Hijack

Directed: Kunal Shivdasani
Producer: Dinesh Vijan,kunal sivdasani
Starring: Shiney Ahuja, K K Raina, Mona Ambegaonkar, Kaveri Jha, Esha Deol
Cinematography: Jehangir Chowdhury

Bollywood doesn't tire of repeating the same subject in movies. There seems to be a terror-centric movies spree. But, everything belonging to art, culture and more importantly, literature, reflects the then prevailing situation in society.

The world is currently faced with the demon of terrorism, and India is affected the most by this evil. That's why directors find it an attractive subject for their movies. In fact, every movie at present has a kind of terrorism in it. Debutant directors lap up with this theme, but in a very different and better way.

Kunal Shivdasani of 'Hijack' falls in the same category. Though this theme isn't just new as this has been the subject in Kuku Kohli's 'Yeh Dil Aashiqana' and Rohit Shetty's 'Zameen', but 'Hijack' appears to be more real.

The movie speaks of terrorism but in another context; of a father crossing any limit to save his child from the clutches of terrorists. A father turns emotional when the matter pertains to his loving child. This is not the case of a state fighting terrorism, and taking the stringiest measures to contain it. Yes, 'Hijack' falls in the category of terrorism prevailing in the sky.

This is more on the lines of Hollywood movies, though. The riveting thriller centers around two important characters played by Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol. Shiney Ahuja aka Vikram is a ground maintenance officer at Chandigarh Airport.

He has a friend in Rajeev, who is the Security Chief of the same airport. Incidentally, Vikram's daughter travels from Delhi to Amritsar, and her plane is hijacked by a group of five terrorists. They seek the release of Maqsood played by K K Raina, who had been captured by the police in India.

The plane had to land at Chandigarh Airport for refueling. The terrorists seek the release of Maqsood, else threaten to kill the hostages. Vikram enters into the aircraft with the help of the airhostess named Saira played by Esha Deol. He kills the terrorists one by one.

In the meanwhile some innocent passengers fall victims to the gunshots of ruthless terrorists in the process! We have witnessed a story like this in India, so it is real though the director has added some fiction to it as in any movie.

Since Kunal has also edited the movie so there is lack of tight editing of juniors' roles. Music-wise, it is just okay . Justin-Uday has failed in bringing out more than one song. However, the background score leaves a good impact.

Cinematography by Jehangir Chowdhary's is excellent. Stunts by Allan Amin's are brilliant, too. Mushtaq Kak, a terrorist, plays his role very well. Kaveri Jha is photogenic, but nothing more. Satyajeet and Mona Ambegaonkar have fared well.

We wish Kunal had cast senior actors to match his good plot so it could become a real competitor to this Friday's another movie 'A Wednesday'. The latter has excelled the Kunal's 'Hijack' only because of the two very strong actors like Nasseruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in that .

Another weak point of 'Hijack' is that its two lead characters haven't been on good terms for quite some time and therefore didn't cooperate in its promotion.

You may recall that Esha was the second choice after Sushmita Sen declined the offer due to her dates' problem. Even Esha accepted the movie when she was told that she would play many stunt scenes in this movie.

The movie wasn't granted permission to shoot it at the Chandigarh airport because of security reasons. The director thereafter arranged a special set for shooting it in the city. Even in the wake of all these deficiencies, the movie has been completed within 55 days.

To sum up we can say that this Friday has brought good movies for the audiences and 'Hijack' being an engrossing one stands second to 'A Wednesday'. The third movie release is Sangeet Sivan's 'Tahaann'.