CAST: Vidyut Jammwal, Rukmini Maitra, Neha Dhupia, Chandan Roy Sanya, Mantra
DIRECTOR: KANISHK VERMA
BLUF
The story is set in a hospital that is under siege and Vivaan Ahuja (Vidyut Jammwal) and his wife Anshika (Rukmini Maitra) are trapped. The action that happens in Vivaan’s attempt to rescue his wife and other hostages from a group of international terrorists comprises of the story.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Hospital hostage drama at its Hollywood best. The only difference is that this is a Bollywood production. There is a stallonish depth to Vidyut’s agility and fitness that makes him heavy lift a very predictable plot and make it his own.
Vivaan’s (an MMA coach) wife is being operated upon in a hospital, where a powerful indicted politician has been admitted because of a pacemaker malfunction. Soon it is known that the malfunction was orchestrated by people trying to help him escape. A bunch of intense international goons take over the hospital and make everyone they see including the patients as hostages so that the team of cops outside led by Inspector Jayati Bhargava (Neha Dhupia) may not catch them.
Obviously, our fav MMA coach is there to rescue his wife and the rest of the hostages and that is how the rest of the story flows.
IN THE KNOW
The best part about Sanak is that it focuses on the story very well without getting waylaid into subplots or other characters. This linear storytelling works very well for the movie. Even when the story, written by Ashish P. Verma is predictable, the tight storytelling keeps the audience engaged.
Saurabh Bhalerao and Suyash Kelkar’s background score is impressive. The songs are quite passable.
Jammwal excels in all his scenes and the stunts are pheno.
Andy Long Nguyen, the action director who is also a trained martial arts fighter makes the sequences world-class. Like any good Hollywood movie. And that is the USP of Sanak.
Wish Mantra had a longer role though.
Streams on @hulu in the US./ DisneyHotstar elsewhere
WHAT WE LOVED
Vidyut is gold.
Action sequences are top-notch
WHAT WE MISSED
No imagination in the script
