MUKHBIIR
Sameer Dattani impresses
by Vishal Verma

Banner: Color Chips Entertainment & Media Limited
Genre: Thriller
Director: Mani Shankar
Target Audience: General
Star Cast: Sameer Dattani, Sunil Shetty, Om Puri, Rahul Dev, Jackie Shroff (Guest Appearance), Raima Sen, Sushant Singh, Alok Nath, Raj Zutshi & Kelly Dorjee.
Cinematography: Ajay Vincent
Editor: Mani Shankar
Story / Writer: Mani Shankar
Music Director: Kartik Raja, Pritam Chakraborty, Shashi Pritam & Sandeep Chowta
Singers: Sonu Kakkar, K K & Hariharan
Lyricist: P.K. Mishra & Iqbal Patni
Choreography: Saroj Khan
Released by: Pyramid Saimira
Media Relations: Peter Martis & Hianshu Jhunjhunwala.

Technical Analysis
Mani Shankar, who made his mark as a stylish storyteller in ‘16 December’, tries his luck again with a thriller ‘Mukhbiir’. ‘16 December’ worked cause the audience found some innovation in the narration and for the style which was equally backed by content and fine performances.

So does ‘ Mukhbiir’ fulfills the nuances of a thriller which has the chill and the entrainment quotient. Unfortunately, Mani’s latest offering fails to register in any genre. It starts as an inner  conflict of an informer – impressively played by Sameer Dattani and ends up with the protagonist giving his life saving the city still not finding any ‘pehchan’.

Its hard to single out any one cause the narrator Mani tries to explain is own story and falls short.
The only redeeming factor is the inspired performance by the veteran Om Puri and Sameer Datani who impresses with his restrained portrayal.     

The Story
An unconvincing tale of a young man ( Sameer) and the many masks he wears ? When the espionage meets the underworld, he faces a constant dilemma of identity crises and in the end leaves unknown but before that does a highly commendable job.

The story leaves the viewer confused till he end at what the writer director wants to convey, is it a conflict of informers who live a life on edge and in the end are done by their own creators or the intelligence officers who have to execute the duty while fighting with their inner voice. What?

Promotion
The movie was in news for 2 reasons primarily, no. 1 the makers has announced money back offer to those who have not liked the film. Bu is not likely to go the ‘phoonk’ way.     

And secondly, the movie is finally hitting the marquee after being pulled out twice at the last moment of its release.  The promos are interesting.

Media Awareness by Peter Martis & Hianshu Jhunjhunwala has been reasonable. 

Business Analysis
Lack of chill quotient, and unconvincing narration marred by the competition from the other three releases will make the going of ‘Mukhbir’ tough at the B.O.