I decided to watch this film because of some good reviews at Mouthshut and Times of India all of which had given it a 4 star rating. Plus, with a starcast as huge as this one, I thought it would be a decent product, and a good way to pass time on a weekend afternoon.
So, Apoorva Lakhia’s third attempt at trying to give a boost to his career after forgettable films like Ek Ajnabee and Mumbai se Aaya mera dost again fails to impress, because the director has repeated the same mistakes instead of rectifying on them. What could have been a riveting and hard hitting drama ends up being an excessively violent potboiler.
The story is based upon the famous or infamous shootout which occured in the Lokhandwala complex in Mumbai in the early 90s where 5 dreaded gangsters were brutally killed/encountered by the police. Now the Human Rights People made the lives of these police offers hell and started their protests. They in turn consult a famous lawyer (Big B) to fight their case.
The film could have been a tad or even much better had Apoorva followed a uni-dimensional narrative instead of confusing his viewer with too many flashbacks and sub-flashbacks. Right from the first scene, the film is in your face with unnecessary scenes told in flashbacks that have no relevance in the narrative (The Sikh Terrorists for s start) and too much experimentation with camera shots. Here the focus seems to be totally on the "slickness" of the product rather than building up on an effective storyline. No character is given any time to develop which was so necessary in a genre like this one and confuses the viewer throughout, instead what was required was to let the proceedings grow on the audience. Apoorva seemed to be in too much of a hurry right from the first frame in trying to make a racy thriller. So much that after an interesting first scene, the film keeps juggling into past events, present events, back to past events and without warning into the flashfront again. So much that even the film ends up having a handful of memorable sequences, what you carry with you outside the theatre are those extremely violent scenes that are meant to send a chill down your spine to dread those gangsters but repell the audiences.
And that may be one of the reasons why the film may not go down well with many sections of the audience, exclusing the ladies/family audiences, coz the violence is glorified at many portions which is remniscent of those late 80s potboilers. Even the climax, which is the crux of the film around which the plot revolves, is a downer and is stretched no end.
Music of the film doesn’t deserve a place in a gangster-cop drama and those three item songs prove to be a major hindrance in the film’s screenplay. They could have easily done away with those.
A lot is being said about Vivek’s performance but for me the best acting is delivered by Sanjay Dutt. This role was a cakewalk for him as he slips into the character effortlessly. Tusshar Kapoor should realize such roles are not meant for him. Though he seems to have worked hard on his dialogue delivery, he seems out of place in many scenes. Sunil Shetty and Arbaaz are fine, and Amitabh is wasted. The other members of the Maya gang don’t impress. The actresses are made to look like fools and none of them combined have a screen time of more than even an Aditya Lakhia (Kachra of Lagaan fame) . And can someone please explain whats Abhishek Bachchan doing here?
With such a huge starcast, the film is utterly dissapointing. Its time Apoorva Lakhia decides to concentrate more on the homeowrk of his script before trying to gather big actors and slick production values.
rating: 2.5/5