Machine trailer: Shades of Baazigar with a touch of new suspense

Often a teaser reveals the prime plot of the film. The teaser of Abbas-Mustan's Machine suggested that the film is a romantic drama around a love story. one that is, perhaps, inspired by the director duo’s previous works like Baazigar (1993) and Race (2008).

The trailer, which was revealed earlier today, is along expected lines, but there could be more to it than meets the eye. Machine, starring Abbas Burmawalla’s son Mustafa, appears to have a heavy dose of Baazigar. Like Shah Rukh Khan's character in Baazigar, Mustafa, too, is a racer who appears to be on a mission and is not just a lover boy.

Both Baazigar and Machine have one common factor – Dalip Tahil. Though one can’t be sure, Tahil’s character Kriss Alter could have some relation to the female protagonist Sarah (Kiara Advani). Tahil had played father to Kajol and Shilpa Shetty in Baazigar, and he was also the nemesis of Ajay (Khan). 

While in Baazigar Ajay kills Seema (Shetty) by throwing her off a building rooftop, the Machine trailer doesn’t suggest any such thing. However, the visual of Sarah (Advani) falling takes your mind back to the Baazigar scene. Though we don’t see him pushing Alter (Tahil), Ransh (Mustafa) appears to have pushed him through a glass window and, remarkably, in the next second he saves him.

Apart from recreating the 'Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast' track from Mohra (1994), the makers have taken inspiration from RD Bumran’s classic track 'Ek Chatur Naar' from Padosan (1968). Let us not forget the 'Itna Tumhare' track that is inspired by 'Akhir Tumhe Aana Hai' from Yalgaar (1992).

The punches in the trailer – (Main break pe pair nahi rakhta, kyunki mujhe maut se darr nahi lagta, Agar paanch minute ke liye kisi ka phone mil jaye toh uski jaat-paat, aukaat sab pata chal jaata hai) are like poor cousins to the punches of a 'Dabangg' Salman Khan.

What, perhaps, is intriguing about the Machine trailer is the scene where (presumably) Ransh is mowed down by a car. If it indeed is our hero, then does he returns as a reincarnation?

Maybe the suspense lies in the title – Machine. If Ransh has had a near fatal accident, then maybe he is revived by some technology, designed from the Abbas-Mustan school of miracle sciences. What’s beating in the body of Ransh – heart or Machine? What’s flowing through the veins of Ransh? Blood or some lubricant?

The Machine trailer is no masterpiece but it does have a suspense element. As our hero says, ‘Agle pal ka kuch pata nahi chalega [you have no idea what’s coming]. Well, that will be unveiled on 17 March when the film hits the theatres. For now, watch the trailer: