Here is a Hindi movie (after quite some time) that is designed as a
regular masala entertainer, but which, in spite of some glaring
flaws, manages to prevent itself from sliding into complete inanity.
Yes, it does suffer somewhat from the ''where do we go after the
first half'' syndrome, but thankfully, the second half is still
engineered well enough to entertain and hold the viewer's interest
even if only in parts...which means that even though far from
perfect, it is definitely worth seeing.
The first half is well done. It is well writen and well executed.
The narrative is fast, slick and gripping with some well-woven
twists and holds the viewer's attention abundantly. The story is
tightly knit and proceeds at an ideal pace. The tension present on-
screen is palpable. The action sequences are well-executed,
especially the one involving the cattle fair. The introduction of
the main characters is done adroitly and with just the right amount
of screen time. The dialogues are pretty much relevant to the
situations and thankfully bereft of any heavy duty melorama. The
humour is contolled and well-timed and does not disrupt the
continuity. Pretty close to an ideal first half for a Hindi thriller.
Which brings us to the second half, where suddenly Raj Kumar
Santoshi loses his grip on the narative, making it hurried and
contrived and the movie slowly begins to become tedious. Cliched
situations combine perfectly with cliched dialogues one after
another (good guy being surounded by mob talks them down with a
speech, bad cop turns into good cop after being given the
usual ''integrity-honesty'' lecture etc. etc.) with all the good guys
becoming the usual examples of do-gooder egotism. The action too
deteriorates to the extent of becoming laughable at some
places...watch out especially for the glaring, visible presence of
wires in quite a few high flying sequences. But gratefully, there
are enough moments reminiscent of the first half to partially
preserve the viewer's interest. The main twist towards the end can
be surmised quite some time before it actually happens and does not
really account for any thrill. However, the last scene of the movie
itself is fairly perceptive and significant, but a somewhat poor
execution and Santoshi's need to explain it in words instead of
letting the viewer be his own judge ruin the effect in part.
Aside from the first half, where Santoshi really scores is with the
casting. Amitabh Bachchan is perfect as the blend of a cop sidelined
throughout his tenure and a man who has only been a witness to his
family's life thanks to his professional commitment, a person who
looks at his entity as one big failure and who has that one last
shot at making his life worth something. The exquisite combination
of pain, self-doubt and determination that he brings, especially in
the scene where Akshay Kumar admonishes him for putting everyone's
lives in danger is exceptional and further qualifies his status as
one of India's best actors ever. Akshay Kumar is not really a great
actor, but Santoshi makes him look perfect by giving him a fully
tailored role. Tusshar Kapoor is tolerable which is saying a lot for
him, and Santoshi uses his pasted innocent look resourcefully.
Sabhyasachi Chakraborti, who comes from Bengali cinema, manages to
skillfully bring depth to what would otherwise have been a very
steeotypical role. Aishwarya Rai is just about passable, and as
usual does not bring anything special to the role...really can't
figure out all the hype that has surrounded her recently. Ajay
Devgan does not have much to do other than look the part of the
villian and he does that just sufficiently well. Even though she
only has a couple of scenes, Tanuja delivers with extraordinary
power, brilliantly etching emotions with her eyes. Lara Dutta (in
the item number) flaunts and shakes her well-endowed assets enough
to make up for the lack of fluidity and grace in her dance. The rest
of the cast is adequate. The cinematography is good, and so is the
background music. The movie could have done without any songs but
their presence is not much of a distraction.
Final word: All in all, Khakee entertains in spite of its flaws and
inadequacies and is definitely worth watching.
