MOVIE REVIEW: Khoj: The Search || Taking a Spin on Ananta Films

Exploring films that are not in native English isn't an idea that comes to mind regularly for me, but when it does, it is probably because of the hype around a film, a compelling recommendation, or—like on this occasion—a call to adventure for something different. The aim was to check out a film with the actor Ananta Jalil, and so I landed on Khoj: The Search, a Bangladesh film.

Honestly, I chose Khoj: The Search because it was the only one I could find. It's a really old film, so I kept my expectations really low, just in case. However, for reasons I will delve into in a jiffy, I had mixed feelings about the film. There were lots of disappointments, but there were also some impressions.

𝔸𝔹𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔽𝕀𝕃𝕄

A ring of international arms dealers has spotted Bangladesh as a good target for their crimes, as they have seen it as a suitable place to sell and buy illegal arms. They are led by a notorious criminal named Nino.

The Bangladesh national security service seeks to stop the crimes by catching Nino, and so they employ the services of Major Mahmood Hasan, an elite soldier.

Major Mahmood Hasan sets out to apprehend Nino, but in his attempt, he gets abducted. He is presumed dead by the national security service and his loved ones.

Under the captivity of his enemies, he is brainwashed into a completely different identity and turned to work for his enemies against the government.

In this new life, Mahmood navigates his path to self-rediscovery and also fights to survive. On that path, however, he meets people who change his life and, in turn, affect the future of his country.

𝕄𝕐 𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝔾ℍ𝕋𝕊 & 𝕆ℙ𝕀ℕ𝕀𝕆ℕ

There is a lot more action than I had anticipated in this film. Even though most of the dialogue was not always in English, the story was pretty clear and did seem promising.

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sᴛᴏʀʏʟɪɴᴇ

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In the first few minutes of the film, I felt as though it was in full gear and moving so fast already. There was a fight scene that had no depth for me. It was a little too cliche for me. Some people may enjoy the instant delivery of thrills the film was trying to serve, but with no sufficient back story with good depth, it felt very bland. It wasn't long afterwards that the real story began, and I started to feel engaged.

When I got a grasp of what the film would be about in the beginning, I had a sense of how it was going to play out. It was basically looking like a good guy versus bad guy film in the beginning, and then there was just going to be a lot of fight scenes here and there, but then an interesting twist came along. I like that. What I didn't like about the introduction of that twist was that it lacked novelty and didn't make much sense. Overlooking that shortcoming, though, the film had an interesting flow from there.

When I say there were a lot of fight scenes, I literally mean a lot! And, to me, they were mostly ridiculous. I particularly do not appreciate an over-glorified hero, one that would seem like an invincible dude, especially in a film where superpowers are not its theme. I wonder how just one man can single-handedly take down armies unscathed most of the time.

In this film, I feel there were too many characters playing main roles. I lost grip of what the film was even about at some point because we kept jumping from one sub-story to another. They kind of linked at some point, though, and it was a tad bit challenging to follow along.

Another part of the film that I did not appreciate was the fact that there were music videos in the film. I mean, it's supposed to be an action film, right? Then, why on Earth are there romantic and cringe-worthy music videos in between? They wouldn't have been all that bad if they hadn't lasted for so long that they were tiring to watch.

Putting aside the imperfect storytelling, however, I found myself entertained for many parts of the film. Many of the fight scenes, however unrealistic they were, were engaging and entertaining, and in subtle ways, there were comic dialogues that made me laugh.

Generally, the story lacked novelty. In the sense that, if the majority of the fight scenes were taken away, most of the entertainment would fade away, and what we would have left is some cliche story that we have seen too many times.

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ᴄɪɴᴇᴍᴀᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ

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I have to hand it to them in this category, not because the film had some of the best cinematography I have seen, but because of the effort they put into giving the film life.

This film didn't have the perfect camera work, lighting, framing, and all, but the work that they put into making it come alive is something to be appreciated. With every fight scene, most especially, one could almost feel it all as the cameras moved in relation to motions and all. And when it came to reflecting emotions, they put work into the zooms and angles.

Unrelated to this category, but I would like to put it here that the use of ominous music in this film was just excessive and sometimes annoying. Not every scene needed that, but I heard a lot of unnecessary sounds that led me to have anticipations I didn't need.

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ᴀᴄᴛɪɴɢ

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I would have cut this film some slack, considering that it's a really old film, but then that would only apply to the cinematography category, as the technology and discoveries then are incomparable to now. The acting performances are a different case.

Point blank, I could only appreciate the performance of the protagonist for most of the time. Often times, especially with the extras, the actors didn't quite cut it with their acting when delivering their characters. It all felt rigid to me; it was more like the film was just being narrated.

𝕄𝕐 𝔽𝕀ℕ𝔸𝕃 𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝔾ℍ𝕋𝕊...

For a film that has a run time of over two hours, it could be a challenge to follow through till the end if one takes cognizance of its flaws. If one chooses to enjoy the thrills and entertainment it could potentially deliver, one may consider it likable.

However, it isn't a film I would recommend to people. I wouldn't recommend it to me anyway. It falls into the category of escapist films to me—films people just watch to pass time and not necessarily to indulge themselves in truly spectacular stories.