Khakee: Movie Review

Khakee (2003): ***

We have witnessed this umpteen number of times. A motion picture that commences with a bang and concludes all fizzled out. The second half syndrome plagues Khakee to such an extent that it sinks, taking with it all the punch and blow of the first half as well.

Playing safe is the keyword here. Khakee?s honest about the fact that its no documentary cataloguing the lives of constabulary and hence all the necessary ingredients have been laced in (with probably as much stereotyping as possible) like an item song as a cop searches the bar, a love-affair which enables to bud two more ditties, the modus operandi of telephone bomb and so on and so forth.

The basic premise follows an oft-repeated path as the delineation between the good and evil is perceptible from the word “go” and no effort is being made to lend substantial complexity to the characters which can separate the enterprise from the herd of cop-films made for eons. Probably the only respite is the thriller angle when treachery and betrayal sets in and one tracks the internal paths of the labyrinth

The story starts with all the fuss about transporting a potential terrorist Iqbal Ansari (Atul Kulkarni) from Chandan nagar to a court in Mumbai for justice since a massacre had ensued during the police’s first attempt costing the force several diligent officers’ lives. The deaths have given the transportation the stature of a potential combat mission, to accomplish which, DCP Anant Mathur (Amitabh Bachchan) is badged as the new in-charge (mostly banking on the fact that the assiduous officer is still to prove his mettle). The team consisting of two inspectors—Shekhar (Akshay Kumar) and Ashwin (Tusshar) and two constables finally sets out to Chandan Nagar with the DCP not before they get hold of a spying photographer. The photographer, as expected, is wiped out by his evil master through a telephone bomb.

On reaching Chandan Nagar, a phone-call from a certain Mahalaxmi (Aishwarya Rai) alerts them about some terrorists hiding away in the school where she’s present as a workshop attendee. The evil master, together with his con-men flees much before the police force with the proficient team arrives, but the actual motive becomes clear as the DCP is quick to avert another telephone bomb. Setting out finally towards their destination Mumbai by road, en route, amidst a ruckus of cattle, a mocking call alerts DCP and on spotting the culprit, an unsuccessful race befalls. Another aversion of a bomb later, and a suddenly faulty truck brings the team and Iqbal to a mansion amidst a forest. Only too quick to occupy the residence, when DCP finally ruminates on the mocking call and the fleeing figure, the identity of the evil lord surfaces—a former corrupt Inspector Angre (Ajay Devgan) who’s on a revenge-spree from the DCP for unveiling his perverted feats in the past.

Soon enough, Angre has arrived to the desolate mansion replete with men and ammunition and a fiery crossfire entails. Depleting the police of their ammo, a decision of whether to finally surrender Iqbal to Angre’s men follows a revelation by Iqbal about how his unwavering honesty and the possession of the dark secrets of dignitaries has made him and his family the scapegoat and how the media, believing those who matter, has eyewashed the public to believe he’s a terrorist. When finally Angre comes to face DCP to relieve some of his dormant revenge, it appears that the putrescence runs much deeper and an oath to give justice to Iqbal, follows a crusade against the system gone rancid. And many sermons, a few double-crosses and a lonesome love-affair later, the finale is reached taking the safest possible route.

Which shouldn’t take you much long to figure out how the evil mastermind had planted a dual-sided, fool-proof plan and how the ploys were directed at gaining the credibility, how choice was made perfect for revenge et al. As the puzzle on-screen solves towards the middle, problems suddenly get solved unrealistically as you witness that all it takes to silence a ferociously violent mob is just a lengthy, confident babble, you also suddenly witness dialogues like “Aapne meri aankhen khol deen” and “Main DCP ki tarah achcha insaan banna chahta hoon” the latter coming from a cop who prefers taking a minister’s kids out to a movie-premiere than accompanying the officers to a mission. Souls get aroused just too suddenly, preaches dart at the blink of an eye; its more like attending a moral-science lesson.

As oaths are taken towards the interval, you expect the canvas to enlarge but alas, all the corruption suddenly gets parenthesised to four individuals, all the nobility to the four officers and the mission to redemption lies within a file. As a matter of fact the file which is worth some 500 million dollars (I digested that..lol) doesn’t get a worthy guard seeing the way its locker in the GPO is so easily vandalised into and the way it flaps through tables uncared for by Angre. The less said about the clichéd chase in the finale, the better, though I found the actual climax quite amusing with its in-your-face hints at a sequel (alright, forget I said this; maybe I am the only one saying this..lol).

The parameters, the situations and the finale seems to be pre-decided as the evident unidimensional screenplay shows. Notice the absolutely futile reasons given to DCP for tugging along Mahalaxmi, the unexplained breaking into the locker at GPO, the killing of a running constable even when Ashwin is an easier target and the employing of a ventriloquist to frame the words of the expiring reporter (couldn’t the mastermind evil-groups employ one as well, considering it was telecast on public news channels and their forever-replenished resources!). Though the film does benefit once from the screenplay’s dependability towards the middle as the graph soars in moments of grief (Iqbal’s and constable’s demise) but that must also be accredited to Santoshi, who?s forte has always been tragedy. Talking of direction, Santoshi doesn?t break any new ground as the plot offers miniscule scope to challenge the erstwhile director, but whatever has been directed, reeks of expected efficiency.

Cinematography has shots of brilliance in the opening crossfire sequence and the songs (each of them are deliciously picturised however much out-of-place they might be). Background music is very effective with a haunting and splendid usage of “Mere Maula Karam ho Karam” throughout. The album’s melodic appeal also can’t be denied considering it comes from a debutante (Ram Sampat). The editing scissors’ hyperactivity, though welcome all through, appears to have chopped off some pivotal sequences while action sequences are so staid and repetitive, that you can bet on the focus and the force of next 15 punches.

Chop a major chunk off Anil Kapoor’s character in Pukar, add a bit of Sunny Deol of Ghatak and you are ready with Amitabh Bachchan of Khakee. The only novelty here being the DCP’s old age and its vulnerabilities. The best thing about his character is its self-awareness (he’s only too happy to mention his decay as he dozes off during a public speech). You sympathise with him as he gets frustrated at his physical inability when outsmarted in the capture-race, experiences melancholia on glancing past his family photographs realising he never was a part of their moments and the insult he has to bear for having not done anything outrageously courageous in his prime-time. Apart from that, you more than expect his honesty and loyalty to backfire and the countless lectures that come gifted with such idealism, and you bear them all for Bachchan senior’s booming baritone and bloodshot eyes. Excellently nuanced, he tries hard to salvage a mediocre character, and as always, comes out triumphant.

While Akshay impresses thoroughly in dramatic portions, his chemistry with Aishwarya doesn’t cut much ice. Or maybe its the latter to blame. If one can afford to look beyond Aishwarya’s emblazoned locks, beaming complexion and ethereal apparels, the visage’s definitely shed off most of its plasticity though the glazing aqua-eyes still refrain from emoting and a distant emptiness (read solidity) gives the plot away much before the cat’s out of the bag.

The petite and piffling Tusshar might, unintentionally, end up giving you a few laughs with his calculative, almost robotic roleplay though you must give it to him for trying so hard to hide his anxiety for the upcoming dialogue. Unfortunately, the moving camera is a maestro when it comes to picking such choicest moments, all for the audience’s entertainment. Atul Kulkarni’s character might be written some 15 years ago, but he takes that in his stride and plays to the gallery. Ajay Devgan is Amrish Puri with anti-ageing cream. Right from the garbled eyelash to the unrealistic characterisation, Devgan?s Angre is, well, evil. Nothing worth writing home about. The supporting cast does well and Lara Dutta is an absolute bomb in “Aisa Jadoo Daala Re”.

With a subject’s circumference limited to police, only very seldom have directors explored enough for possibilities in characters residing in such a milieu, so what promisingly starts off as a marathon ends up giving some tepid examples of minority influence and Khakee seems only too contented about being so escapist. We might not have seen Amitabh in such fine fettle before, but we have seen better, much more entertaining stuff from Rajkumar Santoshi.

Moderately entertaining and qualitatively, much below expectations, Khakee might rake in moolah for its safe, moralistic, brimming-with-optimism and well-rounded projection, but its inability to breakaway from the clichés surrounding this genre means its barely a watch-it-n-forget-it affair. There’s nothing you’ll miss if you skip this one!