Movie Review: TEZZ by FENIL SETA

The slick action genre is the one where the best of filmmakers have faltered badly! For every successful action thriller like Race, there was a Players, Cash, Blue and now one more film can be added to the list – Tezz! The film rests on an engaging plotline and director Priyadarshan too shines in several scenes. But the minuses sadly outweigh the plusses! The film seems to be a direct lift from a Japanese film and moreover, songs are unnecessarily placed and act as major roadblocks, especially Laila! A golden chance lost!

The story of the movie: Aakash Rana (Ajay Devgn) plants a ‘Speed’-type bomb on the London-Glasgow train, i.e. if the train looses speed below 60 mph, the bomb will explode. Helping Aakash in his endeavor are Adil (Zayed Khan) and Megha (Sameera Reddy). As the news of the bomb spreads panic everywhere, retired cop Arjun Khanna (Anil Kapoor) is called back and told to find the killer and rescue the passengers. Meanwhile, Chief Railway Controller Sanjay Raina (Boman Irani) tries his best to negotiate with Arjun and clear the lines so that the train can move ahead without interruption. The questions that arise are – who is Aakash? Why is he playing with the lives of hundreds of innocent people? What triggered him, Adil and Megha to get into something like this? To find out, watch Tezz!

Tezz is just 120 minutes long and keeps you engaged for most part of the film. But sadly, one doesn’t empathize with Ajay and his team even for a moment. This is because their back story and the entire illegal immigration episode were not well written and executed. Secondly, songs start off suddenly and hence frustrate the viewers! The placement of Laila in the movie was the worst ever and no wonder it created a tiff within the Tezz team! Also, the other songs seemed unnecessary and in an action film like Tezz, songs should be done away with. Even Players suffered from the same problem. Tezz was criticized since everyone in London was shown speaking in Hindi. This is baseless because the characters actually speak in English and their voices were later dubbed in Hindi. But again, the dubbing seemed farce as half of the dialogues of certain extras were in original English and suddenly it gets switched to Hindi! So you get to hear the extras speaking two consecutive sentences in not only two different languages but in two different voices! Bewildering! And lastly, Tezz seems as a rip-off of the popular Japanese film The Bullet Train (which inspired Speed). It’s not sure but the makers haven’t obtained the rights of this Japanese film before making Tezz. And that makes Tezz an unofficial remake or copy of The Bullet Train. Sad!

However, the film has several plusses that make Tezz watchable. Boman Irani’s character in the film was too good and the manner in which he took charge and kept the situation in control was worth applauding. The Indian authorities should watch Tezz just to understand the level of preparedness they should possess in emergency situations! Besides, the action is top-notch! Sameera Reddy’s chase sequence takes the movie to an all-time high! Even the parkour scenes of Zayed were an interesting watch and so was the final confrontation in the climax. But action can’t be the soul of the film, unfortunately!

Anil Kapoor looks suave and performs with élan. He doesn’t look his age and even does certain difficult action scenes with ease. Ajay Devgn too shines in few scenes but otherwise he was okay. His character wasn’t well written anyways. Boman Irani was as usual just terrific! In fact, the only character you empathize with is his and he ensures that his performance stands out! Great work! Zayed Khan too does a fine job but it’s sad to see him doing inconsequential films like Tezz, Blue, Speed, Yuvvraaj etc. Even his first production Love Breakups Zindagi didn’t succeed much. Sad! Sameera Reddy does fine in the supporting role. Kangna Ranaut (Nikita) is hardly there but makes her presence felt in the pre-climax. Another actress who’s wasting her talent with films like Game, Rascals and now Tezz! Hope she has a meaty role in Shootout At Wadala! Mohanlal (Shivan) was alright in the cameo while Avika Gor (Boman’s daughter) does well. Neeraj Vohra was forgettable. The actors who play Boman’s wife, Boman’s assistant and the bomb supplier do a fine job.

Sajid-Wajid’s music was mediocre with only Laila that was a good number which was badly incorporated in the film! Tirru S’ cinematography is flawless and exciting. Sandeep Chowta’s background score however makes an impact. Same can be said for Gareth Milne and Peter Pedero’s action. Aditya Dhar’s dialogues were sharp at places. Robin Bhatt’s screenplay could have been better. Lastly, Priyadarshan succeeds in keeping the viewers engrossed but he should have ensured that the goings-on were more believable. If the back story of the character was strong enough, film would have made an impact and the audiences would have hooted and supported Ajay even if he was on the wrong side of the law. Sadly, nothing of that sort happens. Even the Ajay-Kangna reunion didn’t seem convincing. Also, what stopped Kangna from going to India to be with Ajay?! I respect Priyadarshan a lot for dabbling in various genres in various languages. Hope he learns his lesson from Tezz and comes with a far better slick action film, if he ever attempts one in future!

Some good scenes in the film:
1. Sanjay learns about the bomb
2. Sanjay-Arjun’s confronations
3. Megha chased by the cops
4. Adil chased by the cops
5. Aakash-Arjun’s underground fight
6. The scene at the station
7. The final fight

On the whole, Tezz is an average one-time watch that falters because of the unconvincing happenings in the film. Songs act as a major roadblock, especially Laila! But the film boasts of nice performances and splendid action. Made on a huge budget, Tezz has been shunned by viewers and is on its way for a loss. This and the debacle of another bigshot action film, Players, should act as a wake-up call for our filmmakers so that they understand what exactly is it that viewers demand from a film of this genre!

My rating-** ½ out of 5!

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