Hats off to Akshay Kumar and Vipul Shah to have the guts to take on a successful franchise head-on.To be honest, Action Replayy is a better film than Golmaal 3 as it is much more grounded and has superb performances by everybody in the cast.
Ironically, in spite of India having a tradition of telling fantasy stories; not very many Indian film-makers can claim that they can make a fantasy adventure. Vipul Shah, naturally then, chose a tough path; but his conviction, it seems has paid off.
Action Replayy is cast in the form of a light-hearted rom-com and is about a son's quest to save his parents married life.
How?
By traveling back into time.
The film opens with Tanya (Sudeepa Singh) proposing to Bunty (Aditya Roy Kapur). Bunty doesn't want to commit, as he has seen his parents quarreling like sworn enemies.
The audiences, are thus introduced to Bunty's parents; Kishen (Akshay Kumar) and Mala (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). Their acrimonious marriage has sworn Bunty off marriage. Tanya takes Bunty to meet her grandfather, Professor Anthony Gonsalves
(Randhir Kapoor).
Here, Bunty is introduced to his latest invention, time machine.
Desperately wanting to save his parent's marriage, Bunty tricks professor into sending him back to the time when his parents were young; to set the things right for them. To play cupid and make his parents fall in love!
The premise of the film is very exciting and the execution is good, but not excellent.
What rocks the movie:
Music. Zor Ka Jhatka and Chaan Ke Mohalla are fast climbing up the popularity charts.
Acting. Almost the entire cast has performed well. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looks ethereal in the song Chaan Ke Mohalla. Akshay
is first rate; but the real find of the movie is Aditya Roy Kapoor. His screen-presence, his diction, his body-language, is
just too amazing for a new actor. Given the right roles, he is going to be an actor on the rise.
What chucks the movie:
Editing. Two numbers, O Bekhabar in 1st half and Maine Pyaar Kiya in 2nd half can be easily edited out as they mar the pace of
the film.
Sudeepa Singh doesn't get any scope to showcase her talent.
VERDICT
Action Replayy will be liked by the families in particular and has the merits to grow with a positive word of mouth.
July 21 '10; the day Indian Film Industry got INDEPENDENT!