Paisa Vasool!. Review on Khakee

Like LOC, I went in to watch Khakee with very very few expectations. Unlike LOC however I was very very pleasantly surprised with Khakee. Khakee tells the story of our nations cops with a reality that touches me. It didn't portray all the cops as evil corrupt men of the law and it didn't portray all of them as knights in shining armour. It tells the story of a police force with a few good men and a few more bad men.

For those, like me, who hate to read the stories of movies before they view it, please skip the following sections!

Plot: Khakee begins with Iqbal Ansari, a suspected ISI terrorist, trying to be rescued by other terrorists and the attempt being foiled by the cops. A lot of them lose their lives and so a special team is being set up to transport Iqbal from Chandanpur to Bombay, so that he can face trial.

The team consists of 2 constables (unfortunately I don't know their names). It also consists of a reluctant Akshay Kumar who is brazenly corrupt and tries his best to use his ministerial influence to get out of this mission. Tusshar Kapoor, a fresh academy graduate, bursting with righteousness and the desire to serve, is selected along with Amitabh, who heads the team.

Amitabh plays a disillusioned and slightly bitter cop, who's always been honest, but realises that the honesty doesn't get rewarded.

Just as the team reaches Chandanpur, they get a call about some terrorists holed up in a school guest house. By the time they reach the place of course the terrorists have left.

Aishwarya Rai, the informant, is asked to accompany the team back to Bombay for her safety. I won't delve more into the nitty-gritty except to say that most of the scenes were very taut and gripping.

Songs did tend to interrupt the flow, but only one stanza of every song was shown. I don't know who's ingenious idea this was, but it's perfect!

Eventually Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar fall in love. Eventually Iqbal also reveals that he is being framed and is actually an honest doctor who was not being rescued but being kidnapped by the terrorists so that he could return a certain file to them, which revealed the hand of the minister and certain cops who played a role in the recent communal violence.

Iqbal also laments how easily the entire nation believed he was a terrorist just because he was a Muslim. He also comments on how he is not sure if he will get justice because of his religion. The team promises him that he will get to court alive and will be able to testify. For their part the ministers and Ajay Devgan, the head of the terrorists, try to kidnap/kill Ansari and other members of the team. The movie had plenty of twists and turns and kept you guessing all the time.

I especially LOVED the twist where Aishwarya Rai turns out to be Ajays girlfriend. Although me and my husband were suspecting it, we didn't think a mainstream Hindi movie was ready to show the main heroine as a villain yet. We were thankfully wrong. The scene where Akshay asks as his last wish to be shot by Aishwarya blew me away, only because I totally expected Aishwarya to go all mushy, but she very nonchalantly took aim & pulled the trigger! Bravo! (I am not a fan of violence, but just a HUGE fan of twists in the tale - for those wondering!)

Performances:

Atul Kulkarni as Iqbal was very good as usual. He is a performer to be watched out for. I would put him in the Manoj Bajpai category.

Amitabh Bacchan as DCP Anant Shrivastav was absolutely fabulous. Now, I am not one of those die-hard Amitabh fans, who waxes eloquent every time he even breathes in a movie. But Amitabh gave an excellent performance as the strong willed but slightly helpless DCP. He reminded me of my wonderful and honest father who has quite often been overlooked for promotions because of his honesty and integrity. But who nevertheless does his job with the same dedication and just a bit of wistfulness.

Ajay Devgan plays the role of a terrorist with a special vengeance against Amitabh with a lot of flair and panache. He does absolute justice to his role, with no melodrama and a subtle performance.

Akshay was perfect for his role of cop with few morals and a great sense of humour.

Tusshar was not bad and played the role of a cop on whom the realities of the system are slowly dawning quite well.

Aishwarya was alright and had much fewer giggles and hysterics and silly faces than her other movies. I am not a huge fan of her acting as you may guess!

Direction and Screenplay:Awesome!

To sum up:The movie was worth watching in the theatre and paying in ££ for! It was very different from most Hindi movies I've seen and I would recommend it to everyone. It defied many norms of Hindi Cinema and I really enjoyed that. A simple thing like the family of DCP Anant being South Indian, instead of the usual Punjabi family, was also well appreciated. I have nothing against Punjabi and I am half Sindhi (and so North Indian) myself, but sometimes watching Hindi movies would make one think that India has only one community.

Khakee, like LOC, was a movie about men in uniform. However one identifies with these men although the sacrifices made by the men in LOC were arguably greater and harder. Khakee evoked emotions in me - a hardened, cynical viewer. That in itself endeared the movie to me!

All in all a paisa vasool movie!