Farz

Explosive action, but no dra

A bang bang actioner doesn’t need a story, does it? Director Raj Kanwar certainly doesn’t think so. His Farz is a series of gun shots and bomb blasts and little else. The film is a rehash of not one but two Hollywood flicks, Lethal Weapon I and Richcete but even with two muses Kanwar fails to deliver the goods.

Sunny Deol is Inspector Karan Singh who leaves Punjab to eradicate Mumbai of the underworld menace. He believes that the only cure for this fatal affliction is bullet. The more the better. In the city he finds himself a die hard fan in Kajal (Preity Zinta), the daughter of Karan’s senior officer, Arjun Singh (Om Puri). And a fearful foe in Gava Firozi (Jackie Shroff), a terrorist whose younger brother, Sikander (Mukesh Tiwari) Karan guns down in a police encounter. The fugitive through a number of plans frames Karan, discredits him and has him suspended from the force. Karan’s family is threatened. The much provoked protagonist finally breaks his iron control and in a fire-and-fury finale realizes his mission.

Commandeered by action director Tinnu Verma and an aggressive Sunny, the film begins engaging but loses its grip over the audience post interval. A screenplay that is full of holes and a disappointing climax are to blame for this easily forgettable Farz. Sunny makes an impression with his fists of fury and his power-packed punch-lines. Jackie Shroff in a role which seems like an extension of Mission Kashmir is tries to bring in some semblance with a matured performance and tries to bring a fair amount of conviction to his role. But sadly, he’s let down by a poor script.

Preity Zinta in the role of Sunny’s young lover and his wife is her usual bubbly self. Om Puri as the police officer who is more interested in his retirement plans than doing his duty, affords some release from the relentless action and tension with his droll dialogue. Mukesh Tiwari in a brief cameo catches the eye.

Raj Kanwar saddled with the problem of justifying both Sunny and Jackie and ensuring that both get their fair share of sympathy, takes the easy way out. He lets Sunny dominate the first half and then lets Jackie take over post interval. Its a ploy that doesn’t work because Kanwar has spent too many reels earlier establishing Sunny’s supercop status to let him play second fiddle to the villain in the second half.

Director Raj Kanwar is overshadowed by action director Tinnu Verma who comes up with some mind-boggling stunts. Uttam Singh’s score is a disappointment but Ishwar Bidri’s camerawork is excellent and needs special mention.

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Padmaraj Nair
raajnair99@hotmail.com

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