Filmi Review

Ad Film maker Kunal Shivdasani chose to make his directorial debut in a genre that is presently less seen in the Bollywood movies with senseless comedy flicks taking over the stage. Hijack, an action thriller directed by Kunal stars Shiney Ahuja, Esha Deol and Kaveri Jha in the lead. So does this fully fledged action film succeed in appealing to the masses?

Before we go any further, here's the story in brief:
Hijack is an action thriller that revolves around Vikram Madan (Shiney Ahuja), a ground maintenance officer at the Chandigarh airport. His social life is limited to one friend, Rajeev, who is the Security Chief of the same airport. As luck would have it, the flight in which Vikram's daughter was traveling to Amritsar from Delhi, is hijacked in demand of the release of Maqsood (KK Raina) a terrorists.

Vikram sneaks into the aircraft with the help of the airhostess, Saira (Esha Deol), to save his daughter Priya and others. He starts plotting and killing the terrorists one by one and in this attempt innocent passengers too become victims of the gunshots by ruthless terrorists in the process. How Vikram and Saira manage to save the plane and the passengers forms the story.

Kunal Shivdasani has the talent and the skill but needs to be a little coherent in his subjective decisions. Although the choice of genre is rare for a debutant director, the flaw in the writing lets him down. One man cracks the entire hijack plan and the hijackers remain unaware of their men missing, is something very unlikely and hard to accept. But to keep the verity (fact or reality) essence of the movie alive, the movie from time to time shows the hero's efficient and planned approach to the entire situation. Also just another potboiler kind of ending kills the fervor.

Superficially, Kunal succeeds as a story teller with an equal mix of reality and fancifulness. The first half of the movie is slightly slow paced and meanders unnecessarily around the plot with scenes and songs that are not required. But the pace quickens in the second half suiting the air of the genre. Music by Justin-Uday is average and a romantic song in an action thriller seems completely out of proportion. But the background score is topnotch. Allan Amin's stunts are first class.

Shiney Ahuja fits into the skin of the character easily and put across a wonderful performance. He is the soul of the movie and manages to carry the movie. But his look is inconsistent and completely messed up throughout the movie.

Esha Deol's role is restricted and doesn't require any acting talent. Supporting actors are good in their respective roles.

Overall, Hijack has a slow take off but a swift landing. It takes you on a decent ride and even manages to entertain in parts. The movie definitely is not up to international standards but good enough to appeal to the Indian audience.