Ek Khiladi

Do efficient story writers make efficient story tellers? Not always!

Thanks to the hype surrounding the film as also the fact that the real-life father and son duo of Feroz Khan and Fardeen Khan have been teamed yet again, expectations from EK KHILADI EK HASEENA run sky-high. But never judge a book by its cover... and a film by its promos. For, looks can be quite deceptive!

Inspired by two Hollywood films, CONFIDENCE [2003; Edward J. Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman] and HOUSE OF GAMES [1987; Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna], the problem with EK KHILADI EK HASEENA clearly lies in the fact that the concept is too western for Indian audiences. For an average Indian moviegoer, who has fixed ideas when it comes to big-screen entertainment, EK KHILADI EK HASEENA has the soul of an English film in the body of a Hindi flick.

No doubt, EK KHILADI EK HASEENA charters a new path where every character is out to con the other, but the film lacks the grip to keep you on the razor's edge. And, most importantly, the impact a thriller ought to make is clearly missing at the end of the day.

Yet, there's no denying that writer Suparn Verma's directorial debut is, technically speaking, a notch above the ordinary. Verma gives the film an upmarket look, but he ought to know by now that it's the content that does the talking, not the visual appeal!

Arjun [Fardeen Khan] and his buddy Rohit [Rohit Roy] want to attain riches by taking an easy route: Con jobs. But their latest stunt changes their lives forever. They con the accountant of an underworld don, Sikander [Gulshan Grover], of Rs. 75,000. Later, Rohit is murdered, while Arjun escapes to another city.

Sikander traces Arjun and warns him to shell out Rs. 4 lacs now [the capital amount of Rs. 75,000, plus the interest], or else face his wrath. Sikander's henchman Kaif [Kay Kay] is instructed to follow Arjun like a shadow.

While Arjun decides to continue with his act of conning people to raise the amount, a psychiatrist, Natasha [Koena Mitra], enters his life. She is fascinated by Arjun's con games and decides to be a part of the group [Fardeen, Kay Kay, Mukul Dev, Amin Hajee]. While carrying out one such act, she accidentally shoots a cop [Murli Sharma], who dies on the spot.

Later, Natasha discovers that the group had