I have always disagreed with morals behind movies glorifying evil gangsters who have harmed societies in more ways than one can imagine. The clinical argument is that it is storytelling and that cannot be compartmentalized in a free society. Yes. So we get a version of SRK’s Agneepath. The little myopic boy who gets his dose of life’s philosophy from his mother – no business is small and there is no right way of living or religion bigger than business. Yes right but mother forgot to add that crime, bootlegging, murders do not constitute right conduct of society for a business.
But then that is swept under the carpet and little boy hurt by a society that calls him ‘battery’( a term that is used for belittling bespectacled youngsters) decides to hit back with his brains of a businessman collaboratively with his daring. Rising from a small gangster to a name to reckon with the story vaguely trails the shadows of a real life gangster.
There is no real flesh to the story other than staged action scenes and one liners intended to draw the whistles of the crowd a scene reminiscent of the movies in the 70s and 80s when heroes spouted more dialogues than bullets to fell gangsters. All smashups were accompanied by furious warnings in dialogues cloaked with the foreseeable danger for those challenging.
There is a surprising screen time carefully reserved for Nawazuddin Siddique a police inspector who seems to gun for the anti hero more out of personal spite than the need to do the society good. But he also gets impressive one liners. Actually the one liners are less smart than the spiffiness he delivers it with. We end up wishing he was around more often and with more to do than sip tea.
To be truthful the movie does begin interestingly with narration and direction that reminds you it is of Rahul Dholakia who has a realistic Parzania in his resume. But the script trails off mid way unsure of what it wants to achieve. Its protagonist who appears to be cocksure of himself in the beginning seems to be faltering at the altar of a more powerful mafia dom that seems to get the better of him. So are we supposed to feel sympathetic ? They add in a religious angle to convince the audience that the gangster was almost a social do gooder when he was not gunning people down.
Our heart goes out to Mahira Khan who is thoroughly wasted in the movie and have watched her emote much more effectively in soaps from her country, it appears that both the director and she were more than a tad bit careful of how to portray her. So she cautiously smiles, embraces and dances without full involvement.
And then there is that super talented Zeeshan who is reduced to mouthing dialogues and emoting very ordinarily. He could have been used more effectively.
The most annoying part of the movie are the songs which stick out like sore thumbs all through the screenplay derailing the story and any tightness the director managed to build in leading to a watchable climax.
Topping it all is SRK himself who holds back well in the first half and delivers a bravura performance though certainly not his best. Yet he has never looked this good before unless one counts the Swades look.
The art direction is uniform, detailed and good save for digital phones and duplex board Ship matches which one suspects did not exist in the 80s and early 90s
A healthy budgeted movie laboring under a unsure director, script that seems to have been delivered in mixed up packets, great artistes and music that one could do without , one cannot wait to choke on the climax and exit with a Viewer ka dimag aur critic ka writing
✯✯1/2
But then that is swept under the carpet and little boy hurt by a society that calls him ‘battery’( a term that is used for belittling bespectacled youngsters) decides to hit back with his brains of a businessman collaboratively with his daring. Rising from a small gangster to a name to reckon with the story vaguely trails the shadows of a real life gangster.
There is no real flesh to the story other than staged action scenes and one liners intended to draw the whistles of the crowd a scene reminiscent of the movies in the 70s and 80s when heroes spouted more dialogues than bullets to fell gangsters. All smashups were accompanied by furious warnings in dialogues cloaked with the foreseeable danger for those challenging.
There is a surprising screen time carefully reserved for Nawazuddin Siddique a police inspector who seems to gun for the anti hero more out of personal spite than the need to do the society good. But he also gets impressive one liners. Actually the one liners are less smart than the spiffiness he delivers it with. We end up wishing he was around more often and with more to do than sip tea.
To be truthful the movie does begin interestingly with narration and direction that reminds you it is of Rahul Dholakia who has a realistic Parzania in his resume. But the script trails off mid way unsure of what it wants to achieve. Its protagonist who appears to be cocksure of himself in the beginning seems to be faltering at the altar of a more powerful mafia dom that seems to get the better of him. So are we supposed to feel sympathetic ? They add in a religious angle to convince the audience that the gangster was almost a social do gooder when he was not gunning people down.
Our heart goes out to Mahira Khan who is thoroughly wasted in the movie and have watched her emote much more effectively in soaps from her country, it appears that both the director and she were more than a tad bit careful of how to portray her. So she cautiously smiles, embraces and dances without full involvement.
And then there is that super talented Zeeshan who is reduced to mouthing dialogues and emoting very ordinarily. He could have been used more effectively.
The most annoying part of the movie are the songs which stick out like sore thumbs all through the screenplay derailing the story and any tightness the director managed to build in leading to a watchable climax.
Topping it all is SRK himself who holds back well in the first half and delivers a bravura performance though certainly not his best. Yet he has never looked this good before unless one counts the Swades look.
The art direction is uniform, detailed and good save for digital phones and duplex board Ship matches which one suspects did not exist in the 80s and early 90s
A healthy budgeted movie laboring under a unsure director, script that seems to have been delivered in mixed up packets, great artistes and music that one could do without , one cannot wait to choke on the climax and exit with a Viewer ka dimag aur critic ka writing
✯✯1/2
