The story has been tweaked but the basic plot remains the same. Vijay's father is framed and killed, his family kicked out of "Mandwa" by Kancha. Vijay grows up with the mission of winning back Mandwa and eventually succeeds.
The movie starts off very well. Infact the first half is action packed and passes quickly. Hritik is absent for almost 45 minutes, as the movie sets up the background of revenge. Young Hritik is an Angry Young Man indeed. Sanju Baaba is maniachal in his bald avatar, while Rishi Kapoor looks solid as the other villain. What impresses is the slick editing, solid direction and scene elevating background score. The action is well shot, the brutality believable. At half point, the film looks like a classic all the way. But alas, the second half begins!
Things start to fall apart post interval. The director loses control, the story begins to look thin. Logic gives way to gore as the headcount goes north. Om Puri - the clueless commissioner makes things worst, with his half baked character. You think something intelligent is going to happen, but things get dumber by the minute. The commissioner knows everything about Vijay Chauhan (even his address), but doesnt have a photo of him to show to his team. Hritik and a team of Hijras, manage to wipe out Rishi Kapoor's gang, which has ruled over Mumbai for ages. The whole police force of India isnt able to defeat Kancha's gang in Mandwa, but Hritik does it alone, overnight! The plot is oversimplified, the scenes cliched. And it's sad because the film has potential.
Performances are solid by all main characters. Hritik, Sanju, Rishi are in good form. Young Hritik pulls it off. Piggy Chops hams and Om Puri perplexes. The music and the background score by Ajay-Atul is excellent and is one of the high points. The post production work on the footage ios excellent too, as the scenes in Mandwa are given a mystical hue. Sadly, this time around, the dialogues are not too impressive.
So overall, its worth a watch, but could have been much better. A little more work and brains in the script, better handling of characters, more impactful dialogues and a trimming of half an hour on the editing table and this would have been a classic. Well, as I said, it was a little agnee, a little agony!
Rating: 6 / 10 ( 1 just for the great background score)