646f9e108c A news reporter must uncover the secret on the 13th floor of a News Station. A promising journalist Vikas Sagar (Zayed Khan) is offered a position to head a controversial news station in Istanbul by its owner Owais Husain (Sunil Shetty). With this offer comes the promise of money and many other perks that make this offer hard to refuse, especially since Vikas is currently going through a very painful divorce with his wife Anjali (Shriya Saran). After working for the channel that in turn changes his life, he decides to quit, however it is brought to his attention by a Turkish commando Rizwan Khan (Vivek Oberoi), that others who have quit had been killed for knowing too much. It becomes a battle - which will win, the sword or the pen? The title has given some information away, but never the less, this is an unusual movie, which has got suspense, thriller and action from Balaji Motion Pictures, which is a part of Balaji Telefilms and Popcorn Entertainment.<br/><br/>A promising journalist, who is going through a rough patch with his marriage, takes on a position to head a controversial TV station which broadcasts news only but most of which is terrorist related. But then events take a turn when one of the journalists is killed when they go to interview a leader of a terrorist gang in Instaanbul.<br/><br/>Starring Zayed Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Shabbir Ahluwalia (Milind of Balaji Telefims's daily serial "Kayamat"), Shweta Bhardwaj and Nikitin Dheer. Introducing Shriya Saran. Special Appearances by Sunil Shetty and Abhishek Bachchan. Produced By Shabbir Boxwala, Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Sunil Shetty. Directed By Apoorva Lakha.<br/><br/>There is definitely a lot of action in this movie but which is sometimes bloody as it deals with the topic of terrorism appropriate today considering the amount of bombs that have recently exploded in the Indian state of Gujarat and many others that have been found in the state. But terrorism is not in just one part of the world it is worldwide. To an extent, Apoorva Lakha has gone on to highlight the dangers which many of the journalists face when covering story which involves terrorism.<br/><br/>Zayed Khan has performed well in this movie and so has Vivek Oberoi. This is a second movie that Apoorva Lakha has directed for Balaji the first being "Shootout At Lokhandwala" and once again he has shown his skills as a director.<br/><br/>Conclusion: Worth watching but be warned it does contain violence, which may not be suitable for children. For a stupid action movie, Mission Istaanbul is not thát bad.<br/><br/>At first, it appears the movie is going to be about the horrors of terrorism, with images about Al-Qaeda, heads cut off and all that, but those who dislike pointless cruelty can rest assured: terrorism is merely the excuse for a lot of action, and especially, for the heroes of the movie to venture into the lion's den. The entire storyline is weak and its credibility is far below zero. Obviously, the film makers haven't wasted much time and effort on doing even a minimum amount of research: they might, for example, easily have found out that "Rizwan Khan" is not exactly a typically Turkish name (not even for a Turkish freedom fighter!), and that "Al Johara" is not a likely name for a Turkish broadcasting station either. Indeed, Istanbul is an odd choice for the place of action, and the capital of any Arabic-speaking country would have been more suitable. But then, does it really matter? Action movies of this type rarely try to be clever, and this one doesn't even pretend to be.<br/><br/>In any case, I felt pleasantly surprised when after lots of shooting and stone throwing, we are treated with some nice intrigue, too. More or less at the same time, the mysterious character of Rizwan Khan enters the scene, and Vikas' employer turns to be more than just an independent TV station. Once we find out that Al Johara is nothing but a nest of terrorists, and that Rizwan Khan is their worst enemy, the movie is mainly about the way Vikas and his new friend beat the bad guys.<br/><br/>Rizwan is undoubtedly what makes this movie worth watching in spite of all the rest. Mr. Cool to the Xth power. Whatever difficult situation he finds himself in, he always treats it lightly, with humour, turning everything into a joke. Memorable are the following two scenes (quoting from the top of my head):<br/><br/>(Rizwan cuts off an arm from one of Al Johara's employees in order to use it for fingerprint identification. The poor fellow makes a lot of noise when it happens. After that, Rizwan joins Vikas) <br/><br/>Vikas (terrified): "And what if this is the wrong arm?" <br/><br/>Rizwan (hesitates for a moment): "Hey, there you have a point." <br/><br/>(Rizwan goes back, and again we hear the same noise)<br/><br/>Then, a bit later on, Vikas and Rizwan find themselves closed in a departed building. About the entire army and police in the city are looking for them, clearly with the instruction to shoot on sight. Vikas is terrified, Rizwan comfortably watching TV. When their "wanted" description is broadcast live on TV, Rizwan to Vikas: <br/><br/>"Hey, look, they're talking about us! Mmm, want some crisps?"<br/><br/>With all his humour and optimism, Rizwan, excellently performed by Vivek Oberoi, is the biggest advantage in a movie that is otherwise fairly dark and violent. As for the other main protagonist, Vikas: well, Zayed Khan is not a great actor and in all probably is never going to be one. Is it because he reminds me of Tom Cruise? I don't know, but he has a way of always working on my nerves. But it should be said: in "Mission Istaanbul" he does a fairly decent job - not a particular demanding or complicated role, I should add, but decent nonetheless. For the rest, the movie offers a lot of naked male chests in Rambo style. Lots of girls seem to find this, and this particular appearance of Vivek Oberoi, particularly sexy.<br/><br/>As for the music, the title song is sort of funny (one of my parakeet's all-time favourites!). For the rest I find it uninteresting, irritating and needlessly noisy. Besides, it almost never stops pounding, so you'll never get a chance to relax from it even for a moment. But at least it fits the movie. What I really don't understand, however, is Abishek Bachchan's special appearance, which has completely nothing to do with the movie at all and exists there merely as a comma. They might have tried to make it fit somehow, or added it to the very beginning or end of the movie, at least.
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