Zinda (2006)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Zinda surprisingly has a very less rating on IMDb. The primary reason is the inevitable comparisons with the original and another reason is the hatred toward Sanjay Gupta for copying almost every scene from the original unofficially. Truly, even I felt I was watching the original itself. Sanjay Dutt is the film's saving grace who compelled me to sit through despite being a highly unoriginal work.Sanjay Gupta's direction is fabulous and can do wonders if given a solid, original script pertaining to his repertoire. He maintains a very dark mood throughout, much darker than the original, with minimal lighting and excessive use of black and gray. The gloomy lighting can be unpleasant at times but it was a commendable experiment. The screenplay is filled with enormous loopholes and doesn't tend to cover them up with any other good thing. Those Indians have seen Oldboy and those who haven't will be equally surprised with the ending as Sanjay deviates from the original and, at the same time, tries to make it hard-hitting. He fails miserably with the latter as the end appears far less convincing than the original.Comparisons aside, John's character is much younger than Dutt's and is super-rich. Applying some simple math, this is not possible. John hasn't acted bad, no two opinions on that, but only if he had a well etched character. Lara Dutta seems to be a super-rich cabbie in those costumes. Was she meant for comic relief or glam quotient – don't know but she irritating throughout. Background score is a straight lift from the original at places. One piece in the very last scene is from Chinese film "Warriors of Heaven and Earth"'s 'Lord An's Empire' composed by A. R. Rahman. The piece is used in the trailers too.Now what's good in the film is a very new and innovative presentation we Indians have never seen. The basic subject matter itself is new. We did have revenge dramas in the past, but the kind where romance and clichés take a front seat throughout and then an atrocious fight with the villain which pops out of nowhere in the end. Zinda is miles away and ahead of these kinds of films. It takes Indian cinema to a whole new level but the unoriginality relegates it. Songs are thankfully original except that Vishal-Shekhar recycle a riff from their own 'Rabba' of "Musafir". Zinda Hoon Main features in three different versions and is an instant winner. Shibani Kashyap's high pitch zingy vocals are impressive. Strings compose the year's best song "Yeh Hai Meri Kahani". Lyrics of all the songs are phenomenal.The best part of the original was the shocking end and the offensive theme which is all cut in Zinda and that makes it less remarkable. It is an enjoyable film but leaves space for questions and plot holes.6.5/10

sanjay gupta is a known cult director in India. he became famous in a period which could be called transition phase for Mumbai film industry. Hollywood movies started to be released on a regular basis and most people came to know of actual Hollywood products. it is not worthwhile to go into details but sanjay gupta is a product of that transition. let me clarify something. i have seen almost all movies directed by sanjay gupta. i especially liked 'kante' and with this film his CULT personalty started to form. almost all of his movies are copies of Hollywood. 'Zinda' is different in two respects.first it is a copy of a Korean movie 'oldboy' which is refutes anyhow and second it is a clear example of how gifted he actually is. like me, most of the people didn't even know about 'oldboy' and were happy to know that he made these movies on his own.now that i have seen all the varieties of movies from every corner of the globe; i could say that he is nothing but a copier. 'zinda' was a worst attempt. acting is like sleeping pills. it seems that a bunch of school kids were given the DVD of the Korean movie and asked to make its Indian remake in shortest time possible and they came with 'zinda'. acting is poor because actors were not acting rather they were copying. it seems that during shooting, movie is played and all scenes are shot accordingly. cinematography has been done by Sanjay F. Gupta. he is a good cinematographer but you can't help it when you are asked to take shots from a particular angle only similar to the movie. 'zinda' is a good flick only if you have not seen the 'oldboy'.his earlier works are also copies like 'kante' whose first half is taken from 'usual suspects' while the later half is borrowed from ' reservoir dogs'. you can not blame him because he is making money only. i am sure sanjay gupta does not know even the basic of script writing.many reviews in this section claim that most of the Hollywood flicks are rip offs as well. well you must know the difference between the remakes and rip offs. a genuine attempt is never ignored even if it is a remake. but zinda is an example of solid frame by frame copy. what is the use of watching it in theater if you know how it will start and end.Mumbai film industry has a long history of copying from the Hollywood but there is very few examples like 'zinda'. there is one more movie 'bichhoo' starring Bobby deol which was also frame by frame copy of 'Leon'. now that Indian market is opening, let us hope that people would be more aware of all the current movies and would avoid watching same movie with 2 or more different set of actors.

The only reason this movie ended up with more as 1 star is because some hardcore nationalist bollywood lovers didn't write honest reviews. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against remakes nor bollywood, but this is just uninspired crap. I like any kind of movies. But movies ought to be made by people who enjoy making them, they should be skilled. Willing to put effort in making a good movie. This guy is allowed to make movies because he is from a rich influential family. Sanjay Gupta must be one of the least talented directors these days. None of his work is original and all of his movies are cheap copies. this is the same, he saw a movie. Liked it, but just didn't understand it. it doesn't even come close to the original. Everything is just worse as the original oldboy. Camera work, story (that doesn't work out anymore) de fighting is lame, making it not offending for the Indian audience by cutting out the incest totally destroyed the story. The actor had to be a pretty face, too bad he didn't have acting skills with it. This untalented director shouldn't even be allowed to sell pop-corn in a cinema. Too bad mom and dad had money.Its a direct insult to the real oldboy, and Sanjay didn't even pay for the rights to rip it. Please don't watch it, get oldboy instead. This one will only make you vomit

Many have said this before, but I'm afraid I have to repeat the opinion on the account that a surprising many have decided that Zinda is worth of anything more than 1 star in IMDb. Zinda is a unscrupulous photocopy of the masterpiece Oldboy, and should be avoided, if not boycotted.Some will claim that Zinda is a 'tribute' or a 'remake' of the Oldboy. To them I ask one question: "What kind of filmmakers make remakes of a movie when the original came out two years ago and has been selling DVDs very well internationally?" It seems that this particular brand of Indian cinema has decided that it is quite content making money off of other people idea for free. And though it is impossible for the original filmmakers to sue the filmmakers of Zinda (on the account that Indian copyright laws does not allow for such suit), Zinda should be remembered as a true stain on the development of Indian Cinema.Because it has photocopied a great movie, Zinda avoids being an absolute terror of a movie. However, this does not excuse Sanjay Gupta and the section of 'Bollywood' that has involved itself in Zinda's production. Because of the blatant plagiarism, and the Zinda's makers absolutely refusing to apologize and reimburse the original filmmakers, I must say Zinda deserves 1 star, if not 0.