Film: Shootout at Lokhandwala

Director: Apoorva Lakhia

Producers: Sanjay Gupta, Shobhaa Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi, Sunil Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Rohit Roy, Aditya Lakhia, Neha Dhupia, Dia Mirza, Aarti Chhabria, Amrita Singh, Ravi Gosai, Aftab Ahmad Khan and Abhishek Bachchan.

Rating: 2/5

Imagine taking characters from real life, adding a bunch of fictionalized ones and throwing in some song and dance. What you get as a result of this mixture is a film that somewhere on lines of being different, has commercial elements packed to the brim and turns out to be a sober ride.

The film traces the rise of a trigger-happy gang and their pursuit to save themselves from maverick lawmen that are out to ensure they no longer exist. Maya Dolas (Vivek Oberoi) and his gang (Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Aditya Lakhia) are non-conformists, they defy their Dubai-based big boss (depicting most wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim), and begin extorting builders and the likes.

With the nuisance they have become, ACP Ahmed Khan (Sanjay Dutt) commissions a team to tackle the problem comprising Kaviraj Patel (Suniel Shetty) and Javed Hyderabadi (Arbaaz Khan). With the team in full form, the chase commences and what follows is a whole lot of ‘bang bang’ and encounters.

To begin with, the film is weak in its narrative. Every time one tries to connect with the film on some level or the other, it is broken with a conversation. The narrative shuttles between real time and an experience narrated by Dutt, which gets tiring beyond a point.

What could have certainly been a gripping and thrilling rollercoaster ride turns into a tedious merry-go-round. The film while in the first half introduces you to the situation and briefs you on what to expect; fails to convincingly tell the proceedings in the latter half.

Further disappointing...