Tezz
Tezz (transl. Fast) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Priyadarshan. It stars Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Zayed Khan, Sameera Reddy and Boman Irani. Southern actor Mohanlal appears in a guest role. 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.[3] The official trailer was released on 4 January 2012.[4] The movie was released on 27 April 2012 in 1950 screens.[2]
| Tezz | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Priyadarshan |
| Produced by | Bharat Shah (Presenter) Ratan Jain |
| Written by | Aditya Dhar(Dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Robin Bhatt |
| Story by | Ryūnosuke Ono (uncredited) |
| Based on | The Bullet Train by Junya Satō |
| Starring | Ajay Devgn Anil Kapoor Zayed Khan Boman Irani Kangana Ranaut Sameera Reddy |
| Music by | Original Songs: Sajid-Wajid Background Score: Sandeep Chowta |
| Cinematography | Tirru |
| Edited by | T. S. Suresh Steven Bernard |
Production company | Venus Records & Tapes United 7 Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Venus Worldwide Entertainment Eros Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 122 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi[1] |
| Budget | ₹520 million (US$7.3 million)[2] |
| Box office | ₹261 million (US$3.7 million)[2] |
Shooting began in beginning of 2011 in Scotland and wrapping up in Mumbai. Upon release the film received mixed reviews from critics but and was a commercial failure despite having a stellar cast and a large cinematic release.[5]
The film is based on the 1975 Japanese thriller The Bullet Train.[6]
Plot
Aakash Rana (Ajay Devgn) is an illegal immigrant married to British citizen Nikita (Kangana Ranaut) 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 vengeance on his mind and teams up with his former employees Aadil Khan (Zayed Khan) and Megha (Sameera Reddy) to wreak some havoc. What follows is a bomb threat on a train and a tense railway control officer Sanjay Raina (Boman Irani) and anti-terrorism officer Arjun Khanna (Anil Kapoor) 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 (Avika Gor) and the passengers in the train who are thrown in the mix are police officer Shivan Menon (Mohanlal) and his team of cops, 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 who her husband is. After changing the plan (that they should leave UK via train because the police has 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 pleas 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.
- Manpreet Bambra as Arjun Khanna's daughter
- Philip Martin Brown as Police Chief Inspector Alan Fisher
- Dominic Power as Jojo
- 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
- Mohanlal as Shivan Menon (Cameo appearance)
- David Berg, Merrill Sells, Tara, Aidan and Dylan Berg (cameo appearance)[7]
- Mallika Sherawat as Desi Club Dancer Laila (Item number in song Laila)
Production
Filming was done primarily in London. The English dialogues mainly spoken by the actors have been dubbed in Hindi.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by the musical duo Sajid-Wajid 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.[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tere Bina" | Jalees Sherwani | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | 5:13 |
| 2. | "Tezz" (Female Version) | Jalees Sherwani | Sunidhi Chauhan | 5:24 |
| 3. | "Main Hoon Shab" | Shabbir Ahmed | Mohit Chauhan | 4:58 |
| 4. | "Laila" | Shabbir Ahmed | Sunidhi Chauhan | 4:46 |
| 5. | "Tere Bina" (Female Version) | Jalees Sherwani | Shreya Ghoshal | 5:25 |
| 6. | "Tezz" (Male Version) | Jalees Sherwani | Shaan | 5:16 |
| 7. | "Laila" (Remix) | Shabbir Ahmed | Sunidhi Chauhan | 3:57 |
| 8. | "Tere Bina" (Remix) | Jalees Sherwani | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | 5:16 |
| 9. | "Tezz" (Female Remix) | Jalees Sherwani | Sunidhi Chauhan | 5:14 |
| 10. | "Tere Bina" (Sad Version) | Jalees Sherwani | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | 4:00 |
| 11. | "Tezz" (Male Remix) | Jalees Sherwani | Shaan | 5:17 |
| 12. | "Tere Bina" (Indian) | Jalees Sherwani | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | 5:15 |
| Total length: | 59:25 | |||
Release and reception
Critical
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!"[9] 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'."[10] 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".[11]
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 we’re in safe territory. You won't be missing much if you skipped Tezz".[12] 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".[13] Srijana Mitra Das of ToI gave it three stars out of five.[14]
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."
Box office
Tezz opened to 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. Tezz did well overseas with 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
References
- "Tezz – BBFC". BBFC.
- https://www.boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=20
- Desk, News; 12, Feb. "Tezz to have Hollywood action director". Ticket Please News Desk. Retrieved 12 February 2011.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- "Tezz (2012)". IMDb.com. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- "Ajay Devgn's Tezz gets average reviews from film critics". Oneindia.in. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
- http://www.hindustantimes.com/movie-reviews/anupama-chopra-s-review-tezz/story-kZn3Bj3DisdZXItk5rJjhI.html
- "Everybody Tezz Tezz Tezz". blog. Bergie's India. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- "Tezz Music Launch".
- Adarsh, Taran (26 April 2012). "Tezz: Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- Hemmady, Jaidev (26 April 2012). "Tezz: Movie Review". Movie Talkies. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- Subhash K. Jha (26 April 2012). "Tezz Movie Review : 3 out of 5 Stars". WorldSnap. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- Chettiar, Blessy. "Review: Tezz". DNA. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- Masand, Rajeev. "Masand: 'Tezz' is an awfully boring film". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- Mitra Das, Srijana. "Tezz". Times of India. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
