Jan 12, 2006 04:18 PM
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(Updated Jan 12, 2006 04:18 PM)
Keshu Productions' Family, directed by Raj Santoshi, is a remake of tamil film. Unfortunately, there is nothing innovative in the film. The makers have packaged the same old stuff and despite a few well executed sequences, the outcome is far from credible.
Amitabh Bachchan is Viren Sahai, a suave, sophisticated and ruthless underworld kingpin aware of the power of money and might and also knows how to maximise both. At the same time he values his family and can go to any length to protect it.
But his wife Sharda, played by Shernaz Patel, is a simple woman who abhors her husband's involvement with crime. She fears her family will have to pay for her husband's sins.
Their son Abhir, played by Sushant Singh, is a spoilt brat and misuses his father's wealth and power. He indulges in the most heinous of crimes, confident that his influential father will save him. Unlike his father, he doesn't care for his family.
Then there is another family headed by Shekhar Bhatia, played by Akshay Kumar. In contrast to Viren Sahai, Shekhar is a simple, hard working and sentimental man who runs his catering business and lives happily with his younger brother Aryan (Aryeman) and wife Dr. Kavita (Bhumika Chawla). Unlike Sahai, he has nothing to do with crime or underworld dons.
He dotes on his brother and will do anything for his happiness.
One fateful night both the families collide with catastrophic consequences. What ensues is a bloody battle between the two families where the unwritten rule is that the loyalty of the family comes before anything and everything else.
The principal problem with Family is that the makers have resorted to the tried and tested formula that has been witnessed umpteen times earlier. The writers seem to have decided to play safe by churning out the same old stuff, but with a brand new packaging.
Although the first half is engaging in parts, the film slides downwards in the post-interval portions. The murder of Akshay and the sequences that follow, including the battle line between Amitabh and Aryeman, seems irrational and implausible.
The comedy track is another sore area. Akshay seems to be repeating himself film after film with analogous gags and punches. Also, the comedy track has little relevance with the plot of the film. The climax too is not as exciting as it should've been. It is mediocre and minus any impact.
If the focus is not on action, then it is on sermonising. There is so talk heavy that the viewer gets restless after a point. This and several other scenes need to be trimmed drastically.
Director Santoshi seems to have relied too heavily on the age old formula of attempting a good versus evil saga. Though he has tried to inject some freshness with his treatment, but the outcome is a regular desi potboiler that holds scant appeal today.
Music is average, with two decent numbers – 'Katra' and 'dance remix'. Cinematography is middling. Dialogues are run of the mill type. Action, though forced at times, is vibrant and pulsating.
Poor Amitabh seems to be getting typecast in roles that he has attempted time and again, from Shaneshah to the recent Sarkar. He tries hard to inject life into his character, but does not rise beyond the mundane level thanks to the inexorableness (predictability). Areyaman is quite good, despite a weak character-sketch.
Akshay is relegated to the backseat in the second half of the film. He is just about okay. Bhumika is barely there. Shernaz is wasted. Kader Khan is unexciting. The pack of villains Gulshan Grover, Raza Murad and Vivek Madan are intolerable in their respective roles.
On the whole, FAMILY is a weak fare and is a routine fare contentwise, which will not excite the viewer one bit. The film hasn't mustered a good opening at most places and with strong oppisition in the form of stylish Zinda, its survival prospects at the box-office seem weak.Avoidable....
final rating-0/5
