Zanjeer
Zanjeer is a 2013 Indian action film directed by Apoorva Lakhia, shot
simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. The film marks the Bollywood debut of
Tollywood actor Ram Charan in the lead role along with Priyanka Chopra.
Initial release: May 2013
Director: Apoorva Lakhia
Producer: Amit Mehra
Production company: Reliance Entertainment
Music composed by: Anand Raj Anand, Devi Sri Prasad
The film received mixed, but mostly negative reviews from the critics.
Taran Adarsh rated 3/5 telling "The new Zanjeer borrows from the
original, but it is more of an updated avatar of that film. On the whole,
Zanjeer is a triumph for Ram Charan, who gets abundant opportunity to exhibit
his talent and scores exceedingly well. However, the film comes across as a
regular masala fare that caters to the single screen spectator mainly and also
for enthusiasts of typical Bollywood entertainers. As for the comparisons with
the original Zanjeer, I suggest try not to get there!
Meena Iyer of The Times Of India rates 3/5 telling "Yet, this film
should be judged as a stand-alone offering because attempts to compare the two
versions will find the current one falling short, especially in the dialogue
and music departments...Ram Charan, as the brooding policeman, excels in
action. His dark eyes with long lashes adeptly convey anger. Sanjay Dutt is
competent and lovable.
It's affiliation newspaper, Mumbai Mirror gave a 1.5 star rating and the
reviewer Karan Anshuman said "If Salim-Javed do watch this film, one
wouldn't be surprised if they decided to give the money and 'core story' credit
back and disassociate themselves from this embarrassment of a "remake
Subhash K. Jha of NDTV gave the film 4/5 stars, praising Ram Charan's acting
as a young and angry cop and the adrenalin-packed action sequences in the film.
Anupama Chopra termed the movie 'a ramshackle remake' and wrote, "This
remake is wrong on so many levels that I don’t know where to begin. This isn’t
a film. It’s sacrilege.
Mayank Shekhar of thew14.com gave a thumbs down saying "Zanjeer
established Bachchan as the proverbial “angry young man”: studiedly silent,
subtly suave. The fellow before us is a one-man army, only a bazooka is
missing...Nobody cares. Salim-Javed, the actual screenwriters, might. They had
appropriately asked for a compensation of Rs 6 crore for murdering their script.
Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave a zero rating and said "Zanjeer is an
unforgivably bad remake." He criticized both the lead actors' portrayals,
"I didn't think it was possible to bring smugness into a giggle, but
Chopra -- made of plastic, so fantastic -- looks to be giggling at the fact
that she can giggle....This new boy has zero screen presence, possibly worsened
by the Hindi dubbing, and taking on one of Bachchan’s Vijays is particularly
suicidal.
Zee News called it 'a chain weak in all it's links' and stated that Lakhia
failed pretty badly to step into Prakash Mehra’s shoes.
Shubra Gupta of The Indian Express said "It's neither faithful remake
nor campy, knowing tribute. It's just a poor copy".
Rajeev Masand of IBN-live gave 0/5 saying "Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag, which
I consider the worst Hindi movie ever made, now has company in the annals of
film history...the new 'Zanjeer' isn't just a bad film, it's a shameless
exercise in laziness.
Nowrunning.com's Mansha Rastogi gave 1.5/5 and said that "The new-age
Zanjeer doesn't hold half as much promise as the cult classic did and literally
falls flat on it's face
Ankit Ojha of Planet Bollywood was highly critical of the film, giving it 1
star (out of 10), stating that the film, "... [successfully] insult[s] the
memory of a classic that reinvented the failing image of an actor who went on
to become the superstar he is known by today.
Neha Gupta of Bollywood3 rates Zanjeer 3/5 calling it a decent revenge drama
and also lauded Ram Charan for his impressive Bollywood debut. She also added
that Zanjeer can be watched for its contemporary set up and stylish action.
Aditya Grover of YouthTimes gave the film 2/5 stars saying "Zanjeer is
a haphazard assortment of events and dialogues from the original, making very
little sense. As a standalone film, it is a stylish actioner with content of a
C-Grader. Avoidable!
Deepa Gehlot slammed the movie in her review for Sakal Times and said
"If Lakhia had respectfully copied Mehra’s film as it was, frame to frame,
it probably would have been preferable to this; even then, a stone-faced hero
(Ram Charan) with a puff in his hairdo is nobody’s idea of a man tortured by
nightmares of his parents’ killing, and Priyanka Chopra as the giggly Gujarati
NRI is unmitigated disaster.
