The Xpose

Words fail me when I try to express my sentiments on 2 supremely contrasting examples of cinema that will make their mark on the nation today. 16th May 2014 will definitely go down in the annals of Indian History as a red letter day - and I'm not referring to the more than obvious result in the General Elections 2014. It will be remembered forever as the day a man from Gujarat took on a monster from across the seven seas.

I'm of course referring to Himes Bhai and Godzilla. And it is not just the power of Himes Bhai that the monster will have to face. Reinforcements begin with the likes of Yo Yo Honey Singh ji and move onto international stars such as Irrfan Khan in the form of a black marketeer / narrator and also Adil Hussain (Life of Pi fame).

Ananth Narayanan Mahadevan (better known as Ananth Mahadevan to us oldies) not only directs this masterpiece but also stars in it. For those who are unfamiliar with ANM's previous works they include the likes of Khiladi (Akshay Kumar) where we know what ANM's role was. Apparently his obsession with that role hasn't ended... Oops did I give something away? Damn!!!

Let me at this stage also clarify that the title of the movie is The Xpose. Not Expose or not Exposé (pronounced exposay). It is "The Xpose". Mind it. It is a story set in the 60s period of Bollywood where 2 trends came into being - angry young man and sex symbol. For the latter one needs, "Na dance na expression na pose. Sirf Xpose"!!! (sic). I'm not kidding you. I swear that was the line.

Ravi Kumar (Himesh Reshammiya) is an ex-cop who has to leave the force for shooting an unarmed minister who is irritating him. In Ravi's words, "Gussa aa gaya thha" (I got angry). The minister doesn't take his line seriously, "Tirange ko salaam karta hoon. Bhrashth mantri ko nahin" (I salute only the Indian flag - not corrupt politicans"!!!

So once he serves his meagre sentence of 1.5 years (we should all become cops and kill a few corrupt politicians) he gets picked up by famed South Indian director Subba Prasad (Mahadevan) and becomes an overnight hit equivalent to Thalaivar.  Next stop –Bollywood. Subba decides to launch him with sex symbol Zara Fernandes (Sonali Raut).

Simultaneously, the current star of Bollywood Chandni (Zoya Afroz) is rocking the vote with her latest release.  Turns out she isn’t rocking just the vote but also the heart of a certain super star from the South who is actually from UP.  To add a twist to the tale Zara’s apparent suicide turns out to be a murder.

The XPose is probably HR’s finest piece of work as of now.  How else would you describe a pint sized actor (5’ 2”) trying to ensure that Thalaivar rolls in his grave even before he has found his way into it.  Check out some of the dialogues in the trailer but the one that is outstanding has to be, “Ravi Kumar Langot ka bahut pakka hai. Woh bistar pe neend ke alaawa aur kuch nahin leta” (translation refused).

If you still have doubts about watching The XPose, then I do not know how you can call yourself a lover of entertainment.  There can be nothing more entertaining than the 113 minutes – ok I will be fair 100 out of 113 minutes – of The Xpose.  There is even a cat fight thrown in between Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut.  You still don’t want to watch it? You have got to be kidding me!!! I give it a 10 on 10*.

Watch the trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GDC0QyIWm4

* meant for those who didn’t get the sarcasm in the rating or the entire review. 1 on 10 actually thanks to a couple of decent songs