This is a surreal spoof of James Bond. Otherwise, it's one of the worst Bond clones ever made. Well, the first definition is better. Because this way, and this way only, it works!
As a spoof, it has all the right points: (Mahendra Sandhu) is a great mockery out of all the actors who played Bond. He has no charisma, his face oozes stupidity, and he's very funny in the action scenes (always hoped he would have swallowed that little bomb as a vitamin!). The serious fights were as laughable as (Jagdeep)'s fooling around. The plot is the most surreal plot I have seen for a Bond movie, or else. It's not where "some of the scenes aren't understood", it's rather "ALL the scenes isn't understood". Till now, the way how (Helen) was alive, then dead, then alive again, then dead again, all in 2 scenes is one of the weirdest events ever made in a movie!
(Jagdeep) as Mr. 007 was part of the surreal condition. You'll never know what exactly his work is, or why he helps the lead. In lieu of Bond's sophisticated criminal organizations, such as Specter, this movie's organization is a humble gang. Their technology is all about wireless and electronic bars. Clearly they needed to upgrade their level to be any sophisticated or dangerous in the first place! I loved how all the bad girls has a tattoo that exposes their belonging to the organization, even the spies (undercover indeed!). The one-liners pretend to be cool, while falling flat on the face. Can you tell me what's so cool about lines like "Never shoot a man who gives you a gun"??!! Let alone that this movie replaces the famous "My name is Bond. James Bond", with "My name is Vinod. Agent Vinod" as if Agent is the lead's first name!
Hurrah for the minor parts' casting. It hit the comic mark successfully. Aside from the fact that all the henchmen wore one uniform (black suit, black tie, black hat, and black mustache!), they looked miserably simpleton more than frightfully evil. One of them, instead of killing the lead, jumps off the window when the lead eyes him; to cause one of the movie's biggest laughs!
Some artistic points fascinated me; like how (Jagdeep)'s shadow was reflected on what was assumed to be the sky (it was an obvious painting), how the yellow gun of (Asha Sachdev) was a poor plastic toy, how the villain watches the lead fighting his henchmen on a security system TV, however shown with sharp editing!, how while his sneaking into the villain's palace, the lead is wearing a hobo's coat in one moment, then - out of the blue - a full suit in the second, his colored papion there was super cheesy; being so close to a coiled flamboyant swimsuit, how the movie remakes, mostly dully, the climactic fight with Oddjob of Goldfinger (1964), the mirrors' room shootout of The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), and the supernormal jumps of The Bionic Woman (1976)! But nothing can beat the male dancers of Helen's dance; they match how the gay aliens might look in any mentally deranged imagination!
On the contrary, it had some "real" fun: The songs were excellent (Bollywood's forever gold). The motorcycle chase was impressively made, except for its end where the lead tumbled and his motorcycle fell over him! The mirrors room shootout was done with some classy editing. And (Jagdeep) created what could be the smartest, highly enjoyable, and immortal moments in this movie.
In (1977), an original Bond movie was released, The Spy Who Loved Me. Now with Agent Vinod, we have The Spy Who Cracked Me Up. I won't say that it's a B, if not C, grade Indian Bond, No, I'll say if only (Jagdeep) starred the whole thing; it would have been a frank and perfect comedy from start to finish!
PS: In 1977, we had Saturday Night Fever, where (John Travolta) wore a white suit, and stood on the dance floor in that famous pose, with his arm pointing up. Strangely, in Agent Vinod, (Mahendra Sandhu) does the very move, while wearing the very suit, right after the first fight; with the 2 goons in the street. The single difference was that (Travolta) used his right arm, and (Sandhu) used his left arm. Hmmm, if it isn't a coincidence, then maybe (Sandhu) wanted to assure the "fever" pitch of the situation, or maybe, according to Agent Vinod's glory as a spy spoof, (Travolta) stole the move to get some fame for himself!
1 out of 1 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
