It’s about time Bollywood filmmakers rid themselves of their old and archaic mindset where even a suspense thriller needs to be crammed with the usual romantic mush and sedating song and dance. It takes a daring filmmaker to tread a different path; alas, director Deepak Tijori doesn’t show that dare.
So while his latest film Fox kicks off nicely, it soon trots into a different territory and a viewer is made to endure a ho-hum love story punctuated with the usual naach gaana. The interval point does break the unending seizure of yawns with a promise of an edge-of-the-seat courtroom drama and the nail-biting unraveling of the mystery in the second half. But with what grace the director puts his own foot in mouth, unable to hold the plot’s momentum after building it and squandering it away in a series of bizarre twists and revelations.
To put it in a nutshell, this ‘Fox’ ain’t clever.
Arjun Rampal plays a clever and cunning criminal lawyer with an impeccable reputation of having won every case and saving the worst of scoundrels from the gallows. An incident makes him feel guilty for his actions. He retires to the scenic Goa where he manages to get his hands on a manuscript written by an old man who dies before getting it published. Well, Arjun, the fox that he is, gets it published under his own name and becomes an overnight bestselling author.
But then chickens come home to roost when Arjun is arrested because every murder mentioned in the book actually relates to real crimes. Seen as the mastermind of these murders, Arjun is locked behind bars by the empathetic cop (Sunny Deol). Now, the onus is on Arjun to prove his innocence. With only two people - his girlfriend (Sagarika Ghatge) and the cop willing to trust him - will Arjun outfox the hidden enemy?
‘Fox’ does pack in a few interesting sequences. How Arjun sets about unraveling the mystery gets you glued to the screen. But what unravels makes your jaw drop with disappointment. The writer-director fails to give a credible motive to the villain, making the whole suspense and drama look like a ludicrous farce.
Arjun Rampal is no more the wooden actor of yore. He manages his part well. Surprisingly, Sunny Deol remains restrained throughout the movie, except a scene or two. Sagarika Ghatge is convincing and Udita Goswami goes missing for a substantial chunk of the film. Perhaps gone for acting classes.
Movie Review : This Fox ain’t clever (4/10) It’s about time Bollywood filmmakers rid themselves of their old and archaic mindset where even a suspense thriller needs to be ...
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