Debutant directors are the flavour of the season, and Hijack follows the same trend. Though it boasts of an interesting theme, something must be said about the lack of publicity. But let’s get to the bottom line and assess whether this film possesses that ultimate ingredient; entertainment! So does Hijack entertain or is it the same old terrorism stuff in a new film?
Vikram (Shiney Ahuja) works in the Chandigarh Airport where he is a maintenance officer. His daughter, Priya is going to board a flight in the airport to Delhi. But unfortunately that flight is hijacked by a bunch of terrorists who are out to save Maqsood (KK Raina), a big-shot gangster arrested by the Indian police. As the flight lands for re-fuelling, the terrorists threaten to kill the hostages on the plane if Maqsood isn’t released.
But wait, there’s another twist! A desperate Vikram ventures on to the plane with the help of air hostess Saira (Esha Deol). Inside, he begins to plot to kill the terrorists and go to any measure to save his daughter, being the doting father that he is.
Doesn’t it sound like we’ve heard this story before? I mean, in a nutshell, it’s really boring. But there are some well-executed sequences and credible ideas. But why can’t filmmakers stop directing stories that have been done before and instead do something completely original? Sigh, I think I ask myself this almost every time I watch a Hindi movie. It’s understandable that with his debut film Kunal Shivdasani would make a few mistakes, especially with an average cast, plot and seemingly zero interest from the producers. But this one was a complete no-show!
There are still glimpses of talent in Shivdasani’s direction though. Perhaps he just made the wrong moves with his first film. Hopefully he will follow the path of filmmakers like Rakeysh Mehra and Imtiaz Ali who made mediocre debut films but eventually made it big.
I’m not sure I even want to talk about the performances! What’s up with Shiney Ahuja and his single expression? The problem is, nothing. At all. He is wooden throughout with zero facial expression. I don’t care to elaborate, his dialogue delivery pretty much says it all.
Esha Deol as the air hostess is decent but she has zero screen presence. Also, she wears a single tense expression throughout the film. But unfortunately at the end of the day a director is also responsible for his or her actor’s performances. Even though he showed some promise, he really needs to work on extracting good performances from his cast.
The cinematography and art direction have almost zero scope in this film. It’s mostly a collection of shooting, scheming or screaming. The music lacks tone completely and songs are completely against the flow of the film. The background score is one bright spot, though.
In its entirety, Hijack is a fair attempt but a mass failure. For improvement, it would need to be re-shot completely with better actors, and most importantly, a better script. Bollywood needs to stop trying to ape Hollywood flicks and continue creating for the Indian audience. There is no passion in this film, and it turns out to be a completely boring film that will neither fit in with the masses or the classes.
