There are several ingredients required for a gritty and fast-paced thriller, a few of them being a neat and clear-cut storyline, edge-of-the-seat action and unpredictable suspense.
Unfortunately, Sunny Deol’s Blank, while having some good ideas, falls short of these qualities. It takes its title a tad too seriously, and that’s what your expression is when you leave the theatre. Blank.
Blank tells the tale of the dutiful cop Sidhu Diwan (Sunny Deol), who is the head of the ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad). He is so committed to his job that he does not even spare his son when it comes to the line of duty (when will Bollywood stop beating that dead horse?).
Soon, he is faced with a strange situation. An injured man (Karan Kapadia in a decent debut) is in an unconscious state in the hospital, and he has a ticking tomb hardwired into his chest, or rather as the doctors say, Uski dhadkan is bomb ki battery hai. They explain further that if his heart stops beating, the bomb will explode. The man has apparently lost his memory and doesn’t know if he is a terrorist or not.
The said bomb strapped to the man’s chest will not detonate if he is being thrashed left, right and center, or falls squarely on his chest, though. There is explanation for that too. Because, you know, Bollywood logic can find reasons for anything.
However, there is more to what meets the eye. There is more danger than the ATS could have imagined. As always, Mumbai is in trouble and has to be saved from complete and utter destruction. (Can’t we leave that city alone for once?)
So Diwan channels his inner Sunny Deol, and darts off on this deadly mission to combat terrorism with his dhai-kilo haath. That’s not a vague metaphor. That actually happens. Most of the action scenes involve Sunny gunning down men with a tiny revolver. The terrorists’ rifles are no match for him and his bellowing at them.
To be fair, Blank had an interesting storyline. However, apart from crater-sized loopholes and cringe-worthy dialogues, it caters to every possible Bollywood-Muslim stereotype and age-old tropes. All the Muslims have long beards; call each other Janaab’, wear kajal, scars, and wax eloquent in Urdu during the climax scenes. Sigh.
And so when the twist comes, the weary audience has had enough and even Karan Kapadia’s earnest efforts cannot salvage the situation.
Ironically, you’re keener on seeing Karan that you are to see Sunny Deol. Sunny Deol will always be Sunny Deol, and that statement speaks for itself.
But regarding Karan, the young star-kid makes a fair debut and has got the hang of emoting on-screen and convincing his audience. You don’t get the feeling that he is trying too hard to impress. In the beginning, just before the plot derails, you feel intrigued by the storyline, and that’s just thanks to him.
Unfortunately, his performance is almost submerged under a confused and tangled plot that just gets messier along the way.
Ishita Dutta is in this film too and is completely wasted in her role, except to play cross and knots with a child in an attempt to get information out of her, and throw a few punches here and there.
Blank could have been sharper and crisper, had the makers not gotten overexcited with Sunny Deol starring in the film, who just drowns out everyone else.
At the end, the title Blank is just symbolic of the audience’s frame of mind at the end of the film.