Sanjay Gupta could easily be crowned the founder of action thriller films in Bollywood. As a director his filmography includes Kaante, Musafir and Zinda. Alternatively Gupta has produced Dus Kahaniyan and Shootout at Lokhandwala – a few of his better offerings. More recently he has a new addition to his production list, Sanjay Gupta has teamed up with Suparn Verma for Acid Factory. Filled with some hot, and some not, actors, the film promises to be one helluva kick-butt ride. Stunts galore, the glamour quotient intact and a unique storyline, Verma and the rest of the cast have all jointly proclaimed that the film is a slick action film packed which equipped with drama, stunts, a factory and boys who are waiting to fight it out. Read on to see if Sanjay Gupta adds a hit to his hat or if Acid Factory is a project he wishes he wasn’t a part of.
A bunch of people, played by Fardeen Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Danny Denzongpa,and Diya Mirza all awake in a abandoned factory. They don’t recollect knowing one another or understand why any of them are even in the factory; the cause: a case of group amnesia. They find a few dead bodies and finally realize that they have been exposed to a gas leak which has resulted in the memory loss of the crew. But then, of course, kahani mein twist! The group then realize three of them have been kidnapped by another three – who are the kidnappers and who are the kidnappee’s becomes a cat and mouse chase for the memory-stricken victims.
For the most part, Acid Factory works. Suparn Verma does superbly as a storyteller in a film that does fall flat in the second half. The beauty of Acid Factory lies in its first half of the film when the characters are introduced and the stories behind their lives. Suparn explains and depicts the confusion between the characters superbly. This is exactly what forms the backbone of the film along with the innovative and well-executed stunts that have been captured fantastically by Verma. There is a keen similarity between the styles of Suparn and Sanjay Gupta; the slick look, the sharp editing and the somewhat unique story. However, Suparn shines and has clearly improved immensely after his previous debacle better known as Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena. The storyline, the execution and even the style has gone from dud to stud. As a director, Verma does complete justice.
Even though there are a number of characters, each one shines in Acid Factory and are incredibly believable. In fact, there are certain character that shine more than others including Fardeen Khan who has not only improved as an actor but whose styling in the film is ultra suave. The rest of the cast do well and individually provide entertainment. Dia Mirza, who happens to be the only gal amidst the boys, does apt but her character is not given enough scope or reason for her to be upset.
Acid Factory is an entertaining ride which works and then doesn’t work dually. As an entertaining thriller, it works initially and then fails to keep up to the momentum that it initially creates for itself. However, if you’re looking for reasons to watch the film, catch it for the slick style and action stunts that the cast couldn’t stop gushing about.
