It is a much talked about movie of the season. Mumbai Express, which was released today, follows in the wake of the success of Vasoolraja. Kamal has the knack of cracking a good story and his ability to sustain a full-length comedy on his shoulders is a testimony to his cinematic acumen. In Mumbai Express, therefore, he has handled the story and screenplay in an attempt to provide a thriller cloaked in comedy.

Pasupathi, Vaiyapuri and Ramesh Aravind plot to kidnap the son of the building contractor,(Santhanabarathi) who is greedy to grab the poor slum-dwellers’ land. As the fourth person in the gang meets with an accident, they rope in Kamal, who is a master rider. On the D-day, they kidnap the boy, only he is not the son of Santhanabarathi but of ACP Nasser. The twist in the story starts from here. Kamal calls up Santhanabarathi and seeks a ransom of one crore rupees. The worried father pays up only to find out that his son is safe. He informs the police of the kidnapping episode who start the investigation. Meanwhile, Nasser who is the father of the hostage starts a clandestine attempt to trace the boy born out of an illicit relationship with Manisha Koirala. With the police hot on their heels, the panicky kidnappers plan to kill the boy. Kamal who keeps the money has a change of heart and saves the boy and rescues his mother from the clutches of Nasser.

The treatment of the story is so convoluted that the viewer is left with several loose ends. The impact of comedy is evident only in the body language of the actors although the situations are far from comical. Kamal’s range of acting is panoramic and he has done a good job as the deaf man with the golden heart. Another revelation is Pasupathi who has broken out of the Virumandi mould to do comedy. His method acting is very natural. A talented actress like Manisha has absolutely no substance to her role and she just dream walks in the film. Nasser has nothing much to do. Overall the talented actors have not been utilized fully in the screenplay and the experienced director (Singeetham Srinivasa Rao) has failed to plug the loopholes.

The background score by maestro Ilayaraaja is passable. Cinematography is excellent especially the action scenes and on the super fast highways outside Mumbai.

The film is neither here nor there and could have been done with more finesse.