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Saturday, March 22, 2025
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BOLLYWOOD FOX
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: **1/2
It isn`t too tough to crack `Fox`. You end up realising the
identity of the culprit in this suspense thriller 15 minutes after the interval.
If only the whodunit factor could have been held on for a little longer,
"Fox" would have turned out to be as exciting as it seemed in the
first half. No, Tijori doesn`t bring the culprit on screen in the middle of the
film but leaves a couple of clues, unintentionally though, in the first hour
itself.
A person aiming a shot at Arjun in the dead of the night and a few minutes later
an old man suddenly meeting him in Goa - both these incidents, if studied
carefully, throw enough pointers for audiences to ponder over the film`s plot.
At the same time, Arjun, a top lawyer, publishes a novel titled "Fix The
Fox", which goes on to become a best-seller.
The novel includes graphic details of five gruesome murders in the past and this
detailing leads Arjun to Sunny Deol, a senior cop at the Crime Branch. It`s this
build-up till the interval that keeps the thrilling quotient intact for
"Fox".
But the turn of events does keep you watching - whether it is the lawyer who
only fights for criminals, a sense of guilt leading to a break-up with his
rapist-cum-murderer friend Vipul Gupta, a momentary break from his legal partner
and girlfriend Sagarika Ghatge, a fortunate encounter with publishing house
owner Udita Goswami or his debut novel "Fix The Fox" gaining world
wide popularity.
What mars the narrative though is that the production values are below average
for a project that has stars like Sunny and Arjun.
The frames don`t boast of a rich look to them, the set design is tacky, songs
are poor and Goan villas appears to be cardboard sets in Mumbai. Tijori has made
quite a few thrillers on television before and watching "Fox" gives an
impression that the script may well have been originally designed as a TV
thriller.
A film like "Fox" doesn`t quite warrant histrionics and Arjun Rampal
does well in keeping his act subtle. It`s a nice change to see Sunny Deol not
really talking through his fists though one expected him to be a little more
energetic.
Sagarika gets good footage for herself after her "Chak De! India"
role. Udita is required to look good in her first few scenes and she does well
there. Beyond that she hardly has a role to play in "Fox".
Even though you start solving the jigsaw puzzle before the characters are able
to do so in "Fox", you don`t really mind the storytelling. The only
trouble is that there isn`t any needle of suspicion that points towards various
characters. That`s because there isn`t any needle at all here due to a clear
black and white picture emerging quite soon. From a suspense thriller, the film
ends up being mainly a thriller.
