Zee5 State Of Siege Temple Attack streaming on Zee5 movie opens in Kupwara, J&K, in 2001. A minister’s daughter has been kidnapped by terrorists. A NSG unit led by Major Hanut Singh (Akshaye Khanna) launches an attack on the hideout. The girl is rescued but an Indian army captain (Akshay Oberoi in a cameo) is felled by a bullet. The Major is blamed for the loss of an officer.
Akshay Kumar’s hostage rescue thriller fictionalizes the September 24, 2002 terror attack on Ahmedabad’s Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in a manner that reeks of staleness, State Of Siege: Temple Attack has its inevitable share of explosions. Yet the Ken Ghosh-directed Zee5 film, a follow-up to a web series (State Of Siege: 26/11), is anything but dull and leaves you quite disappointed as a hostage rescue thriller.
State of Siege Temple Attack is a run of the mill movie that lacks entertainment
The script by William Borthwick and Simon Fantauzzo is constructed with elements that have lost all its uniqueness. Terrorists have for long been a staple of Indian action movies. The exploits of secret agents and courageous commandos have plugged in innumerable web shows and movie in recent years. So, another run of the mill movie comes along and delivers nothing exciting, all it can do is to leave the audience with a disheartened entertainer.
State Of Siege: Temple Attack, mayhem is unleashed by four terrorists, double the number of men who were involved in the real-life incident in which 30 people were gunned down. In a long disclaimer, the makers assert what is about to unfold on the screen is wholly fictional. Why then even bother to attempt a purported reenactment of true events?
In terms of the drama that it seeks to whip up around an event that occurred two decades ago, State Of Siege: Temple Attack comes up with little that could be deemed useful in terms of information or insight. Its narrative building blocks, all too familiar, tread safe ground.
State of Siege Temple Attack lacks the high octane energy
A National Security Guards (NSG) officer with a botched mission and the death of a fellow officer on his conscience looks for redemption. Another NSG man is expecting his first child. His wife is in a maternity ward even as the hostage crisis escalates and he is summoned back to the thick of the action.
Two men in uniform – one torn between his desire to make amends for a past failure and the necessity to play by the rules; the other caught between the call of duty and the need to be by his wife’s side – are the faces of valour that the film celebrates. Fair enough. But if you expect a great deal of tension and energy to emanate from the inner conflicts of the duo, banish the thought.
To complete the picture, a scowling, bearded terror mastermind – can they ever look any different in a Hindi film? – barks orders to a quartet of trained men on a suicide mission. Neither the leader nor the flock evolve into anything more than stereotypes.