Premise: Officer and a Gentleman gone completely wrong. Pros: Star-cast. Amitabh Bachchan as the Major in question, Ajay Devgan-Sonali Bendre for the song-dance-fight routines, Nafisa Ali as elegant Mrs. Dr. Major. Mohan Joshi as slime-bag, Ashish Vidyarthi as scum-bag with heart in the right place. Good technical support - cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran and art director Sabu Cyril who can make a hovel look like a haveli.
Cons: Absentee director Virender Anand, absent story, story sense, script, script sense. Patchy audiography, none-too-impressive songs, except for Ek Punjaban (courtesy Aadesh Shrivastav), and set-piece fights.
Story: Hard as nails Maj. Rana turns wimpy, nerdy, attitude-ridden cadets (Ajay Devgan et al) into proverbial men of steel. Only cadet in question has other things than NDA and national service in mind. Meets, woos and falls in love with Ms. Smiles and Sniffles (Sonali Bendre). Two songs and a fight later runs into badman brother (Ashish Vidyarthi), who brokers a deal with opponent (Mohan Joshi) for sis’ marriage alliance and equal share of underworld power. Loverboy sees red, so does Major Saab, and they go after the baddies. One baddie has change of heart, is bumped off, the other baddie meets the Maker at the hands of Major Saab and Cadet Co.
Inference: Tired, tiresome story and script. Too much of Ajay Devgan and too little, too-late of Amitabh Bachchan. Production values uneven. Listless direction.
Verdict: Amitabh Bachchan has charisma and screen presence, but ‘legend’ tag is beginning to weigh like an albatross round his neck. He is still looking for the right come-back combination.

Narpukkaha
Sarath Kumar Scores
Director K.S Ravikumar and Sarath Kumar effectively combine once again to deliver a film that is loaded with sentiments designed to pull your heart strings. Sarath Kumar in the dual role of father and son finely delineates the various shades of his dual characters and adds yet another feather to his cap.
Periaiya (Vijaykumar) brings up Chinnaiah (Sarath Kumar) as his own son and gives him a free hand to run his business empire. Periaya’s estranged daughter Gowri (Sithara), her husband (Mansoor Ali Khan) and his brother (Ranjith) stay in a separate house. Gowri hates Chinniah because she thinks that he is the cause for her estrangement with her father. She finds a confidante in Prabhavathi (Simran), Periaiya’s foreign-educated daughter, who has just returned home. She foists a case of attempted rape on Chinnaiah, and Perriaya throws him out. Mansoor’s brother hopes to marry Prabhavathi and inherit her wealth.
At this juncture Muthiah (Sarath Kumar Sr.) returns from serving a life sentence for murder and he is welcomed back to Periaiya’s household. This angers Prabhvathi since she cannot understand her father’s unexplained affinity for her mother’s (Sujata) murderer. Chinniah also hates his father because he too believes that Periaiya’s wife was killed by him. Periayya reveals that Muthiah had taken the murder rap on himself to shield the real murderer. Periaiya solemnises Chinnaiah’s wedding with Prabhavati. Gowri, meanwhile, overhears a conversation between her husband and his mistress and realises that it’s her husband who is the murderer. A struggle ensues between them and Muthiah intercedes to pacify them, but he is fatally wounded and dies. On seeing this Periaiya also dies of shock.
Sarath Kumar as the dashing young Chinniah performs well, providing an ample dose of comedy. His romantic scenes with Simran are a visual treat. As the father, Muthiah, Sarath Kumar is dignified and sober. Simran exudes oomph and plays her part well. Lip-synch is, however, a problem with her dialogue. Sithara, as Gowri, provides seasoned support. Mansoor and Ranjith fit the bill. Deva’s music and the background score add to the effect of the film.

Ganesh
Venkatesh scores again
This is a Venkatesh film all the way, and he carries the film on his shoulders with a splendid performance as an upright journalist who takes on an evil health minister. Debutant director Tirupathyswamy claims that this script stems from his real-life experiences with the medical profession. Doctors, he says, were responsible for his sister’s demise. The point he wants to drive home is that despite government allocating funds for health services to government hospitals and health centres, it is being swindled by ministers and officials concerned. The message in the film is that doctors should behave like human beings instead of fleecing poor people. The first half is racy, but the director could have trimmed the flash-back portions.
Venkatesh is an enterprising reporter in a weekly and lives happily with his younger sister and father. He comes to know of of a scam in medical supplies involving the health minister, Kota Srinivasa Rao. Madhubala, Venkatesh’s friend, is an IAS officer, and she gathers evidence which implicates Kota Srinivasa Rao. But before she hands over the file to Venkatesh she is attacked by the minister’s goons and loses both her legs. They then turn their attention on Venkatesh in search of the file, and in the ensuing melee his father, Chandramohan, sustains a head injury. Venkatesh’s attempts to get his father treated go in vain for lack of funds.
Meanwhile, Keertana seeing her brother’s plight, spends a night with health secretary and gets the required money. Overcome by shame, she commits suicide. Without medical treatment his father also dies. Venkatesh then fakes a suicide attempt and gets lodged in jail. With the help of Madhubala’s information and jail officer Brahmanandam he eliminates all the officials one by one by hanging them publicly. His mission ends with the death of the health minister.
Rambha who plays a jailor has nothing much to do, except dance with Venkatesh on the snow-clad peaks of New Zealand. The film is excellently picturised, but Manisarma’s songs are average.Kota Srinivasa Rao truly looks menacing.