Anil
Kapoor's
24
is
a
much
needed
break
from
the
dreadfully
boring
days
of
Saas-Bahu
conflicts
shown
on
the
small
screen
as
it
brings
a
world
of
classy
production
values
and
mature
performances
unknown
to
Indian
television.
The
first
two
episodes,
which
were
aired
this
weekend,
were
instant
showstoppers.
Like
the
show's
agile
energetic
anti-terror
hero,
there
is
not
an
ounce
of
flab
in
the
hour-long
playing
time
of
24.
24
simply
grabs
your
attention
and
refuses
to
let
it
go.
First
things
first.
The
production
values
seen
on
the
show
are
of
a
calibre
unknown
to
Indian
television.
Metropolitan
night-life
was
never
meant
to
be
like
this.
Mumbai
is
caught
in
a
feverish
flourish
of
night-time
bustle
turning
it
into
a
city
of
pulsating
activity
as
the
serial
kick-started
with
some
of
the
crispest
fiction
writing.
Rensil
D'Silva
and
Bhavani
Iyer's
writing
is
topnotch.
While
retaining
the
looming
suspense
and
the
breakneck
narrative
speed
of
the
original
American
series,
the
writers
have
created
space
for
the
very
peculiar
cultural
compulsions
of
urban
India
where
the
householder
must
balance
the
demands
of
his
posh
job
with
family
obligations.
Milap
Jhaveri's
dialogues
capture
the
wry
cynicism
and
the
split-second
immediacy
of
anti-terrorists
working
against
the
clock.
But
Jhaveri
doesn't
slavishly
copy
the
original
dialogues
from
the
American
series.
None
of
the
"Kya
tum
sach
mein
ho?"
(literal
translation
of
"Are
you
for
real?")
incongruities.
One
wonders
as
to
whether
this
is
the
same
guy
who
scripted
the
smut
spree
in
Grand
Masti?
Anil
too
suprises.
His
range
of
performing
abilities
swing
irreconcilably
from
the
nudge-nudge-wink-wink
innuendos
of
Race
2
on
the
70mm
screen
to
the
mature
panther-like
agility
of
a
family
man
coping
with
a
national
crisis
in
24
on
the
portable
screen.
It's
a
dream
role,
and
one
into
which
Anil
sinks
his
teeth
with
restrained
relish.
Nowhere
does
he
over-do
the
bravura,
even
in
that
intrinsically
cocky
sequence
where
he
injects
glucose
into
his
insufferable
senior
pretending
it
would
kill
the
boor
in
seconds.
Such
writing
would
conventionally
be
considered
wasted
on
television,
a
medium
that
has
so
far
been
treated
as
a
lair
for
leftover
talent
from
cinema.
In
one
brilliant
stroke
Anil
shows
what
can
be
achieved
on
that
much-abused
space
in
your
living
room.
24
(Twenty
Four)
is
so
full
of
anxious
characters
chasing
the
opposite
of
dreams
that
we
watch
them
not
only
to
gauge
their
commitment
to
doing
what
they
are
assigned
to,
but
to
see
where
their
unrelenting
passion
for
out-witting
fate
takes
them.
The
show
has
Anil
Kapoor,
Tisca
Chopra,
Shabana
Azmi,
Anupam
Kher,
Mandira
Bedi
and
many
more
playing
lead
roles.
Game-changer?
24
certainly
is
that.
And
a
lot
more.
What
is
likeable
is
the
Indianizations
that
have
been
teased
into
the
tightly-wound
plot
simmering
with
the
summer
of
desi
discontent.
Neil
Bhoopalam,
so
far
seen
in
cheesy
roles
on
the
big
screen
in
No
One
Killed
Jessica
and
David,
makes
a
very
convincing
prime
ministerial
candidate
in
the
series.
The
content
is
so
riveting
that
you
wonder
if
all
the
brilliant
writers
are
migrating
to
television
leaving
cinema
to
the
'besharams'
of
the
written
word.
24
is
definitely
going
to
take
a
lot
of
persuasive
powers
from
filmmakers
to
drag
viewers
out
of
their
homes
on
Friday
and
Saturday
nights!
Also
Read...
IANS