The After Hours review: Agent Vinod

Film: Agent Vinod
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Ravi Kissen, Ram Kapoor, Adil Hussain
Rating: 3
 
The film unfolds like a checklist that by now almost feels mandatory for any spy flick in the genre. So there are RAW agents, ISI spies, Russian arms dealers, Afghani terrorists, Arabic millionaire, African warlords, the touch of Moroccan exotica, car chases, cross-continent money laundering, high-octane action, the chicks and the bikes, the threat of nuclear disaster, bombs and secret codes, plots and sub-plots, power nexus between the top brass, and of course the suave spy with his gorgeous leading lady, both of who manage to look good right through their escapades across countries. If there’s anything missing here, then it’s the gadgets that Bond and those of his ilk never have a shortage of. Our desi Bond, however, has to make do with guns alone, not that it dims the action though.

Sure enough, the film starts on a high note in Afghanistan with Agent Vinod (Saif) getting into a fast-paced action mode from the word go (and a superb background score that sets the tempo). But then on, the film gets as wobbly as the cobbled streets of Morocco where the action then shifts. The mission not-so-impossible here is to get hold of a nuclear bomb. Along this chase of baddies, Vinod meets Dr Ruby aka Iram (Kareena), an ISI agent, who supposedly should’ve been hard to figure whether she’s on the good side or bad. But then our hero solves that puzzle instantly, ‘Tumhari aankhein maar sakti hain, par tum nahin. You don’t have the eyes of a killer’. Yes, good girls don’t kill, she reiterates a few minutes later, when asked to kill someone as proof of faith.

Saif is in his best form, looking suave and convincing as a desi spy. There are moments when the raw appeal seems to be compromised on for maintaining the hot quotient, but Saif's effortless cool manages to keep your mind off them. Kareena, however, though looking gorgeous, suffers in the skin of an unconvincing character, who shuttles between being an ISI agent and a vulnerable damsel in distress. The rest of the star cast is impressive including Ram Kapoor in his Russian avatar and Adil Hussain as the no-nonsense Colonel.

The high production quality and slick treatment is undoubtedly almost at par with international standards beating some of the most stylised action flicks back home. Never mind that the train sequence and the opening jail sequence are reminiscent of spy thrillers you’ve seen before, the bhel-puri here is as desi as the dish itself. The shoot-out sequence with a romantic track in the background was interestingly done, but the others follow the Bollywood grind.

On the downside, what doesn’t work is the weak plot and it is that weak chink in the armour that fails to hold all the strong elements together that could make it a riveting watch. The script should’ve been crispier, to do justice to it’s ambitious, high production value. With predictable twists and forced uncomplicated sub-plots and not so required elements and characters, you know it’s time to send logic out early on and you see yourself lose interest at some points. The stereotypical characters fail to make it interesting too.

The film shines in some parts and shows sparks of potential of being the desi answer to the Bournes and the Bonds, but without the backing of a strong plot, it falls short this time. Overall, a one-time watch for sure.