Terrorists are usually known for inducing fear. But in Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, starring Akshay Kumar, they are reduced to blubbering, nameless faces who are collectively outwitted by the hero.
Imagine this scenario — ok scratch that because the scene is a tough one to conjure up. Army officer Virat Bakshi [Kumar] has stashed a menacing terrorist, who is a part of a deadly sleeper cell set to detonate bombs across Mumbai, in his wardrobe. His girlfriend Sahiba (an annoyingly chirpy Sonakshi Sinha) enters the room through his window and demands a kiss — we are told a deep kiss burns 40 calories at least — and Kumar happily obliges. Next, we are transported to a dreamy song sequence. The heroine heaves her bosom and the hero twirls her around in a desert (all this when the hero knows that the captive’s leader is still on the loose vowing to destroy Mumbai).
Perhaps, a concession should be made here because such distractions are expected from a Bollywood entertainer. The sparkle from Sinha’s glittering bustier is beautifully captured, but I wish the makers had invested some of that energy into the soul of the evil men.
A thriller is as good as its villains. If you go by that yardstick, Holiday, about an army officer’s quest to squash sleeper-cell operations in Mumbai, falls short. The face-off between the gang leader, Freddy Daruwala (Farhad), and Kumar over the telephone after the righteous army officer destroys his masterplan of planting 12 bombs in Mumbai’s busiest areas is unintentionally laughable. Cheesy heated lines such as “I will hunt you down” (the bad guy who thinks glaring equals mean) and “I am waiting” (a hero who believes stressing words equals acting) are exchanged.
Having said that, you have to give credit to director A R Murugadoss for keeping things moving. There are enough twists to keep you engaged until the end. But the downside is that even if bombs go off in malls killing hundreds of children and innocent people, the viewer is not given enough time to absorb the tragedy. All eyes relentlessly lead to modern-day messiah, Bakshi, who we are told is a Defence Intelligence Analyst working undercover in the Indian Army. Translation? He’s smarter than your average Mumbai cop and can fix broken bones on his own.
Bollywood’s original action hero lives up to his title and Kumar excels in those hand-to-hand combats. While the climax of Holiday is like Christmas for an Akshay Kumar fan with its over-stretched fight sequences, a non-fan might not relish the sound of bones cracking as much. Watch this if you are in the mood for a Bollywood film that has a bit of everything — terrorism, action and romance.
Out now
Film: Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty
Director: A R Murugadoss
Cast: Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha
Stars: 2.5 out of 5