By Joginder Tuteja
Recently, Nikkhil Advani came up with hostage drama Mumbai Diaries 26/11 which was about how a bunch of ‘aam aadmi’ safeguarded themselves from a terrorist attack. A few weeks back came Akshaye Khanna starrer State of Siege: Temple Attack which was also based on a true story. Now comes Vidyut Jammwal starrer Sanak: Hope Under Siege which is a fictional tale about a common man (albeit a MMA trainer) taking on a dozen odd terrorists in a tactical style during a narrative spread over two hours.
The storyline is pretty simple though. A bunch of mercenaries led by a rogue captain (Chandan Roy Sanyal) storm into a upmarket hospital, take a bunch of hostages, and negotiate with a senior cop (Neha Dhupia) to escort a hospitalised arms dealer to safety. A plan that was put together after many weeks or deliberation is foiled as the man of the moment, Vidyut, takes a step by step approach towards reaching out to the terrorists and free his wife, Rukmini Maitra, who was supposed to be discharged on the eventful day. Of course, it’s a given that he would succeed in his mission but how would he make that happen is what Sanak is all about.
As a matter of fact, the film in fact unfolds as a set piece affair. At the initial few minutes of setting the premise, the story proceeds as a series of action sequences that practically arrive in a back to back manner without any breather whatsoever. In fact the way Vidyut goes about executing these half a dozen odd breathless sequences, one wonders about the kind of superpowers that one may need to possess in order to execute these physically straining action bits.
So he does it all, be it in the basement of the hospital or the gym or the paediatric center or the day care centre or the medicine room or the corridors or the staircase - he is just about everywhere. There is an international quality though to these sequences and that’s also made possible due to foreign stunt men (and women) brought in for the job. The sound design, the grunts, the realistic kicks and punches make it all quite exciting. Moreover, there is a humane side added to these sequences as well, hence reminding one of similar set pieces that Jackie Chan used to perform in abundance in the 80s and the 90s.
That said, beyond these sequences, there isn’t much drama to plug them all. As an antagonist, Chandan Roy Sanyal is fun to watch as he brings in a humorous streak in his dialogues and their delivery. However, one wonders why he didn’t get into action the moment his first soldier is killed by Vidyut. (Spoilers ahead) He continues to wait for Vidyut to come close to him when he could have just started eliminating the hostages on the first sign of danger. Also, there isn’t much if strategy that is applied by him despite claiming to be a top mastermind.
The film also gets very lengthy towards the last 30 minutes. While action sequences continue to be interesting, they exhaust you as a viewer since you also look forward to some drama in addition to the action. One also wonders that in a big multi-storey hospital like that, there are merely 50-60 hostages that are captured. What happened to the rest, and where were NSG or other forces?
Nonetheless, it is also quite apparent that producer Vipul Shah and director Kanishk Verma were clear that they were serving a popcorn affair for quick consumption and not something that would be memorable for years and decades to come. Made during the pandemic, the film sees good production values that make it glossy on eyes. As actors, Vidyut is of course reliable in his action avtar and so is Chandan. As for Rukmini, she is a good find and does well for the part that she has been roped in. I would have liked to see more of Neha Dhupia.
When Khuda Hafiz had released, one of the complaints was that it had limited action sequences. Well, hardcore fans of Vidyut won’t complain in that aspect for Sanak where it is pretty much in abundance.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐
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