''Tezz'' () is a 2012 Indian
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...
. It stars
Ajay Devgn
Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...
,
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...
,
Kangana Ranaut
Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...
,
Zayed Khan
Zayed Abbas Khan (born 5 July 1980) is a former Indian actor and producer who appeared in Hindi films. The son of Bollywood actor Sanjay Khan, he has received a Filmfare Award nomination.
After graduating in Business Management at the Montgom ...
,
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films, in addition to Tamil and Telugu language films. Reddy made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. She is best known for ...
and
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career.
Ear ...
.
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
actor
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
appears in an
extended cameo appearance. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from audiences.
The film is loosely based on the 1975
Japanese film
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
''
The Bullet Train
(also known as ''Super Express 109'') is a 1975 Japanese action thriller film directed by Junya Satō and starring Ken Takakura, Sonny Chiba, and Ken Utsui. When a Shinkansen ("bullet train") is threatened with a bomb that will explode automa ...
''.
Plot
Aakash Rana is an illegal immigrant married to British-Indian citizen Nikita living as a successful engineer. He is eventually caught and deported from the UK, thus crushing his dreams of an ideal life.
Four years later, Aakash returns with a
vengeance
Vengeance may refer to:
*Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance
Film
* ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo
* ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...
on his mind and teams up with his former employees Aadil Khan and Megha to wreak some havoc. What follows is a
bomb threat
A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists.
History
Bomb threat ...
on a
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
and a tense railway control officer Sanjay Raina and anti-terrorism officer Arjun Khanna trying every trick in the book to avert the disaster and to apprehend the culprits. Sanjay Raina tries his best to save his daughter Piya, and the passengers in the train who are thrown in the mix are police officer Shivan Menon and his team of
police force
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
, who are escorting a prisoner on the same ill-fated train. Aakash demands 10 million euros to tell them how to disarm the bomb. The ministry does not want to give the money, but Khanna convinces them that the money will be given back and is a way to lure the terrorists.
After following Aakash's instructions and dropping the money in a river, he walks away. Megha gets the money and tries to get away. She evades the cops after a vicious chase, but unfortunately, she is killed by a van in an intersection. Khanna finds out that Khan is one of the bombers and chases him. Khan is shot in the leg, but he gets away after jumping from the bridge and landing on a jet ski driven by Aakash. Aakash once again demands money and asks it to be left in a dustbin. The dustbin falls inward, and Aakash runs away with the money even though the police attempt to pursue him.
Khanna and his team find out where Aadil is and go to arrest him. Aadil commits suicide with a bomb, almost killing Khanna. Aakash calls Raina and tells him that a note has been left at a restaurant called Delhi Darbar that tells how to defuse the bomb. However, the restaurant catches on fire, and the letter is burnt. Aakash visits Nikita and his son, and they arrange to flight out of the UK that night. Khanna visits Nikita and tells her who her husband is. After changing the plan (that they should leave the UK via train because the police have found out about his plan of leaving via plane), he goes to the train station. There he sees a video of Raina asking the bomber to call again as the letter was burnt.
Aakash calls Raina and tells him that the bomb was not connected to the wheels and the train will not explode if stopped. Raina stops the train, and everyone disembarks safely. Nikita, who is helping Khanna now, goes to the train station and sees Aakash and the news that the bomb threat was a hoax. She lets Aakash go, but Khanna finds out as Aakash's son calls him Daddy. Khanna chases him, and they fight. Aakash please to Khanna to let him go and explains why he took such drastic actions. Realizing that Aakash was a victim of deportation and wants to just be with his family again at peace, Khanna stays silent (hinting he will let him leave scot free). However, the police arrive; after seeing that Aakash had a gun, they shoot him.
In the end, Nikita receives a letter Aakash had written. It stated that the money (which Aakash asked for defusing the bomb) was in Aakash's bank locker. He also states that she should give half the money to Megha's brother and Adil's mother. He asks her to tell his son that what he did was to get justice. Finally, Aakash tells Nikita that if they ever meet in the next life, the end of their love story would be much better and bids her goodbye.
Cast
*
Ajay Devgn
Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...
as Aakash Rana, an engineer, small-time criminal, and has an alliance with his fellow employees.
*
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...
as Anti-Terrorism Officer Arjun Khanna, a cop who tries to stop Rana and his friends.
*
Zayed Khan
Zayed Abbas Khan (born 5 July 1980) is a former Indian actor and producer who appeared in Hindi films. The son of Bollywood actor Sanjay Khan, he has received a Filmfare Award nomination.
After graduating in Business Management at the Montgom ...
as Aadil Khan, Aakash's employee who is a bomber and a stunt doubling ninja.
*
Kangana Ranaut
Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...
as Nikita Malhotra / Nikita Aakash Rana, Aakash's wife who has no memory of him since he became a criminal.
*
Boman Irani
Boman Irani (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian actor, photographer and voice artist who works predominantly in Hindi cinema he has also worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. He has acted in more than a 100 films in his career.
Ear ...
as Sanjay Raina, Arjun's comrade whose daughter boards a train with a bomb
*
Sameera Reddy
Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films, in addition to Tamil and Telugu language films. Reddy made her film debut with the 2002 film ''Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. She is best known for ...
as Megha Singh, Aakash's 2nd employee who was hit by a speeding van.
*
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
as Shivan Menon (
Extended cameo appearance)
*
Danny Sapani
Danny Sapani (born 15 November 1970) is a British actor who works in British, American, and Indian films. He is best known for appearing in ''Misfits'', '' Doctor Who'', ''Penny Dreadful'', ''The Crown'', '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' and '' Bl ...
as David, the
train driver
A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...
*
Manpreet Bambra
Manpreet Bambra (born 10 July 1992) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Katie Lord on the CBBC series ''Wizards vs Aliens'' and Jade in the Netflix series ''Free Rein''.
Early life and education
Bambra grew up in Water Oakley ...
as Arjun Khanna's daughter
*
Philip Martin Brown
Philip Martin Brown (born 9 July 1956) is a British actor from Manchester. He is known for his long-running portrayal of English teacher Grantly Budgen in the hit BBC One school-based drama series ''Waterloo Road (TV series), Waterloo Road'', w ...
as Police Chief Inspector Alan Fisher
*
Dominic Power
Dominic Power (born 5 May 1973) is an English actor. Power has portrayed Leon Taylor in the ITV police drama ''The Bill'' and Cameron Murray in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. He is currently appearing in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks' ...
as Joseph
*
Avika Gor
Avika Gor (born 30 June 1997) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi television and Telugu films. She is famously known for playing the role of Anandi in '' Balika Vadhu'' and Roli in ''Sasural Simar Ka''. She made her Telugu film ...
as Piya Raina, Sanjay and Renu's daughter, who boards a train with a hidden bomb.
* Puja Bratt as Doctor Renu Raina
*
Bhavna Pani
Bhavna Pani is an Indian actress, model and dancer. She is trained in classical dance forms Odissi and Kathak, as well as in ballet and contemporary modern dance. She debuted in films in 2001 with ''Tere Liye''.
Career
Bhavna Pani was born ...
as Radhika
* Cory Goldberg
* Naveed Choudhry as Worker/Mechanic
*
Neeraj Vora
Neeraj Vora (22 January 1963 14 December 2017) was an Indian film director, writer, actor and composer from Gujarat. He made a mark in Bollywood with his work as a writer for Ram Gopal Verma's film '' Rangeela'' (1995). His directorial debut ...
* Lee Nicholas Harris as Armed Police Officer SO19
*
Jing Lusi
Jing Lusi (Chinese: 陆思敬; born 16 May 1985) is a British actress. She is best known for her roles in ''Stan Lee's Lucky Man'', the 2018 hit film '' ''Crazy Rich Asians' and BAFTA nominated series '' ''Gangs of London'. On stage, Lus ...
as Reporter
*
Jamie Maclachlan
Jamie Maclachlan (born 1981) is a British actor who has worked extensively in the business but is best known for playing the lead role of Roger Bannister in the Emmy Award nominated film 'Four Minutes', alongside Christopher Plummer. For his p ...
as Reporter
* David Berg, Merrill Sells, Tara, Aidan and Dylan Berg (cameo appearance)
*
Mallika Sherawat
Reema Lamba (born 24 October 1976), better known as Mallika Sherawat, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi language films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude in films like ''Khwahish'' (2003) and ''Murder'' (2004), Sherawat ...
as Desi Club Dancer Laila (
Item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Be ...
in song ''Laila'')
Production
Filming was done primarily in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. The
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
dialogues mainly spoken by the actors have been dubbed in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
.
Filming began in the beginning of 2011 in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and wrapped up in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
.
The stunt choreographer chosen for the movie was Gareth Milne, the stunt co-ordinator of ''
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' and ''
National Treasure: Book of Secrets''.
Music
The
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
was composed by the musical duo
Sajid–Wajid
Sajid–Wajid was an Indian Bollywood Hindi film music director duo consisting of brothers Sajid Khan and Wajid Khan, the sons of Sharafat Ali Khan, a tabla player.
Wajid Khan, the younger of the two brothers, died on June 1, 2020. Since th ...
, and the lyrics were penned by
Shabbir Ahmed and
Jalees Sherwani
Jalees Sherwani was an Indian screenwriter and lyricist. His first appearance was in the film "Kanwarlal" with Jeetendra.
He died in 2018.
Filmography
*''Pratighat'' (1987) (dialogue)
*''Kanwarlal'' (1988) (dialogue)
*''Hatyare'' (1989) (dialogu ...
. It was released by
Eros Music
Eros Music (also known as Eros Now Music) is a music studio and distributor based in Mumbai, India. It is the dependent and domestic music label of Eros International, an Indian film production and distribution company owned by Eros Media World ...
and
Venus Records & Tapes
Ishtar Music is an Indian record label company, originally founded by Ganesh Jain and Ratan Jain as Venus Music in 1988 and currently a subsidiary of Believe Digital. It is primarily known for publishing and marketing Bollywood music soundtracks ...
. The music launch was held in Delhi on 30 March.
Soundtrack
Track listing
Release
The
theatrical trailer
A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and tech ...
was released on 4 January 2012. The film was released on 27 April 2012 in 1950 screens.
Reception
Box office
India
''Tezz'' opened to a good opening of 85% in
multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
* Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make
* Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain
* Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company
* Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...
es, and occupancy rose as the day progressed. Single screens were better as expected, but even there occupancy remained up around 95%. That was a very good opening keeping in mind the recent box office performance of
Ajay Devgn
Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...
.
Other territories
''Tezz'' did well overseas with a business of $8,550,000. The major market figures are as follows:
* United Kingdom: £460,000
* North America: $250,000
* UAE: $130,000
* Australia: $45,000
Critical response
The movie received mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3.5 out 5 and says, "TEZZ is a taut, entertaining action spectacle. Those with an appetite for well-made thrillers should lap it up!" Jaidev Hemmady of ''Movie Talkies'' gave the film 3.5 out 5 stars and said, "Tricks & Thrills Galore! The overall racy pace of the movie and the nail-biting chase sequences. Apart from the few scenes, where the pace of the movie drops, the film overall lives up to its title 'Tezz'." Subhash K. Jha of IANS gave 3 out of 5 Stars saying "Not quite edge-of-the-seat, the thrills in Tezz are engaging enough to keep us watching".
Kunal Guha of Yahoo Movies gave the movie 1/2 out of 5 and calls this "an epic fail of bomb diffusion by Priyadarshan". Blessy Chettiar of DNA rated Tezz with 1.5 out of possible five stars and wrote in her review "May be Priyadarshan should stick to mindless comedies, so we can be sure we’re in safe territory. You won't be missing much if you skipped Tezz". Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN gives 1.5 out of 5 and says Tezz is "awfully boring for a film that promises speed and thrills". Srijana Mitra Das of ToI gave it three stars out of five.
Daily Bhaskar returned a 2.5 out of 5 and said, "Overall, Tezz deserves a one-time watch as it doesn't disappoint". Mid-Day gave it 2 out of 5 and said it has "a predictable plot and lack of pace makes this an entirely forgettable film."
References
External links
*
''Tezz'' cast and crew details – Bollywood Hungama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tezz
2012 films
2010s Hindi-language films
Films set on trains
Indian action thriller films
2012 action thriller films
Films about hijackings
Indian heist films
Films set in England
Indian remakes of Japanese films
Films directed by Priyadarshan
Films shot in London
Films shot in Scotland
Films shot in Hampshire
Films about organised crime in India
Indian vigilante films
2010s vigilante films
2010s heist films