Although showcasing slick action, the premise of John-Abraham-starrer Attack seems more exciting on paper than its execution

Nonika Singh

“Lagta hai aap Hollywood filmein bahut dekhte hain…” Can we say the same about the makers? Well, yes and no. For Attack, on the lines of RoboCop, Universal Soldier and a few other films that have dealt with robotic science may seem inspired. But as it turns out, it is as Indianised as it can be. And we say that both by way of a compliment and censure.

Attack

Cast: Jacqueline Fernandez, Rakul Preet Singh, John Abraham, Prakash Raj, Ratna Pathak Shah and Elham Ehsas

Director: Lakshya Raj Anand

Rating: ***

The film opens to some superlative action as Army officer Arjun Shergill (John Abraham) and his team conduct a covert operation to extract a terror mastermind on foreign soil. Mission successful, soon we are on the romantic highway. Post a song and some lovey-dovey moments (Jacqueline Fernandez as Ayesha provides the romantic interest), the narrative moves towards its core subjectndash; artificial intelligence.

Now certainly this is a novel concept, at least as far as Indian films go. But the treatment seems more exciting on paper than its execution. Arjun turns into a super/cyber soldier, thanks to an experiment conducted by Dr Sabah Qureshi (Rakul Preet Singh). With a computer chip inside his body, presto, now he has access to a personal assistant, a la Siri and Alexa we are told.

Only this particular assistant not only makes light-hearted small talk, but also makes him privy to every bit of information under the sun. In a flash, surface the blueprints of Parliament, which by the way is under attack. From who else but terrorists from the neighbouring country, one of whom, Hamid Gul, Arjun had left unscathed in the opening operation. He is the new mastermind.

But despite packing in more than one terror attack, the film does not mouth unwanted platitudes. Nor does it indulge in overt patriotism of the jingoism variant. Where it goes overboard is in the action department. Any wonder, despite a novel base the film ends up as yet another actioner where you guessed it—John is one-man-Army who flexes his muscles more than his intelligence— ahem artificial intelligence! Action, however, is slick and John makes mincemeat of his enemies.

Rajit Kapur seems to have become a pro at playing a politician. As the new incumbent to the position of prime minister, since the real one has been taken hostage, he is on point. Even in a brief part he allows us a peep into the political class, which is ready to tweet credit where none is due. Prakash Raj, as security advisor V K Subramaniam, appears resolute as the part demands. Rakul Preet Singh, the brain behind the AI programme, impresses. Elham Ehsas’ Hamid Gul gets his diction and menace right.

As for the film, with a run time of two hours, crisply edited by Aarif Sheikh, Attack is not an assault on senses, but works more in the action department. Coming from a young director, Lakshya Raj Anand we expected a more intelligent fare, more attuned to the world of AI. But a start has been made and directors as well as writers do decode some bits of this hi-tech domain. Perhaps, we can expect better in the second outing, which the title (Attack Part One) promises.