Mr.X (3D) : The Bugle's Verdict

Mr.X (3D) is the latest product from the Vishesh Films banner, directed by Vikram Bhatt, the prince of horror and CGI films in India (RGV’s the king). Let’s start off by stating that yet again, Vikram Bhatt doesn’t disappoint, as in the fact that he shows no intention to make a plausible film, sticking to his professional motto that he has adopted for many of his past films - Make a film. Add a pinch of 3D. Add some Emraan Hashmi smooching action. Chuck story aside, and Voila! You’ve got the bestseller film (That’s not a motto. That’s the script of most Vikram Bhatt movies, though I’m not too sure about the bestseller bit).

Emran Hashmi plays Raghuram (not the Roadies one). He and lady love Amyra Dastur are two top-cops (Puh-leease) working for the fictional Anti Terrorism Department, in Mumbai. Disaster strikes on the eve of their wedding. Becoming a pawn in a political conspiracy, Mr.Hashmi somehow ends up at the bottom of a gutted refinery, where the radiation makes him deformed, causing his leather jacket to become part of his skin (basically you could call him Cow-Man). After a pharmaceutical scientist tries some experimental medicine on him, he receives the power of invisibility, but there’s a catch; he can only be seen in sunlight or any other form of ultraviolet light (Let’s skip the science lesson, the filmmakers did too). Now he must become Mr.X to exact revenge on the people who wronged him i.e. Arunoday Singh.

Mix movies like Hollowman, the Punisher and some of Ghalib’s secret stash of Urdu poetry that he never desired anyone to hear, and you get Mr.X. The film is never able to decide whether it’s a thriller, or a supernatural thriller, or a vigilante film, or a trip to the asylum. There’s a continuous struggle between science and religion trying to explain the bizarreness of Mr.X and his even more bizarre persona, which each trying to one-up the other by putting forth all their expendable knowledge, irrelevant to the point of concern, for the viewers to choose from, be it random chemical explanations or shlokas from the Bhagawad Gita.

The special effects, CGI and green-screening are just terrible. The invisibility and transition effects though, were pulled off quite neatly . It’s really strange why the rest of the movie had SFX from a late 80’s movie.

Principal photography is extremely shaky, with scenes frequently jumping between Mumbai and random foreign locations. In fact, the only discernible portion of Mumbai is seen in the window of the ATD headquarters, which shows it to be opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

   

Emraan Hashmi does an okay job. He brings nothing new to the table. Pleasant to the eye, and not too hard on the ears, he is just himself, which is not his fault actually, as it is precisely what his current films have him doing. Amyra Dastur is a live-action Barbie doll – thin, plastic and just there to add to the film’s wardrobe... AND she loves smelling Emraan Hashmi. That’s all there is to her description.

Tanmay Bhat, from All India Bakchod, recently in the news for the infamous Roast, plays Mr.X’s loyal sidekick. In my opinion he should really be sticking to YouTube videos in the future.

Verdict – Gather your buddies on a Saturday, bring out the beer, the snacks, and have a good time. If not that you could read your favourite book. Or you could go see a movie. Unless it’s Mr.X. Anything is better than Mr.X.