Acid Factory
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Besides Abbas-Mustan, Sanjay Gupta has attempted interesting thrillers in the past. His new outing, Acid Factory, directed by Suparn Verma, is a cat-n-mouse chase that will have you on edge of the seat as it unfolds. Inspired by Hollywood film Unknown, Acid Factory is engaging in most parts. Also, it's well adapted to suit Indian sensibilities. It starts off strong enough and keeps the momentum going till the end, though, of course, it goes back and forth at times and that could get a bit confusing
Acid Factory demands your attention from the very start. The viewer ought to stay alert and watch the goings-on carefully. Even if you blink, chances are you may miss a vital link and the subsequent portions may not work for you since there's something happening every minute.
At the same time, Acid Factory has its share of loose ends. The climax, for instance, could've been more impactful. Also, the concept is too urbane and holds appeal for the urban youth, who've a penchant for slick thrillers.
Final word? Acid Factory is a well-crafted, well executed film with the ensemble cast pitching in competent performances.
A man [Fardeen Khan] wakes up in a deserted factory surrounded by several other seemingly dead men. He has absolutely no memory of who he is or how he got there and he is unable to get out. Before too long, the others [Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpayee, Danny Denzongpa, Dia Mirza] wake up and they all have amnesia too.
All they know is that some of them have been shot, one is tied to a chair, a third is hanging by his wrist, which is handcuffed to a railing... It is eventually discovered that they have lost their memory because of gas leaked from a container.
Much later, they figure out that two of them have been kidnapped by the other three. Who are the kidnappers and who are their victims? Meanwhile, the police are tracking a sinister man [Irrfan Khan], while a worried wife [Neha] desperately searches for her husband.
Acid Factory has enough going for it, thanks to its premise which is intriguing. But the plot is such that it takes time to come to the point. There's not much happening in the first hour, except the fact that everyone's clueless about their identity and how they seem trapped in a dilapidated factory.
But the answers start flowing in the second hour. The answers come quick and the reasons why they are trapped are also justified. But, as mentioned earlier, the conclusion could've been as realistic like the rest of the proceedings. Also, the track of the harried wife trying to trace her husband isn't too convincing.
This is Suparn Verma's second film as a director and midway through the film, you realise that Suparn has grown as a storyteller. The film bears a slick look and also, the narrative holds your attention for most parts. Cinematography is top notch. So is the sound design. Tinu Verma's stunts and chase sequences deserve distinction marks.
Every actor pitches in an effortless performance. They aren't putting on an act. The film has an assorted mix of experienced and accomplished actors [Danny Denzongpa, Manoj Bajpayee and Irrfan Khan] and yet-to-reach-there actors [Fardeen Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea and Dia Mirza] and each display confidence in their respective parts. Neha doesn't get scope, while Gulshan Grover is as usual.
On the whole, Acid Factory is a slick thriller that has an interesting premise and also super stunts and chase sequences as its trump cards. The film is targeted at the urban youth, especially those who relish thrillers. Of course, the film will have to storm the dull pre-Diwali period which might curtail its prospects to an extent despite decent merits and also, the three biggies that arrive next Friday.
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Acid Factory : Fail to exceed your expectations !!
By the time the chemically-zonked characters trapped in a padlocked factory realise who they are and what they are up to, we couldn’t care less about the outcome of their violently vivacious life. Our disdainful indifference for the characters of “Acid Factory” comes from the enforced cool quotient. Everyone behaves he was born in a posh retreat and has spent the majority of their lives driving in swanky Porsches.
But the actors lack the charisma to carry off the posh characters with elan.
These, however, aren’t the only reasons why we give up on these lost souls. Mainly, the game is up because the film turns out to be an almost frame-by-frame copy of a Colombian film, Simon Brand’s “Unknown”.
Like many of the films produced by Sanjay Gupta, “Acid Factory” seeks direct inspiration from a foreign source and adds a sheen of extra-ruggedness to the original proceedings. After a point, it doesn’t matter what the original reference point is. These are people who’ve lost their bearings.
But director Suparn Varma remains pretty much in control, specially when the chase sequences take over. That’s when the narrative really lets its hair down. The skidding wheels, exploding cars and crashing dreams of characters, who are as amoral as they are adventurous, signify the complete takeover of the film’s universe by forces that rule the realm of video games.
Long before they became fashionable, Sanjay Gupta has been making video games on celluloid. The background music by Amar Mohile totally supports the vibrant rugged and macho visuals.
Women are objects of classy but lustful adoration in Gupta’s scheme of things. Dia Mirza makes her athletic entry mid-way through the film when the characters locked up in an acid factory have just begun to figure out their raison d’etre. By then we’ve begun to lose our bearing vis-�-vis the askew plot.
To their credit the actors seem to exude an energy beyond that provided by the adrenaline-motivated visuals. Each characters comes across as an individual. Manoj Bajpayee is wacky, Aftab Shivdasani is restrained. Dino Morea is wry and Fardeen tries hard to come to terms with his amnesiac character.
Danny Denzongpa and Irrfan Khan remain peripheral, never quite entering the domain of the damned, remaining above the pyrotechnics even while indulging in them.
Technical qualities of “Acid Factory” deserve a special mention. Sahil Kapoor’s camera captures the bends of Cape Town effectively.
“Acid Factory” is overall a stylish action film.
