Banner: Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala & Siddharth Roy Kapur
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sabyasaachi Chakraborty, Rajesh Tailang, Shahnawaz Pradhan & Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Music: Pritam & Julius Packiam
Director Kabir Khan has had several outings in Bollywood like ‘Kabul Express’, ‘New York’, Ek Tha Tiger’ et al and now ‘Phantom’ based on journo turned author S. Hussein Zaidi’s best selling novella ‘Mumbai Avengers’ which details the behind the scenes graphic accounts of the terrorist attack of 26 / 11 in & around Mumbai’s Taj Hotel.
The plotted scenario of ‘Phantom’ kick starts with the visuals of the 26 / 11 Mumbai attack. This is immediately followed by a high octane car chase sequence between Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan) and an unknown man in Chicago (US) who bangs his car and tries to drive away. Daniyal finally gets hold of him but accidentally kicks him off the bridge into the river below. This, then, leads to an array of flashback events, which establishes the connection between Daniyal Khan’s past to his present day life. The flashback states that, after being dismissed from the Indian army, Daniyal goes into a hibernation of sorts, living an isolated & secluded life of his own. In the meanwhile, when India’s RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) learns about Pakistan based terrorist group Lashkar’s yet another plan of attacking India, they plan a secret operation, off the books, to take down all the accused & masterminds behind Mumbai attacks. After much research they decided on hiring Daniyal Khan for this job. The RAW officials believe that Khan is like a ‘Phantom’, he has no records and is completely off the radar. As a part of the mission, he meets up with the beautiful & talented Nawaz (Katrina Kaif) in UK where she works as a ‘Security Consultant’. The duo however gel well after Daniyal’s 1st 2 missions in UK & US. Thereafter this duo’s journey traverses from Beirut, Syria and finally Pakistan. Even though Daniyal Khan’s mission happens to be a ‘top secret’ and ‘highly confidential’ one, the Pakistani officials sniff out his plan before Daniyal Khan reaches his ultimate goal of killing Hariz Saeed (Shahnawaz Pradhan), the mastermind behind the 26/11 attacks.
Surprisingly director Kabir Khan is getting totally seeped in the terrrorism genre of filmmaking barring his most emotional outing in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. Besides an incredible job has also been done by Julius Packiam (Background Scorer), Aseem Sharma (Cinematographer – who has brilliantly captured the global foreign locales), Aarif Sheikh (Editor). Kabir Khan & Parveez Shaikh (Screenplay Writer) & Peter Pedrero (Action). But composer Pritam has delivered a totally disappointing musical fare.
Performance wise it is Saif Ali Khan who shines all through the film with Katrina Kaif lending him adequate support by matching him step by step abeit in a deglamourised avatar. The other actors like Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Rajesh Tailang and above all Shahnawaz Pradhan & Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub are first rate.
Tail Piece: All in all ‘Phantom’ is a good movie in tandem with its around the world visual treat.