Best thing about this Indian film, Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante, is Irfan Khan who plays Krish one of a trio of wronged kidnapper/extortionists. He looks like the NBA Celtic star Paul Pierce, unshaved. His character lurches from cool, calm, aka Paul Pierce, to a crazed man pounding the hood of a car– his big eyes going all Sanpaku, to a man dying from a bloody nose, poisoned by the mother of the kidnapped girl. There’s both an excess of desperation and calm reserve in this man, who wears an unbuttoned red plaid shirt for most of the movie. His performance is mesmerizing.

The rest of the movie?  There’s not too much right about the rest of the characters, the pacing is slow, and story line is feebly predictable. But the worst thing about the movie is the soundtrack. My oh my! Violins and timpani drums. An American movie, made with a similar low budget and soft story would have been more thrilling just because of soundtrack mastery. It’s 50s soap opera here.

The father of the kidnapped girl,a famous Mumbai heart surgeon, causes the problems that set the plot in motion.The film’s message is the inevitable darkness and doom that coincides with over identification with the ego. Being puffed up with My, Mine and Me, the doctor’s limited Self-Consciousness prevented him from caring for other people, which is a prerequisite of his profession. A few of the people he did not care for taught him a lesson: they kidnapped his child.

Worth watching? Way too much acting talent went to waste in this film. And who hired the music director?  I hope this review let’s you know you’re not missing much if you don’t see Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante–except to appreciate that similar faces can overlap the NBA with Bollywood.

2006

Director: Tanveer Khan

Hindi

DVD- 135 minutes