Doctor cure, Engineers build, I kill
After reading about the ?encounters? in the newspapers, I had only one question to ask - ?How credible are `encounters' in which police shoot to kill? The concept of Fake encounter had come under scrutiny after killings of many criminals. The poor reputation of the police force acts as a dampener on the authenticity of an encounter. Some things are very common in almost all the encounter killings.
The encounter deaths follow a predictable style of operation - The gangster attacks the police team with a gun and they open fire in self-defence. This happens even if the criminal is in custody or is being escorted by a police.
In most of the encounters neutral witnesses are absent.
In spite of the encounters taking place in crowded areas no one comes forward publicly to say what they saw.
The police justify the encounters on the pretext of slow judicial process and give excuses that the criminals might escape if encounters are not carried on.
The encounters ensure that there will be few legal hassles and enquiries that will arise after the shooting.
The encounters are described as practical approach that helps in decreasing the crime rate.
How this reality has been portrayed in the movie was one of the reasons I decided to watch his movie.
Ab Tak Chappan is a story fiction though it is loosely based on the life of Daya Nayak ? the encounter specialist. The movie tries to showcase the life of a cop in a realistic way without resorting to the tried and tested drama. It tries to emphasise and justify the fact that though the encounter killings are unethical and unlawful they are necessary for the society as it helps in eliminating the criminals who takes refuge in the loopholes in the law. It also takes a dig at the notion that it is easy to take objection to the killings of criminals citing human rights but when it affect someone?s life they will not object to it.
The film delves into the professional and personal life of the encounter specialists. The specialist have nothing personal about the criminals but they only do the job that is official for them.
STORY
Sadhu Agashe (Nana Patekar) is the leader of the encounter specialist?s team. His accomplices are Francis (Kunal Vijaykar), Imtiaz (Yashpal Sharma). Their job is to eliminate the criminals who manage to evade the punishment due to loopholes in the law. In an effort to weed out the criminal activities of the underworld Nana goes about his job of killing people without feeling guilty. He has the backing of Police Commissioner Pradhan (Mohan Agashe). But Yashpal Sharma is jealous of Nana because of his growing popularity as the number one shooter of the Police force.
Underworld Don Zameer Bhai (Prasad Purandare) does not like the fact that Nana kills only his men and not Raj Shekhar?s. In the meantime Pradhan retires and the new Police Commissioner Suchak (Jeeva) takes over the charge. Even he is jealous of Nana?s popularity. During a wedding party Nana?s wife Revathy is killed. He is shocked and he suspects that this the handiwork of Firoze, whome he had arrested and mistakenly killed his mother, and a local corporator who helped Firoze. Nana reprimands the local corporator. The commissioner does not like this and after some altercation Nana resigns. Nana kills the corporator and escapes to Dubai with the help of Zameer. What happens next?
PROS
The scenes eliciting the human side of Nana, his relationship with his wife & son, and his home life are well picturised.
The opening encounter scene is funny as well as spine chilling. The gangster says Kya bolte Saab, Aishwarya Kisko milegi, Vivek Ko yaa Salmaan Ko ? and then?..
The scenes between Nana and Yashpal Sharma that brings forth the rivalry between them.
The scene where Nana trains the new recruit in the encounter killing is well executed and when Nakul carries out his first encounter Nana exclaims ?Aaj tere haath pe mehndi lag gayi''
The scene where Nakul questions Nana about the need for encounter and the ethics involved, is thought provoking.
The scene where the new commissioner is giving a speech and suddenly the attention of media shifts to Nana when he enters the hall and the subsequent scene where he is introduced to the commissioner act as a catharsis to the movie?s theme.
The scene where Nana?s wife is killed. Nana?s emotions are top class without going over the top.
The encounter scene of Firoze is worth watching.
The pre-climax scene where he eliminates Zameer and the dialogues that precede the killing are hard hitting.
The setting of police station, the interdepartmental rivalry, the politician-police-underworld nexus look real.
The scene where Nana tells a lawyer when he questions him the need for encounters - I will salute you if you dare to stand for people, who have raped your daughter or killed your son''.
CONS
The dialogues between Nana and Purandare are a bit long and look animated.
The expletives and violence may not appeal to the fans of mushy romantic/family melodramas.
The scene in the Lingerie store involving Zameer and his mistress was not necessary at all.
How does Nana manage to escape from the house of Zameer after killing him is not shown. It?s not easy to kill a reputed underworld don and escape so easily.
TECHNICAL TEAM
Director Shimit Amin has managed to give the movie a realistic feel and has portrayed the human side of the cops in subtle manner. He has avoided the clichéd scenes that we have seen in numerous cop movies.
Cinematography by Vishal Sinha has captured the atmosphere of the police station, the encounter sequences, and the emotions of cops in a beautiful manner.
Screenplay and Dialogues by Sandeep Srivastava are first rate. The dialogues in the scene where Nana explains to the don the difference between ?Power? and ?Nuisance value? and where Nana explains to Nakul about the encounter killings are hard hitting and thought provoking. Screenplay by Sandeep is excellent.
Salim-Sulaiman's background score is awesome and he has proved that his award for Bhoot was not a fluke.
Action by Parvez Khan is not the regular stuff of flying cars, bullets raining everywhere, slow motion fights, etc. Everything is real in his action scenes.
Though the editing is tight, Shimit Amin does lose control in some scenes.
STAR CAST
Nana Patekar has given an award worthy performance. He has given a restrained performance and has avoided the usual loud and hamming performance as was evident in his earlier movies. His does not go over the top when he gets angry nor goes high pitch when encounters injustice and not does not sob hysterically when his wife dies. His funny one-liners and hard-hitting dialogues are top class.
Yashpal Sharma as the junior officer who envies Nana and who kills people only to make front-page news is excellent.
Prasad Purandare as the underworld don is competent but does not emote well in some scenes.
Nakul Vaid as the rookie encounter specialist performs in the way a rookie should perform. He shows he has talent
Kunal Vijaykar as a member of Nanas team has given a natural performance.
Jeeva as Police commissioner suits the role and acts well.
Revathy and Mohan Agashe are okay.
Conclusion is continued in the comments section......
