Kathmandu:

The Killer (Thriller)

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Irfaan Khan, and Nisha Kothari

Direction: Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderawala

Showing at Kumari

Following the strictly bush-league barrage, Bhatt sets for yet another of his seminal cinema. But unlike most of his efforts that won the maverick filmmaker raves, there would only be ridiculous rumblings for his bunkum booger as he tries hard to kick us with a clown in the garb of a killer. He sure thrived as he dished out gibberish paps inspired from potboilers, and he indeed demonstrated his natural flourish so far, but The Killer boomerangs in the basics. No complaint for the digression, but it simply fails to elevate to the level of anything that would thrill, terrify or even simply amuse.

Right from the start you’re gripped into something of a conundrum. And you try hard to keep your heart in the right place and to grasp what unravels on the screen, while the Killer never appears from his lair. You wait for the bloody and the macabre to begin, but the cabbie Nikhil (Emraan Hashmi) draws us into his own grandiose plans to settle down with the woman of his dreams Rhea (Nisha Kothari). Minutes after you sit through the flick, the peril of the Killer simply peters out and the killer ostensibly pretends to be more interested in wisecracks than his hit-man mission. The mood pretentiously remains ebullient, while the Smart Alec Killer Vikram (Irfaan Khan) schemes with the cabbie Nikkhil in his nefarious mission to finish off his targets. Probably, the plot would have been executed deftly in the hands of an able director and more talented cast ensemble, but the run of the mill screenplay renders it all the more dreary.

The mood perks up a bit when Nikkhil lands up at the real Don’s mansion and we expect the great don to do something about the nothing-happening script. However, what we get is a lengthy litany of Don’s complaints that doesn’t even spark the charisma of one of his cronies. Doomed as it is for it’s miscasting of duds and wannabe dudes, the screenplay takes serious toll on the damned venture. Even for those, who’ve been witness to the bootilicious Nisha Kothari’s histrionics in James, don’t expect more than a raunchy dance sequence, the only treat throughout the movie — if at all.

Watch it only if you are desperate!