Take Gujarat issue - change the place and you have Dev. This movie deals with an issue which is very sensitive and very current.The protagonist - Dev Pratap Singh( Amitabh) is a police officer and he believes in something that I think should be practised - the religion does not matter , caste does not matter, status does not matter - the law is above all of these because it ensures safety - for the common people , for the nation. Perhaps this is what is missing from this country - what you are decides how much further you can push the law.
Farhan Ali ( Fardeen Khan) is a lawyer - he comes down from Gujarat to Mumbai ( where his father stays ) to start his practise. Kareena Kapoor lives in the same locality and is in love with him. Tejinder Khosla(Om puri) is his best friend but there are iideological differences between them that comes to a heads on during the later half of the film . Dev loses his only son to a communal bullet.
The film potrays both the good and the bad. There is Farhaan Ali’s father who believes that violence breeds violence and things can be worked out by talking . There is also an extremist leader Latif ( Ehsaan Khan) and power hungry CM (Amrish Puri ) and his henchman ( Milind Gunaji) who fuel the riots. Farhaan is bought into this and only later he realises - this has nothing to do with hindus and Muslims but has everything to do with power and only power.
What keeps this from being a classic is the way the story has been handled . First half drags and then in the second half it is as if the director realises the fact and somehow tries to rescue the film.
Amitabh as Dev Pratap Singh is a treat to watch . You watch the film and you think - this guy is 60 years old yet younger - good looking heroes simply fade in front of him ...all you need to give him is a storyline and he is capable to carry the movie alone on his shoulders ...mind you I am not an AB fan but I am impressed :)
Om Puri as Tejinder Khosla - Hmm... I get this feeling that he has not done justice to the role - he looked tired and jaded - that fire seems to be missing.
Fardeen Khan as Farhaan Ali - shadowed by big B - he looks like a kid but is far better thanwhat he is in his other films - seems like he is coming of age.
Kareena Kapoor - Please , will some one tell Ms.Bebo not to pout everywhere - for heaven sakes this is not ’’KKKG’’ and she is not Ms.Poo..
Amrish Puri /Milind Gunaji have more of a cameo appearance - but they are good with that.
Rati Agnihotri as AB’s wife - she looks good - dignified.
The better moments of the film is in the second half . There are moments when I felt like shutting of the movie because it said things that were true - but something I am not yet ready to face - things like the police standing and watching while anti-socials set fire to buildings. But I would recommend this movie - it still finds its mark.