|  Lakeer
Movie Review
marks the directorial debut for a second choreographer,
Ahmed Khan, in two weeks. The comparisions with Farah
will obviously be done but it will be unfair considering
the lavish scale at which ´Main Hoon Na´
was made and the creative team available to Farah for
help and instant brain-storming sessions, while not
taking anything way from Farah´s creative genius.
´Lakeer´
is about Arjun Rana (Sunny Deol) an underworld don with
some principles . His favourites include brother Karan
(Sohail Khan) who is not his real brother but has been
brought up like one and sister Bindiya (Nausheed Cyrusi)
who is not a blood relative but was brought up by Arjun´s
Godfather, who he refers to as ´Baba´.
There is another brother
duo of Sanju (Sunil Shetty) and Saahil (John Abraham).
Sanju is only a motor mechanic but sends his brother
to the same expensive school as Arjun´s brother
Karan. Sanju has aspirations of one day becoming rich
and influential like Arjun but fate has something else
for him. Saahil is a very level headed person but looses
his heart to Bindiya who reciprocates his feelings.
Unfortunately Karan a brash and spoilt kid is also in
love with Bindiya but cannot express his feelings.
There is a confrontation
between Karan and Saahil, leading to Saahil getting
seriously injured, more because of Karan´s friend
Ronnie (Apoorva Agnihotri). In a fit of anger Sanju
beats up Karan by mistake who has to be admitted to
the ICU. The obvious confrontations between Sanju and
Arjun take place. Sanju is no match for Arjun but when
Arjun Rana comes to know that Bindiya is in love with
Saahil and its actually Karan and his group that is
wrong the movie moves on to an unexpected sort of a
climax.
On the whole, ´Lakeer´
can be broken up into two parts, the pre and post-interval
portions. While the movie is exceptional in the first
part and is beautifully set up for the second half,
Ahmed looses his grip on the subject and neglects his
star Sunny in favour of the supporting cast which turns
out to be his biggest mistake.The climax is different,
but it´s highly unlikely that it will go down
well with the audience.
While Ahmed has shown
a lot of promise, blending college sequences, underworld
lifestyle and some brilliantly choreographed songs like
´Paigham´, ´Rozana´, ´Nachle´
and ´Shehzaade´ he has too many songs in
the second half and ´Offho Jalta Hai´ has
to be deleted as it slows the pace of the movie. Some
of the sequences are quite impressive - Sunny breaking
down after the climax, his action sequence as he tackles
a gunner single handedly, John sermonising his brother
about being rash and uncivilised. Sohail´s change
of face and many other scenes.
Amongst the cast members
Sunny is the lifeline of the movie, be it his ruthless
action sequences, his shouting dialogue delivery (that
draws a lot of applause from the gallery) or his emotional
sequences. Once again he shows his full range as an
actor.
John has shown that
he is not all about torso baring and sizzling sequences.
His restrained acting and screen presence confirm that
he is a star and not a flash in the pan.
Nausheed Cyrusi though
irritating in the beginning manages to give a good account
of herself. Sunil Shetty is erratic, good in some parts
and ordinary in others. Sohail knows what acting is
all about but should work on his dialogue delivery which
is not audible at times due to the fast pace at which
he delivers it.
Johny Lal´s cinematography
is impressive and the action sequences by Abbas Ali
Moghul are a highlight of the movie.
On the whole ´Lakeer
-Forbidden Line´ is Sunny Deols show all the way
and its only his absence during a substantial part of
the second half that will be responsible for the movie
not doing well in some circuits, though it will do well
in North, East and Central India. |
