Agent Vinod- The Reincarnation

Once upon a time, there was an actor called Mahendra Sandhu. He was the original Agent Vinod in a film made by Rajshri Films, known then for family dramas. This one was a desi Bond. Like the cat that has multiple lives (and many scripts or ideas that have several lives, across continents) Saif chose this idea as his production and acting vehicle. And chose for its director Sriram Raghavan who directed Johny Gadar, the Hadley- Chase inspired whodunit.

Well, the result is a passable action-spy story. It's confusing in parts, with the story thread running weak sometimes, and the connections between scenes that follow one another not established adequately (at least for an ageing member of the audience like me). The escape scenes from captivity/tight situations happen too frequently and too easily.

On the plus side, most scenes are quite professional and authentic looking (rare for Hindi films), and some stunts are pretty good. The pace is fast most of the time, though the background music goes into an overdrive, and is too loud at times, which is jarring. The end is a mild surprise, unlike Johny Gadar, which was spot on for its suspense. A 2.5 on a five point scale, I would say overall.