90. Aiyaary; movie review

AIYAARY
Cert 12A
157 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence

Thursday night at 10pm and I was the only person preparing to watch Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary at Showcase on Derby's Foresters Park.
Indian films very rarely play at Showcase cinemas - even this one which is an area where many people from Asian backgrounds live.
If this was an experiment, it is a shame that the chain chose to screen the worst Bollywood movie of the year so far.
Aiyaary moves so quickly that it would be difficult to keep pace at midday and virtually impossible at midnight.
It stars Sidharth Malhotra as Jai Bakshi, a secret service agent who has gone rogue, much to the disgust of his senior officer and mentor (Manoj Bajpayee)
I am usually a fan of Bajpayee's movies because they tend to have a hard-edge and his performances usually stand out.
Aiyaary proves that he doesn't always back winners. As the unquestioning soldier who follows orders, regardless of their morality, he looks out of place.
Meanwhile, I spent much of the two and a half hours wondering what Bakshi was actually trying to achieve in chasing bad guys from India to London.
Aiyaary aims to be a very contemporary take on the myriad stories Indian cinema presents about political corruption.
But the problem is that computer surveillance and sensitive data doesn't make for very interesting viewing and, rather than heighten the drama, they dissipate it.
Nevertheless, this is the arena for the movie's romantic interest - with Bakshi falling for a cyber expert (Rakul Preet Singh) who he cajoles into helping him.
It has the ingredients but Aiyaary is heavily weighed down by the complexities its makers must think sets it apart.

Reasons to watch: Computer nerds might find the surveillance elements interesting
Reasons to avoid: Over-complex plot which is difficult to follow

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 4.5/10

Director quote - Neeraj Pandey: "It is a very layered story. I knew the start, middle and the end, but the script turned out to be much layered than how I thought it would be."

The big question - How many secret military units exist in the world?

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