Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2012
Tezz
Buy Tezz now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Tezz' is a 2012 Indian action thriller film directed by Priyadarshan. It stars Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Zayed Khan, Sameera Reddy and Boman Irani. veteran actor Mohanlal appears in an extended cameo appearance. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from audiences.
The film is loosely based on the 1975 Japanese film 'The Bullet Train'.
Plot
Aakash Rana is an illegal immigrant married to British-Indian citizen Nikita living as a successful engineer. He is eventually caught and deported from the UK, thus crushing his dreams of an ideal life.
Four years later, Aakash returns with a vengeance on his mind and teams up with his former employees Aadil Khan and Megha to wreak some havoc. What follows is a bomb threat on a train and a tense railway control officer Sanjay Raina and anti-terrorism officer Arjun Khanna trying every trick in the book to avert the disaster and to apprehend the culprits. Sanjay Raina tries his best to save his daughter Piya, and the passengers in the train who are thrown in the mix are police officer Shivan Menon and his team of police force, who are escorting a prisoner on the same ill-fated train. Aakash demands 10 million euros to tell them how to disarm the bomb. The ministry does not want to give the money, but Khanna convinces them that the money will be given back and is a way to lure the terrorists.
After following Aakash's instructions and dropping the money in a river, he walks away. Megha gets the money and tries to get away. She evades the cops after a vicious chase, but unfortunately, she is killed by a van in an intersection. Khanna finds out that Khan is one of the bombers and chases him. Khan is shot in the leg, but he gets away after jumping from the bridge and landing on a jet ski driven by Aakash. Aakash once again demands money and asks it to be left in a dustbin. The dustbin falls inward, and Aakash runs away with the money even though the police attempt to pursue him.
Khanna and his team find out where Aadil is and go to arrest him. Aadil commits suicide with a bomb, almost killing Khanna. Aakash calls Raina and tells him that a note has been left at a restaurant called Delhi Darbar that tells how to defuse the bomb. However, the restaurant catches on fire, and the letter is burnt. Aakash visits Nikita and his son, and they arrange to flight out of the UK that night. Khanna visits Nikita and tells her who her husband is. After changing the plan (that they should leave the UK via train because the police have found out about his plan of leaving via plane), he goes to the train station. There he sees a video of Raina asking the bomber to call again as the letter was burnt.
Aakash calls Raina and tells him that the bomb was not connected to the wheels and the train will not explode if stopped. Raina stops the train, and everyone disembarks safely. Nikita, who is helping Khanna now, goes to the train station and sees Aakash and the news that the bomb threat was a hoax. She lets Aakash go, but Khanna finds out as Aakash's son calls him Daddy. Khanna chases him, and they fight. Aakash please to Khanna to let him go and explains why he took such drastic actions. Realizing that Aakash was a victim of deportation and wants to just be with his family again at peace, Khanna stays silent (hinting he will let him leave scot free). However, the police arrive; after seeing that Aakash had a gun, they shoot him.
In the end, Nikita receives a letter Aakash had written. It stated that the money (which Aakash asked for defusing the bomb) was in Aakash's bank locker. He also states that she should give half the money to Megha's brother and Adil's mother. He asks her to tell his son that what he did was to get justice. Finally, Aakash tells Nikita that if they ever meet in the next life, the end of their love story would be much better and bids her goodbye.
Cast
* Ajay Devgn as Aakash Rana, an engineer, small-time criminal, and has an alliance with his fellow employees.
* Anil Kapoor as Anti-Terrorism Officer Arjun Khanna, a cop who tries to stop Rana and his friends.
* Zayed Khan as Aadil Khan, Aakash's employee who is a bomber and a stunt doubling ninja.
* Kangana Ranaut as Nikita Malhotra / Nikita Aakash Rana, Aakash's wife who has no memory of him since he became a criminal.
* Boman Irani as Sanjay Raina, Arjun's comrade whose daughter boards a train with a bomb
* Sameera Reddy as Megha Singh, Aakash's 2nd employee who was hit by a speeding van.
* Mohanlal as Shivan Menon (Extended cameo appearance)
* Danny Sapani as David, the train driver
* Manpreet Bambra as Arjun Khanna's daughter
* Philip Martin Brown as Police Chief Inspector Alan Fisher
* Dominic Power as Joseph
* Avika Gor as Piya Raina, Sanjay and Renu's daughter, who boards a train with a hidden bomb.
* Puja Bratt as Doctor Renu Raina
* Bhavna Pani as Radhika
* Cory Goldberg
* Naveed Choudhry as Worker/Mechanic
* Neeraj Vora
* Lee Nicholas Harris as Armed Police Officer SO19
* Jing Lusi as Reporter
* Jamie Maclachlan as Reporter
* David Berg, Merrill Sells, Tara, Aidan and Dylan Berg (cameo appearance)
* Mallika Sherawat as Desi Club Dancer Laila (Item number in song 'Laila')
Production
Filming was done primarily in London and Birmingham. The English dialogues mainly spoken by the actors have been dubbed in Hindi.
Filming began in the beginning of 2011 in Scotland and wrapped up in Mumbai.
The stunt choreographer chosen for the movie was Gareth Milne, the stunt co-ordinator of 'Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets'.
Music
The film score was composed by the musical duo SajidWajid, and the lyrics were penned by Shabbir Ahmed and Jalees Sherwani. It was released by Eros Music and Venus Records & Tapes. The music launch was held in Delhi on 30 March.
Soundtrack
Track listingRelease
The theatrical trailer was released on 4 January 2012. The film was released on 27 April 2012 in 1950 screens.
Reception
Box office
India'Tezz' opened to a good opening of 85% in multiplexes, and occupancy rose as the day progressed. Single screens were better as expected, but even there occupancy remained up around 95%. That was a very good opening keeping in mind the recent box office performance of Ajay Devgn.
Other territories
'Tezz' did well overseas with a business of $8,550,000. The major market figures are as follows:
* United Kingdom: 460,000
* North America: $250,000
* UAE: $130,000
* Australia: $45,000
Critical response
The movie received mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3.5 out 5 and says, "TEZZ is a taut, entertaining action spectacle. Those with an appetite for well-made thrillers should lap it up!" Jaidev Hemmady of 'Movie Talkies' gave the film 3.5 out 5 stars and said, "Tricks & Thrills Galore! The overall racy pace of the movie and the nail-biting chase sequences. Apart from the few scenes, where the pace of the movie drops, the film overall lives up to its title 'Tezz'." Subhash K. Jha of IANS gave 3 out of 5 Stars saying "Not quite edge-of-the-seat, the thrills in Tezz are engaging enough to keep us watching".Kunal Guha of Yahoo Movies gave the movie 1/2 out of 5 and calls this "an epic fail of bomb diffusion by Priyadarshan". Blessy Chettiar of DNA rated Tezz with 1.5 out of possible five stars and wrote in her review "May be Priyadarshan should stick to mindless comedies, so we can be sure were in safe territory. You won't be missing much if you skipped Tezz". Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN gives 1.5 out of 5 and says Tezz is "awfully boring for a film that promises speed and thrills". Srijana Mitra Das of ToI gave it three stars out of five.
Daily Bhaskar returned a 2.5 out of 5 and said, "Overall, Tezz deserves a one-time watch as it doesn't disappoint". Mid-Day gave it 2 out of 5 and said it has "a predictable plot and lack of pace makes this an entirely forgettable film."
References
Buy Tezz now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2012