Force (2011 film)

Plot

The film starts with ACP Yashvardhan. IPS (John Abraham) a.k.a. Yash, in the hospital, recalling the accident that changed his life forever. Yash is a dutiful, responsible and stone-hearted police officer in the Narcotics Control Bureau whose only passion in life is crime-fighting. He has no family or loved ones and has been alone in life since he can remember. Everything changes when Yash meets Maya (Genelia D'Souza), an independent and lovely woman. Though the two get off to a rocky start, Maya warms up to him once she realises he is a police officer, and apologises for the misunderstandings they had. When Maya gets hit by a car in front of Yash, he rushes her to the hospital. With that, the two bond and start to meet and go out regularly. Maya confesses her love to Yash, but Yash refutes her advances, as he does not want her to become his weakness in his professional life. However, Swati (Sandhya Mridul), the wife of Yash's coworker and good friend, convinces Yash that he is in love with Maya as well and Yash decides to get married to her.

In the big drug case the unit is investigating, Yash, along with officers from the Narcotics Control Bureau, DSP Mahesh Pande (Ameet M Gaur) who is transferred on special duty from the New Delhi Income Tax Department, DSP Atul Kalseka (Mohnish Bahl) and Inspector Kamlesh, kills Reddy (Mukesh Rishi) while he is peddling drugs. Yash, Mahesh & Kamlesh are suspended for killing Reddy instead of arresting him. Reddy's heartless and aggressive brother Vishnu (Vidyut Jamwal) vows to avenge his brother's death by killing all of the officers. Yash and the other officers prepare themselves for Vishnu, but Vishnu successfully breaks into Mahesh's home and brutally murders him after raping his wife Rachana (Anaitha Nair). The event leaves Yash and the other officers shaken but Yash and Maya's marriage take place. Meanwhile, Vishnu decides to attack each of the officers' weaknesses; he kidnaps Swati, Atul's wife, and Atul is forced to tell him where Yash will be that night. Yash and Maya consummate their marriage; however, this proves to be their first and last night together.

Yash is shot and Maya is kidnapped in the attack. Yash miraculously survives the attack. Vishnu tells Atul that he will release Swati if Atul kills Yash. However, Atul cannot bring himself to kill his friend and instead joins forces with Yash to execute a plan against Vishnu and savVishnu has been keeping Maya and Swati hostage and find, in horror, that Swati has been murdered. In despair and heartbreak, Atul kills himself after seeing Swati's body. Yash and Kamlesh go together and face Vishnu in a final confrontation. Kamlesh is shot but survives. Vishnu shoots Maya in front of Yash and drops her from the second floor. Yash catches her but is unable to save her. Maya assures Yash that she has gotten her wish of being with him and dies in Yash's arms. Anger and sorrow build up in Yash and he brutally finishes off Vishnu, exacting his revenge.

At the end, Yash is shown living alone again, having returned to his professional life. Kamlesh calls Yash and tells him that he has found a new informer. Yash turns to Maya's photo before leaving and says that he'll be coming home late.

Cast

Development

In July 2004, Gautham Menon agreed terms to direct a version of Kaakha Kaakha in Hindi with Sunny Deol in the lead role and revealed that the script was written five years ago with Deol in mind, but the film eventually failed to take off. Producer Vipul Shah approached him to direct the Hindi version of the film in 2010 as Force with John Abraham and Katrina Kaif, and Menon initially agreed before pulling out again. He cited that he felt the eight years gap between the releases of it with the original was too long; subsequently Nishikanth Kamath of Evano Oruvan and Mumbai Meri Jaan fame was roped in by the producers to direct the remake. Initially, Asin was signed up to reprise her role that she played in the Telugu remake of the film – Gharshana, but as the film became delayed, dates clashed with her other film, Ready, hence she was forced to withdraw from the film. She was consequently replaced by Genelia. The villain was chosen as Vidyut Jamwal, a model turned actor who had reportedly won the role from 500 other people who were originally considered. He had to undergo strenuous training to build a body that could be comparable to the hero of the film.

Filming

The shooting of the film ended in February 2011, after sixty five days of shoot. During the filming, John Abraham stated that "With Nishikant I have discovered the magic of raw action, but what is even more beautiful is the romance in 'Force'. This I believe will be my first pan India film after a long gap." The film involved tough stunts which Allan Amin, who worked with John Abraham earlier in Dhoom, had choreographed.

Controversy

Controversy broke out for the film, in a scene where John and Genelia were being married. Sources claim that the ceremony conducted was so authentic that had they completed the last round they would have actually been man and wife. Again, following the reports of Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia's marriage plans, the priest insisted that the couple couldn't get married as Genelia is already married to John.

Soundtrack

Force soundtrack is composed by Harris Jayaraj along with one song by Lalit Pandit and lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. Harris Jayaraj was maintained as the music director of the film after his work in the original and with the film, he composed his second album in Hindi after the his successful 2001 album Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. Soundtrack got released on 29 August 2011. The background score of the film was composed by Sameer Phatarpekar.

Critical response

The album received positive reviews from music critics, with particular praise being given to "Khwabon Khwabon". Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave 3 out of 5 stars and said "Force delivers as promised and turns out to be an impressive soundtrack. While 'Khwabon Khwabon' was anyways expected to be the USP of the soundtrack, 'Main Chali' turns out to be another number that works quite well for the soundtrack. Overall, an album that has a potential to turn much bigger if the film too turns out to be a good success." Tanuj Manchanda of Planet Bollywood gave 7 out of 10 and quoted in his review that "After hearing all songs, one can say that this is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year both in terms of lyrics and compositions. Harris Jayaraj has proved his mettle time and again and this time also he succeeds with flying colours. Javed akhtar as usual is dedicated towards giving his best. And the best part of the album is that all songs except 'Dum Hai To Aaja' are soulful and a treat for all music lovers and does not have any remixes to rob off the impact. Force is definitely recommended!" Devesh Sharma at Filmfare awarded it 3 out of 5 stars and quoted "Overall, Jayraj has arrived on the Hindi music scene and one looks forward to hearing more of his original tunes (and not reprises) in future." Komal Nahta of Koimoi.com stated that, "the songs have not become as popular as they are nice. Javed Akhtar's lyrics are appropriate."

Release

The film released on 30 September 2011, receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics. The film is John Abraham's biggest opening for a release up-to date.

Critical response

Upon release, the film received mixed to positive reviews from the critics. DNA India rated the movie by giving 4 out of 5 stars stating that "Force is high voltage action". The Times of India gave Force 3 and half stars out of 5, asking all Gods of War enthusiasts to go for the film. On the contrary, The Deccan Chronicle gave 2 and half stars out of 5 and wrote, " Force doesn’t live up to its title…at all". Hamara Bollywood gave the film 3 out of 5 stars saying "in the category of action movies, Force just might be the best one of the year". Komal Nahta of Koimoi.com also rated 2.5 out of 5 stars. Komal Nahta further stated that "On the whole, Force will be liked by the youngsters, especially guys. In the final tally, it will prove to be an above-average fare, thanks to the impressive start all over". Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave 2 stars out of 5 concluding that, "Force is hardly a force to reckon with".

Box office

Upon release, the film opened to decent start at the domestic box office and packed cinema halls, "witnessing 100% occupancy across shows", according to Boxofficeindia.com. The film grossed ₹48.4 million (US$750,000) in India on the first day. Force has fared well, despite number of screens and shows being limited. It collected approx Rs245.2 millionnett in Week 1. Breakdown:- Fri 50.5 million Sat 47.5 million Sun 62.0 million Mon 24.2 million Tue 21.5 million Wed 21.0 million Thu 18.5 million Force is John's biggest opener, in solo lead. The film dropped on Monday but then held steady collections through the weekdays but the collections were low. Force fell heavily in its second weekend taking an 85% fall from its first, it collected 20 million nett which took its ten-day business to 235.0 million nett. Moreover, Force had a poor opening of around $500,000 in Overseas. The opening figures from United Kingdom were £65,000, North America $100,000, UAE $160,000 and Australia $60,000. The film was declared a semi-hit by box office India.

Sequel

Producer Vipul Shah planned a sequel to this film. The film titled Force 2 started shooting close to September 2015 and was released in November 2016 . The film was directed by Abhinay Deo.

Sonakshi Sinha played a RAW agent in the sequel. Sonakshi announced this news on Twitter on Saturday 11 July 2015. "Yep yep! Told you I had news for you... Super excited to be playing a RAW agent in my next film - FORCE 2," she posted.