Mission Istaanbul

Mission Istaanbul
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Apoorva Lakhia
Produced by	Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor Suniel Shetty Shabbir Boxwala
Screenplay by	Suresh Nair Apoorva Lakhia
Story by	Suresh Nair
Starring	Vivek Oberoi Zayed Khan Shriya Saran Shabbir Ahluwalia
Music by	Shamir Tandon Chirantan Bhatt Anu Malik Mika Singh
Cinematography	Gururaj R J
Editing by	Rajesh Singh
Distributed by	Popcorn Motion Pictures Balaji Telefilms Hari Om Entertainment Co.
Release date(s)	July 25, 2008
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	Rs. 13.11 crores

Mission Istaanbul is a 2008 action film starring Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan and Shriya Saran. The film, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, features Abhishek Bachchan in a special appearance.

Plot

Vikas Sagar (Zayed Khan) would go anywhere for a scoop, risk his life and limb to get an exclusive story that nobody else can. It is for this precise reason Vikas is a familiar face watched by six million viewer's weeknights on Aaj Tak news channel. Ambitious, popular and professional, Vikas is considered one of the most promising journalists in the business.

It is also the reason Uwais Hussain (Suniel Shetty), a senior producer at the controversial Istanbul-based Al Johara, widely criticised as the mouthpiece of terrorists or as their network of choice, makes him an offer to head the channel's proposed Indian bureau for an outrageous salary and other perks. It is an offer he almost can't refuse because of the channel's controversial profile which ensures that it is seen by everyone globally, including the White House. It certainly would take Vikas's career to another level not only does he become the highest paid journalist in India but also puts him on an international platform. But there is one condition that the head hunters from Al Johara insist he must join ASAP and then fly to Istanbul for a three month orientation programme.

Their offer couldn't have come at a better time for Vikas, who's undergoing a painful divorce with wife Anjali (Shriya Saran), an equally feisty journalist whose desire to have a baby leads to their separation because her husband wants her to wait a little longer and seems to be in no mood to start a family. While Al Johara dangles the temptation of kickstarting their India operations, Vikas accepts the offer largely to mend his broken heart.

But little does Vikas know that his life is about to change when he takes the flight to Istanbul on a three month orientation program at the channel's headquarters. While Al Johara is one of the most viewed channels in the world, its reputation has been largely built as the mouthpiece of a dreaded terrorist. Abu Nazir, who is on the most wanted lists of both the Interpol and FBI, is vociferous in his threat to wage war against several countries, including India. A threat he usually delivers via a videotape to Al Johara.

On the flight Vikas finds himself seated next to a stunningly beautiful copassenger who hates flying. Lisa Lobo (Shweta Bhardwaj) is headed for Istanbul to attend a medical convention or so she claims. In her obvious discomfort, she turns to an amused Vikas for moral support and distraction from the reality of being airborne. It is a budding friendship that's grounded the moment the flight lands and Lisa disappears at the airport.

Once in Istanbul, Vikas's initial impression of Al Johara is in sharp contrast to its notorious reputation. Especially when he meets the charismatic Ghazni (Niketan Dheer), who has business interests all over the world but whose obsession these days is Al Johara as an instrument to shape world events. There is only one word of caution to Vikas and that's never ever to venture onto the 13th floor known as the Catacomb.

As part of his orientation, Vikas gets handson experience in the Al Johara newsroom where he watches ghastly and exclusive news reports of terrorism. He learns more about Abu Nazir, who is described as "a one man organisation whose existence revolves around a single person." Vikas is told that it is extremely difficult to find out any details about his private life and his habits because such information would help the secret services who are looking for him. "Abu Nazir is cautious to the point of paranoia."

Reeling under the impact of the reality bytes at work, Vikas's only relief is his flirtatious encounters with Lisa and the lively company of soldier-turned journalist Owais Hussain who is looking forward to quitting his job and settling down with his Irish girlfriend.

But on an assignment to cover kidnapped journalists in one of Abu Nazir's terrorist camps in Afghanistan, Vikas is shocked when Abu Nazir's brother, Khalil (Shabbir Ahluwalia), brutally executes Owais Hussain just before a UN peacekeeping force mounts a rescue operation.

Reeling at this close encounter with terrorism and watching a brutal killing, Vikas returns to Istanbul in a daze and is approached by a former Turkish commando, Rizwan Khan (Vivek Oberoi), who hints that no senior employee has ever quit Al Johara and rattles off a list of Al Johara employees who had been killed in terrorist attacks within days of there being of rumours of their plans to quit or their resumes circulating in the job market! Vikas is quickly reminded of Owais Husain expressing the same to him. The stranger poses a few more questions about Al Johara like why Abu Nazir speaks only to Al Johara and leaves quietly.

Vikas discreetly runs a check on the names rattled off by Rizwan and discovers he was indeed telling the truth. Five Al Johara staffers before Owais Husain had either died in a car bomb explosion, abducted and killed or simply found dead. It sends a chill through Vikas's spine. He slowly notices that not everything is as simple as they look in the offices of Al Johara, especially when he seems to bump into strangers whose faces he soon recognises as suicide bombers in a couple of terrorist attacks. The deeper Vikas digs into Al Johara's history and operations, the more questions crop up in his mind. And then he makes the cardinal mistake of straying onto the 13th floor.

Soon Vikas realises that all is not what it seems and that he can't trust anyone not even Lisa! As he is tortured for straying onto the 13th floor, double crossed by Lisa and watches wife Anjali narrowly surviving a suicide bomb attack in Srinagar, Vikas has no choice but to ally with Rizwan after he makes a shocking revelation that Abu Nazir is dead but being kept alive by Al Johara through videotapes by using digital images of the terrorist and doctoring old footage.

Thereafter Vikas Sagar finds himself creating news rather than reporting it as he steals the secrets locked away on Al Johara's 13th floor, incurs Ghazni's wrath and becomes a man on the run wanted by Turkish cops, terrorists, the CIA and Lisa Lobo!

From wielding a mike before a television camera, he is forced to wield a gun and join Rizwan in a bloody mission against international terrorism.

Cast

• Zayed Khan as Vikas Sagar
• Vivek Oberoi as Rizwan Khan
• Shreya Saran as Anjali Sagar
• Nikitin Dheer as Al Gazini
• Shabbir Ahluwalia as Khalil Nazir
• Suniel Shetty as Owais Hussain
• Shweta Bhardwaj as Dr. Lisa Lobo
• Abhishek Bachchan in a Special Appearance

Production

Zayed Khan's role was initially meant to be played by Bobby Deol. Tusshar Kapoor was offered a villain role but turned that role down and then gave it to Nikitin Dheer.^[1]

Trivia

• The name of the fictional network in the film, Al Johara, is Arabic for "The Jewel". Johara is not a Turkish word, and Turkish does not use the prefix Al. Similarly, the name Abu Nazir, used by the film's bin Laden-esque terrorist, is also Arabic, not Turkish. Unlike in many Arab cultures, Turkish men do not take the name Abu [son's name] or, indeed, have any similar honorific or nickname based on the name of their son(s). The names of many of the Turkish characters are also not Turkish names. The correct spelling in Turkish for "Rizwan" is Rızvan, whereas Owais is most definitely not a Turkish name, since the Turkish alphabet does not include the letter "W".
• For the climactic battle, the reed-thin Zayed Khan put on 11 kg and weighed 75 kg for the first time in his life. All because he had to take on the movie's bad man Niketan Dheer, who was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 86 kg.
• Vivek Oberoi grew his hair for his role as a Turkish commando in the film.
• Jammu and Kashmir politician Omar Abdullah appears in the film as himself.
• Brent Mendenhall, a look-alike of U.S President George W. Bush, appears in the film as Bush.
• Khalil Ahmed, a double for Osama Bin Laden, appears.
• The organisation Al Johara in the movie and its alleged role as a mouthpiece for terrorists, i.e. having tapes delivered to the news organisation by terrorists, bears a resemblance to Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera and the fact that it too was criticised by some White House officials as being an outlet for terrorists. In this respect the movie helps to re-inforce the Western world's take on the War on Terror, which is a bit ironic since the country that is home to the film's fictional network, Turkey, is a NATO country with troops engaged in the War on Terror in Afghanistan.
• The movie was released on the same day as Bollywood film Money Hai Toh Honey Hai on 25 July.

Reception

The film opened to overwhelmingly negative reviews.

Popular film critic Rajeev Masand gave the film 1 out of 5 possible stars and said "it's one of those films that's so bad that you might actually want to check it out. Because believe me there's nothing more amusing than a terrible film that takes itself so seriously."

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for Mission Istaanbul was released prior to the film and is available for retail. The soundtrack closely follows the theme of the film spanning a wide variety of artists and producers such as Mika Singh, Shaan, Hamza Faruqui, Neeraj Shridar, Chirantan Bhatt, Shamir Tandon, Priya Nayar, Vikas Kohli of Fatlabs and others.^[2][3][4]

Track listing

1. "World Hold On World Hold On (Remix)" (Neeraj Shridar, Anoushka, Ishq Bector) – 5:12
2. "Mission Mission" (Hamza Farooqui) – 3:57
3. "Jo Gumshuda" (Shaan, Mahalaxmi, Ege) – 5:38
4. "Nobody Like You" (Neeraj Shridar, Anoushka, Ishq Bector) – 3:26
5. "Yaar Mera Dildarra" (Javed Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan) – 5:22
6. "Apun Ke Saath" (Mika Singh, Priya Nayar, Vikas Kohli, – 4:06
7. "Jo Gumshuda (Remix)" (Shaan, Mahalaxmi, Ege) – 3:52
8. "Nodbody Like You (Remix)" (Neeraj Shridar, Anoushka, Ishq Bector) – 3:46
9. "World Hold On World Hold On" (Neeraj Shridar, Anoushka, Ishq Bector) – 5:13

References

1. ^ Zayed replaces Bobby in Mission Istaanbul - Hindustan Times
2. ^ Toronto whiz kid adds North American flavour to Bollywood, Samachaar.in, 3 August 2008
3. ^ Mission Istaanbul -Audio/Songs Listing
4. ^ Producer taps into Bollywood sound, The Mississauga News, 15 August 2008

External links

• Mission Istaanbul at the Internet Movie Database