Parwana
Movie
Review
Deepak Bahry's PARWANA is an apt case of old
wine in new bottle. A typical masala fare, it
reminds you of the commercial potboilers made in
the 1980s.
The film tells the story of Parwana [Ajay Devgan],
a present-day Robinhood, who robs the rich to
feed the poor.
Parwana finds himself entangled in a web created
by a terrorist organisation, working for the
cause of Kashmiris.
Their leader [Sharat Saxena] believes in carnage
and mayhem, so that it creates national
headlines, thereby creating ripples on the
international level.
The leader is aided in his mission by the
Commissioner of Police [Akhilendra Mishra], who
acts as his puppet.
How Parwana saves Mumbai from a major bomb blast
forms the crux of the story.
Writers Rajiv Kaul and Praful Parekh have chosen
a story that's as old as the hills. To be
honest, looking for anything original in the
film is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
Not only is the story oft-repeated, even the
screenplay is of utmost convenience. It starts
off with the Kashmir issue, but exactly fifteen
minutes later, it suddenly deviates to Ajay
Devgan and his gang of petty thieves.
With Amisha's introduction, it changes tracks
yet again – it becomes a love story.
Subsequently, it takes on a different route
altogether, when Ajay is labelled a terrorist.
With so many sub-plots in the film, it seems
that the writers wanted to squeeze just about
everything in the film, so as to cater to the
popular tastes.
While the first half is lifeless, with the
viewer guessing what the next scene would be
like, the second half is comparatively better.
The sequences between Ajay and Gulshan Grover, a
corrupt cop, are well executed.
The action sequences [Veeru Devgan] between the
two actors are deftly handled. In fact, the
stunts are the redeeming feature of this
enterprise.
The climax is long-drawn and the effort to save
the city from a deadly bomb looks plain
ridiculous. In fact, it's hard to digest. Even
the special effects, when the bomb explodes in
the sea, look tacky.
Director Deepak Bahry has opted for a theme that
has precious little to offer and that's where he
stumbles. Sanjeev-Darshan's music is equally
uninspiring. Barring 'Pallu Gira Diya', the
remaining numbers are mere gap fillers.
Cinematography is patchy; at places alright, at
times dull. Dialogues are monotonous and
rudimentary.
Ajay Devgan gives a sincere account of himself,
but looks out of place in an enterprise like
this. Amisha Patel continues to be wooden. Pooja
Batra has no role to talk of.
Sadashiv Amrapurkar does quite well. Kader Khan
is wasted in an insignificant role. Gulshan
Grover is convincing. Akhilendra Mishra does an
okay job. Sharat Saxena suffers due to a sketchy
role. Pramod Moutho is so-so. Ketaki Dave does
her Gujarati act yet again, but irritates.
Jagdeep manages to raise a few laughs.
On the whole, PARWANA has nothing new to offer.
At the box-office, the film has some chances at
small centres where masala films are still
lapped up. However, much cannot be expected in
big cities and multiplexes.
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