Yes, the recidivist dickheads in Bollywood have done it again.

You ask, done what again?

We say, what else – Theft.

Kidnap director Sanjay Gadhvi and his dirty accomplices in crime have stolen a fairly decent Hollywood movie (released in 2007 as Shattered in the U.S. and Butterfly on a Wheel elsewhere) and mangled it into a ugly horror-show starring one real-life criminal Sanjay Dutt and three artistic criminals – the ex-dopehead Sanjay Dutt, fluke-star Imran Khan and that half-naked monsterpiece Minissha Lambha.

Following a tip from a reader of the SearchIndia.com blog (Thanks – Araj), we borrowed a copy of Shattered from our neighborhood Blockbuster to see if there were similarities between Shattered and Kidnap.

After watching both Kidnap and Shattered, we have not an iota of doubt that Kidnap is one more instance of the lazy Bollywood pigs trying to take the easy way out to profits.

Featuring Pierce ‘James Bond’ Brosnan (kidnapper), Gerard Butler (father of kidnapped girl Sophie) and Maria Bello (mother of kidnapped girl) in key roles, Shattered is a good movie with strong performances by all three.

Here are some similarities between Kidnap and Shattered:

1. In both movies, the story revolves round the kidnapping of a young girl and the efforts by the parents to rescue her.
2. In both movies, the actual kidnapping is not shown as it happens (it’s shown very briefly in Kidnap in flashback).
3. In both movies, the kidnapper is not motivated by money.
4. In both movies, the motive for the kidnapping is revenge.
5. In both movies, the kidnapper orders a series of bizarre tasks to be completed under severe time constraints.
6. In both movies, the kidnapper is playing a mind-game with the parents.
7. In both movies, the father acknowledges that the kidnapper is playing a mind game with them and vows to get the daughter back.
8. In both movies, the kidnapped girl is kept in the parents’ own home.
9. In both movies, the parents of the girl fight under the stress of their daughter’s abduction.
10. In both movies, the father once ends up at the wrong place in an abortive effort to rescue his daughter.
11. In both movies, the money that prima facie seems to have been snatched from the girl’s father by the kidnapper is actually a sleight of hand to increase the anxiety of the father.
12. In both movies, the kidnapper is aware of the intimate details of the parents’ lives.
13. In both movies, there is a scene with the kidnapper emerging from the backseat of the car and at gun point ordering the father to drive.
14. In both movies, the last task ordered by the kidnapper is to commit a murder.
15. In both movies, the father initially agrees but later strongly resists the order to kill.
16. In both movies, the father eventually pulls the trigger after the kidnapper yells out the order again to commit the murder.
17. In both movies, after the girl’s father pulls the trigger the result is the same.
18. In both movies, the kidnapper’s attitude is I don’t care what happens to me.
19. In both movies, it’s the father’s actions in the past that leads the kidnapper to abduct the girl.

Still dare to argue that Kidnap is not an ugly copy of Shattered?

Differences between Kidnap and Shattered:
1. Shattered is a gripping, well-executed movie while Kidnap is a shabbily executed boring movie.
2. Shattered has a nice twist at the end while Kidnap is a twisted movie from the getgo.
3. Powerful performances by Pierce Brosnan as the kidnapper and Gerard Butler and Marie Bello as the parents.
4. Ugly acting by Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan and Minissha Lambha.
5. Ugly and crude display of Minissha Lambha’s boobs in our face.
6. In Kidnap, the parents are separated and the father is a billionaire.
7. Shattered is fast paced with never a dull moment unlike the boring Kidnap that leaves you praying for the end.
8. Dull, flat dialogs in Kidnap. Powerful lines in Shattered. Here’s an example(Spoiler warning) of some powerful lines from Shattered:
(The below passage is from the confrontation scene between Neil Randall and Tom that happens toward the end of Shattered after Neil realizes why his daughter has been kidnapped)

Neil (Gerard Butler): It was just
Tom (Pierce Brosnan):  Just?
That’s a great word, isn’t it?
It was just one of those office things.
Just fooling around.
Just an affair.
Just your cock in her mouth.
The mouth that kisses me goodbye in the morning.
But hey, it’s no big deal.
It’s not a matter of life and death.

7. The scene at the clocktower was another strong moment in Shattered. There were no such memorable momentsÂ\ in Kidnap.
8. Shattered = Talent in, talent out. Kidnap = Garbage in, garbage out.

What a shame that at almost every turn in Bollywood, we encounter solid evidence of theft and more theft by Indian movie-makers of plots from successful Hollywood/foreign movies.

Here’s a brief list of some recent Indian movies that have been stolen: God Tussi Great Ho (Bruce Almighty), U Me Aur Hum (The Notebook), Partner (Hitch), Heyy Baby (Three Men and a Baby), Saroja (Judgment Night) and now Kidnap (Shattered).

And you wonder why Indian movies never win Oscars. Why should they?

Initial media reports suggest that Kidnap has failed to resonate at the box office. Maybe, there’s a God after all.

Now, if only every movie stolen by the Bollywood scumbags masquerading as directors fails at the box office, wouldn’t that be great.

N.B: If you live in the U.S., you can easily get Shattered at Blockbuster or Netflix.