Movie: Luck
Director: Soham Shah
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty, Danny Denzongpa, Imran Khan, Ravi Kissen, Shruti K. Haasan, Rati Agnihotri, Chitrashi Rawat, Snita Mahey
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for hardcore stunts and thrills, Hollywood ishtyle. Come to think of it, Bollywood hasn’t churned out stylised action movies as regularly as it churns out comedies and rom-coms. There’s a vacuum for sure. But Luck fills that lacuna. Be rest assured, you haven’t watched such thrills since Dhoom 2.
Luck is more of a hi-concept film. Three decades ago, Krishna Shah’s Shalimar narrated the adventures of a billionaire who assembles/invites criminals/gangsters from across the globe to perform the heist of a precious diamond that he possesses. The concept isn’t similar here, but in this case too, a gambler assembles people from across the globe for a concept called human betting.
Mafia king pin Kareem Musa (Sanjay Dutt) takes the game of betting to an altogether different level by involving humans as betting objects who are made to fight their own luck to survive. Every year his trusted aide Tamang (Danny) assembles for him in South Africa, 20 participants handpicked from across the globe who have a proven record of extreme luck. Betters across the globe put their money on them through Musa’s syndicate. During the new season, amongst the participants are Ram (Imran) a white collar job youth who is hell bent on earning big money to compensate the huge fraud his scamster father was reason for, Ayesha (Shruti) who has her own personal agenda, Retd. Col Singh (Mithun) who desperately needs money for his wife’s operation, Shortcut (Chitrashi) a Pakistani camel racer girl who dreams of buying a Lexus with the prize money and Raghav (Ravi Kissen) a serial murderer. What happens after these participants are put into extremely dangerous life taking games of luck and who manages to win the big jackpot amongst them forms the rest of the film.
Soham Shah has made a stylish film and the fact remains that he has an eye for visuals. But Soham should’ve stuck to the spirit of the film, instead of getting into diversions (romance and the penultimate scene). Salim-Sulaiman’s music is vibrant and Aasma is easily the pick of the lot. The background score (Amar Mohile) is electrifying. Santosh Thundiyil’s cinematography matches international standards. Ditto for the sound design by Dwarak Warrier. Allan Amin’s stunts and thrills are a major USP.
Sanju is perfect for this part and enacts it with natural ease. Actually, here’s one role that only he could’ve portrayed so effectively. Imran is getting better with every film. Watch his helplessness at the start or his confidence when he takes to the stunts. Shruti Haasan is a star, no two opinions on that. The confidence with which she carries off this role just cannot be overlooked. Ravi Kishan is another scene-stealer. Mithun Chakraborty is controlled and delivers a truly fine performance. Danny Denzongpa is, as always, so perfect. Very few actors have that ability to stand out in a crowd.
Luck may not be high on story, but the concept and at least four stylised thrilling sequences make a big difference. Simply put, it makes Luck lucky.
