“Our enemy is nameless and faceless. We don't know their numbers except that they are sure to be many.
We don't know their weapons except that they are sure to be more sophisticated than ours.
We don't know when, where and how they will attack except that they will attack for sure.
All we know is that they are desperate, and willing to do anything, go to any extreme.''
The above tagline(s)/theme of Khakee is self-explanatory. Khakee deals with the heroics of the police dept. & its success in apprehending the terrorist. It also deals with the situations where each and every cop’s commitment to the police dept is questioned, the altercations between police officers that split them into rivals in their own department and how they overcome all this while performing their duty. The movie makes an effort to showcase the functioning of the police force system, its achievements, its handicap.
But I couldn’t decide which movie to watch first, Khakee or Aitbaar, because both had my favourite actor Amitabh in it. But Khakee had Aishwarya whome I can’t stand a minute and Aitbaar had Bipasha whome I adore very much. But soon I realized that I love Amitabh & trust RKS more than I hate Aishwarya or adore Bipasha. And thus I ventured to see Khakee. Sorry Bipasha darling, Lekin mera Aitbaar karo main tumhari film bhi zaroor dekhoonga :)
STORY
The story starts with ISI terrorist Iqbal Ansari (Atul Kulkarni) being shifted from Chandangarh to Mumbai by the police. But enroute the police escort team is annihilated. But a brave officer stalls the escape of Ansari. Consequently another team is appointed for the transfer but this time headed by DCP Anant Shrivastav (Amitabh Bachchan). Amitabh’s career as a police officer is a jinxed one as he has more failures than success to his credit. He takes upon this mission to prove himself one last time. To assist in his mission is a brave but corrupt Sr. Inspector Shekhar (Akshay Kumar) who is skeptical about the success of the mission. To assist them is Sub-Inspector Ashwin (Tusshar Kapoor) a rookie who has just graduated from the Police training school and is optimistic about the success of their mission. The three officers along with two constables set out in their mission unaware about the dangers that lay ahead in their path in the form of Angrey (Ajay Devgan). Plus there are other obstacles to clear like corrupt politicians and cops, etc. How they achieve their mission is the crux of this movie.
PROS
The opening encounter scene between the police and terrorists is well picturised.
The introduction scenes of the lead characters are well picturised giving us the glimpse of their nature.
The entire mission has thrilling moments that are well executed - the encounter sequence in the house where they take refuge enroute, the scene where Ajay maneuvers them to take a different path and they end up amidst cattle fair, and the train sequence where they manage to hoodwink Ajay.
The pre-interval scene where Akshay Kumar taunts Amitabh and the emotional outburst of Atul Kulkarni is emotionally charged and dramatic.
The scene where Ajay forces the constables to slap Amitabh Bacchcan is superb because of the intention of Ajay to do that (to lower Amitabh’s dignity).
Ashwin Kalsekar's (constable's wife) scene with Tusshar is emotion-filled.
The best scene of the movie where Amitabh reprimands an inspector who has been ordered to take over the charge of Ansari.
The end scene picturised on Tusshar Kapoor is noteworthy.
CONS
It is surprising that the police team prefer traveling by road while bringing back Ansari, which is a dangerous thing to do. And why just five persons in the team for escorting a dreaded terrorist?
The scene where Amitabh pacifies an angry group of villagers just by giving a speech is disappointing and cliched.
Amitabh is only responsible for bringing back Ansari to Mumbai. Therefore he should have no role to play in that case thereafter. But he is shown handling that case.
The politician could have easily dismissed or transferred Amitabh, Akshay and Tushar if they were being a threat to him. But surprisingly he doesn’t do this.
How on earth Akshay Kumar is allowed check PO Box in Mumbai GPO late night?
The politicians and corrupt cops are convicted in a jiffy. This is pure optimism on the part of the director considering that it takes years to even apply charges on a politician.
The fight scene between Ajay and Amitabh in the anti-climax was totally unnecessary, though Amitabh excelled in it.
The songs were not needed and they only succeed in hampering the pace of the movie.
CAST
Amitabh towers above all and gives an award winning performance. His expressions, dialogue delivery, histrionics are mind-blowing. No wonder he is called a legend and GOD of acting. .
Ajay Devgan continues with his good form and once again delivers a memorable performance and does justice to a difficult role. Though at times his chain smoking and some mannerisms irritate.
Akshay Kumar springs up a surprise and has given his finest performance of his career. He entertains the audience with his comic acts and funny one-liners.
Atul Kulkarni acts well and proves that he is one of the best actors we have.
Tusshar Kapoor has a role that suits him perfectly and gives a satisfactory performance in spite of not having the best of the dialogues.
Aishwarya Rai does not have much to do and she is irritating in whatever she has done. She is always adamant in doing roles of substance only so why did she do this role, which could have been done by any junior artist. But at least she is not giggling in this movie. What a relief!
Tanuja (Atul’s mother) and Jayaprada (Amitabh’s wife) are okay. The two constables and Ashwini Kalsekar (wife of one of the constable) have performed well.
Lara Dutta performs well in the 'Aisa Jadoo' song.
TECHNICAL TEAM
Director Rajkumar Santoshi has shown his versatility whether he is dealing with action scenes, light moments, dramatic moments. He has done wonders to the not-so-good script by his excellent direction. He takes a dig at corruption, the media and the masses through well-directed scenes.
Story and Screenplay by Rajkumar Santoshi & Sridhar Raghavan's (brother of Sriram Raghavan, the director of Ek Hasina Thi) is good but with some unnecessary sub-plots. But superb screenplay compensate for the glitches in the story.
Editor Merzin Tavaria has taken care that the pace of the movie does not slacken.
RKS’s dialogues appeal to the masses and are hard hitting.
Cinematographer K.V. Anand has excellently captured the action and emotional scenes of Amitabh.
Tinu Verma’s stunts scenes are thrilling to watch, particularly the opening scene, the cattle fair scene and the train sequence.
Ram Sampath’s music is okay for listening but they were just not needed in this movie.
CONCLUSION
RKS has come out with a good thriller adventure but purely from a commercial point of view. I expected RKS not to fall for the formulaic fare but give us a hard- hitting movie like Pukar. But then Mathew Mathan’s Sarfarosh has set up a very high quality benchmark for the directors to follow for handling the subject of terrorist and terrorism.
Verdict: As a commercial movie and a formulaic fare Khakee is a delight to watch and is an entertainer. But if you are looking for a classic, you will be disappointed.
Your comments will be highly appreciated.
AMJAD K. MARUF
