact that it's not even real). The ending of this film could have been insensitive and could have made revenge look like terrorism. It never stoops down to that level and doesn't show the characters being celebrated by people on both sides of the border like our very own Bhaijaan. Even if this film is wish fulfilment, the Indian public needs it. What better way than to do it through film, a medium that can evoke emotion and provoke thought.
My only problem with the film is that sometimes it's too pretty. A film like this needed more grit and taut, instead we have a porcelain actress and too many colours. The Pakistan portions especially are bathed in green. The walls, the doors, the clothes, everything is green. The music of the film could have been better, although Afghan Jalebi is moderately catchy despite lyrics that are confounding tosh.
Albeit, Phantom deserves to be seen as it appeals to the Indian heart which craves catharsis. You may or may not agree with what the film has to say and yes, it could have said it better but you will definitely have something to talk about once you exit the theater. How many films made in Bollywood do that? This film is best seen with a blindfold that it's not a true story. This doesn't mean it doesn't contain truth or that we need to be blind to it. Make some time for this film.
Side-note: This review has been published on another blog which decided to edit out the "politically incorrect" statements in this review regarding an actress and the hypocrisy of certain film-viewers.
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