Remake of the Wall Street, Shikhar has an uneven narrative. Uneven because while it leaves a hammer-strong impact in the first half, the second half of this flick is akin to soda; it opens with a fizz but loses grip subsequently.
Gaurav Gupta aka GG (Ajay Devgan) is an avaricious, ambitious businessman who puts money above everything in his life. He has a dream of making a city and he would manipulate people and relationships just to make the chips fall in place to realize his dream.On the other hand is Guruji (Javed Sheikh), a businessman-turned-social activist who runs a charitable organization that houses orphans and promotes eco-friendly culture. Guruji’s motto is to use money for social and environmental good.
Caught in between these two ideologies is Guruji’s son Jaidev (Shahid Kapur), a young man who gets lured by lucre, liquor and ladies.GG takes Jaidev under his wing and the young man goes on to become the boss of a multi-crore company. Jaidev enters a new world of riches, leaving behind his childhood sweetheart Madhavi (Amrita Rao).In the meantime, GG uses Natasha (Bipasha Basu), a sexy siren, to entice a politician. GG’s idea is to take over the land of the tribals for his dream city. But before the worst could happen, GG stands exposed and Jaidev sees the right way of life.
The first half of this enterprise establishes the plot rather convincingly and manages to keep the viewer’s interest alive. But the very next scene after the interval, when Shahid gets home, the story comes to a screeching halt.
What follows thereafter is the romantic track between Amrita and Shahid, which does not excite the viewer one bit. Besides the romantic track, the political scenario that is thrust upon the viewer is totally unwarranted, thereby confusing the viewer. Even otherwise, why Shahid wants to handshake with Ajay in the end, is not explained.
John seems to have set out to make a middle-of-the-road film and strike a balance between commercial and parallel cinema, but alas! The film would neither appeal to the hoi polloi, nor the ’Balcony Class’ audience.
It also suffers on several accounts:
The biggest flaw of the film is its faulty screenplay that has several loose ends. The story runs on too many tracks in the post-interval portions, thus diluting the essence of the story.
As many as three songs in the second half makes the viewer restless.
The screenplay gets too preachy in the latter portions and one feels suffocated after a point of time. The film lacks in light moments and the sole comedy scene -- involving Manoj Joshi -- also gives an impression of being included in the plot to enhance the commercial value of the film.
Matthan’s direction is an absolute letdown. Despite the presence of successful and talented names in the cast and accomplished technicians , the outcome is below the mark. The film tries hard to strike a balance between commercial and parallel cinema, but the outcome, is poor. Technically speaking, the outcome is mediocre.
Camerawork is brilliant in patches, but out of focus at times. The background music could’ve been better. Action scenes are well composed and look realistic. Editing is one of the biggest culprits. How one wishes the editor would’ve used the scissors more effectively!
Music is nothing to rave about.Dialogues are well worded and sound natural.
The mainstay of the film is undoubtedly Ajay. His body language, his diction, his expressions, his overall persona deserves great praise. His talent comes to the fore in several scenes, especially those with Shahid.
Shahid ’s role demanded desperation and the honesty with which he approaches his character is commendable.This is undoubtedly his best performance to date.
Farah and Amrita have no roles to talk of. Manoj Joshi fails to impress in an insignificant role. He deserved a better role.Jawed Seikh is just about okay. Bipasha sizzles in her role.Disappointing fare indeed.