Milan Luthria is a stylish film-maker who must have been fed on the crazy films of the 70s and 80s when film scripts were revolving around only three or four things - hero, heroine, villain and the xtra factor - which is either an item girl, the sadist rapist, or the occasional vamp. He has been lucky so far with stars who love a throwback to that era - the era where villainy was glorified, heroism was hedonistic and heroinism was objectified beyond today's off-limits of feminism. Milan revels in creating motifs that Bollywood has painfully outgrown in the last two decades after the last Superstar moved on to better scripts - chain-smoking heroes in James Bond suits, uber-rich metrosexual villains masquerading as well-oiled and swashbuckling heroes, heroines with heavy bosoms and heavy-metal costumes and heavier makeups. "OUTMD" is every foot carrying the signature style of Milan Luthria but this time despite the props and a fresh-looking starcast that combines youth and experience, the film fails to deliver fully. It starts off with the usual promise of Milan - the swagger, oomph and spice that almost pulls off till the first half but later peters out, infact meanders pointlessly in the second half ending with a sick feeling in the end.
Story is loosely resembling the plot of "Muqaddar Ka Sikander". Shoab (Akshay Kumar) is a Don who commands Mumbai (first rushes mirror the personality of Dawood Ibrahim). He employs Aslam (Imran Khan) and Salim in teens and helps them grow under his shadow. Enter Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha) who is friendly with both Shoab and Aslam who think they are in love with the girl without realising that it is the same "x" until the last reel. Meanwhile, Mahesh Manjrekar is the villain who is out to finish Shoab (Akshay). Shoab plots to eliminate Mahesh by setting up a drama where Aslam has to be the lover of Jasmine and her guardian angel. In truth, Shoab has unfolded a sequence that makes a fiction truth. In the drama that unfolds, Shoab finds out the real truth, trains his guns on the real culprit Aslam but instead gets killed by the Mumbai police in the climactic chase.
What makes the film tick in the first half is the stamina of dialogue writer and lyricist Rajat Aroraa which makes Milan Luthria films a resounding watch. Akshay and Imran keep getting their amazing one-liners which are each worth a million bucks. A dialogue on love: "Aajkal Pyaar Naukrani ki taraf hoti hai...Aati, Bell Bajati, Apna Kaam Karti aur phir chup chaap chale jaati." There's one on mosquitos: "Macchar jis aadmi ka khoon peeta hai usike haath maara jati." One on men and women. "Ladki jab roti hai kaaran kahi hai par ladka jab rota hai, uska kaaran sirf ladki hi hai." One on the common man: "Aam Aadmi Aam ki taraf hai. Koyi Aam ki juice choosleta hai, to koyi use kaat leta hai ya phir koyi use poora khaa leta hai." One more on Love: "Pyaar googly jaisi hai - mile tho badam nahin tho moonphali." One last on Mumbai: " Mumbai sirf do cheeso se chalta hai - luck aur local - ek gayi tho doosra aayi." One-liners like this sizzle almost every four minutes in the 160-odd minute long film. Probably, a few less than what you heard in "The Dirty Picture" but make it count for the entertainment quotient with adult appeal. Normally, Milan's idiom for film-making is the original flavor of entertainment that films like those made by Manmohan Shetty, Prakash Mehra and Ramesh Sippy used to stand for. (No wonder I noticed the head of distribution is Ramesh Sippy). Akshay Kumar as the swashbuckling Don looks fabulous in the film with neat performances by both Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi has looked better in other movies than this one, either she hasn't stopped putting on weight or she needs a new makeup-man.
Music by Pritham is a highlight - both the BGM which reminds of the flamboyance of yesteryears and the songs splendidly picturised. Milan Luthria has hit jackpots with a hundred-crore film with "The Dirty Picture" but in this film, he has taken a flimsy story with a cliched ending and failed to fire up the last-mile hurrahs that makes a stylish film. He has failed in characterisation - all three leading stars' portrayal leaves something incomplete in the end; Sonakshi is friendly to both but warms up to Aslam almost in an instant, Imran is faithful to his master but turns his back in the last, Akshay is consistent throughout as a mercenary who eliminates competition but fails to relent when his sounding board Sonali Bendre convinces him to let go of Sonakshi. On the whole, despite flashes of brilliance, class and entertainment appeal, the film doesn't sustain the interest for long after the interval. You could walk out at interval because that had the best lines, best songs and the best entertainment. Milan will have to think hard how long he will cast the spell of nostalgia to breath fire into frames that still hold enormous talent and promise as a film-maker. He continues to get the patronage of Balaji Films but is he barking up the wrong tree or can he commission stories that are current? His making lacks improvisation and variety in screenplay, pace and melodrama. 2.5/5 for a film that fails to engage till the last.
