I am not sure if I got Khakee the first time round. A lot of individual things registered, some positive, some not so positive. But I am not totally convinced I got the script.
So for a change, I am going to try and capture it.
* A Dr Iqbal Ansari has been charged with POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) because a huge cache of arms and ammunition has been discovered in his apartment by the police who were, I assume, acting on a tip-off. After some shoddy treatment at their hands, our man is detained in Chandangarh (did I get that right?). So far so good.
* For some reason, he has to be transferred to Mumbai. And it cannot be done secretly and swiftly by air. It has to be the road, through long and unfriendly terrain.
* For some reason, the convoy is attacked, a lot of cops die, but our man escapes every time.
* For some reason, these guys are not keen on taking prisoners, they just make sure he does not make it to Mumbai (else they would have targeted him in Chandansomewhere itself).
* Yet, for some reason, though they seem to be immensely organised and have a formidable supply of men and machines at their disposal, they can never seem to get 'rid' of the guy. They chose not to blow up the entire convoy but go, Braveheart-style, each time.
* For some reason, action stud Angre likes to play hide-and-seek and do childish things like put a bomb in a jeep rather than blow the convoy into the sky.
* For some reason, Angre has an army of seasoned mercenaries stationed outside a shoddy hut that is occupied by a few tired, outnumbered, low-on-ammunication cops. But Angre cannot seem to charge in and blow their brains out. Then, over a cup of tea, he chooses to torment his nemesis (Anant Shrivastava).
* Speaking of Angre, did he not slaughter five guys cold-bloodedly when he was young? He came out of jail impressively middle-aged after whatever sentence he served. If he was not sent to the Creator, would he not have been sentenced for life? But he seemed to admit in some scene that he had served his time. He mentioned 'release' and not 'escape'. How is that possible?
* Ansari was fabulous. He is a doctor with the large-heartedness and insane nationalism to not only jump into something he need not have in the first place, but takes on the bad guys on the phone, rather than do something subtle like photocopy a file and hand over the original to the bad guys or something like that.
When any girl with a low neckline and high hemli
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* Thank God for Big B. Put him in a ballet with green tights and I will still watch him. The cast was superb except for a few cops who flung their arms too violently while getting shot. I have not seen a man getting shot except in the movies, but somehow it did not look good.
* Ditto for rapid firing when Angre's men finally muster the courage and storm the shanty Shrivastava was holed up in. I have not seen that kind of firing, except in movies, so perhaps I am not the best one to judge.
A question: did the team that shot the opening sequence not shoot this one as well? The opening sequence reminded me of Hollywood stuff, especially Rules Of Engagement, where a convoy is ambushed in a narrow gulley. That was mind blowing and ended superbly with holes appearing in the garge door as the cop (who overacted by flailing his arms as did Shekar when facing his firing squad) pulled down the shutter.
I still have not got the story. Apologies. What I did register was mind boggling audiovisual wizardry. I thought it was
really good and accompanied brilliantly with engaging camerawork.
All in all, enjoyed the three hours, but when I see a script (contradiction here because I did not see a script at all) like this, I wonder why people cannot appreciate attention to detail in tying up loose ends that scriptwriters of the league of Sudhir Mishra seem to employ.
