Policegiri is cringe-inducing fare, writes, writes Sukanya Varma.
A cluster of Dutt's photographs from childhood with family, from
photosesion and movies merge to form his name in the opening credits
following a note of gratitude by the
makers for his cooperation in
completing the film during trying times.
Before the goodwill behind this gesture
can register, the hero makes his entry --
splashing his face with beer, mixing his
idli with beer and washing his hands
with beer because, apparently, 'Beauty
lies in the eyes of the beer holder.'
If the daftness sounds familiar it's
because the dialogues are formulated
by the same duo responsible for two
previous monstrosities of this year
(Himmatwala, Chashme Baddoor) -- Farhad and Sajid.
Immediately after a stout, dishevelled,
puffy-faced, snoozy Dutt transforms
into an uninspired version of Singham
Rathore Pandey hurling a batch of
savage goons in mid-air like freshly-
made popcorn.
As if Amar Mohile's loud-enough-to-
turn-anybody-deaf background score
isn't emphatic enough, Dutt thumps his
chest vigorously to introduce himself as
DCP Rudra, the newly transferred cop of
Nagapuram town who is 'born in Mumbai, raised in India.' He's the
proverbial cross between Shahenshah
and Chulbul Pandey, the lawman with
dubious methods but Robin Hood's
heart.
Only here the experience is akin to
watching one of those dubbed-in-Hindi
South Indian films regularly aired on
television headlined by a Bollywood
mainstream hero.
Whereas those are at least mildly
amusing, K S Ravikumar's remake of
Tamil hit Saamy is so hopelessly
timeworn, neither its jaded leading
man nor its crummy screenplay can
salvage this mess no matter how many men Dutt hurls in the sky.
What's bizarre is just how much the 53-
year-old actor resembles his Munnabhai
series filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani in
that thick moustache as he takes down
everything illicit and immoral with a
blaring chant from Bhagavad Gita playing in the background. He's miscast
in a role he could've done justice to till
all the extra kilos piled on and robbed
the Dutt of his deadliness.
Policegiri was never expected to make
sense but it's the serious lack of
charisma and the cringe it induces on
seeing him romance an almost three
decades younger Prachi Desai that
spoils its chances even further.
Even the actors playing Desai's parents
look younger than Dutt, it's like Yalgaar
all over again. Pity considering Dutt has
never shied from playing daddy to
Hrithik Roshan or Minissha Lamba in
films like Mission Kashmir and Kidnap.
Desai is purely ornamental and
relegated to dance around inane songs
like Chura ke leja, bhaga ke leja, utha ke
lena yaar.
Dutt's quirky nemesis and the villainous
poster boy of Bollywood remakes --
Prakash Raj does his usual dilated
pupils/manic laugh theatrics with a
recurring punchline -- Mere mein sur
Mohammad Rafi ka hai ki nahi power Mohammad Ali ka hai.
There's also a stale comedy track
featuring Rajpal Yadav doing his
dummy dude shtick yet again. Tacky production values (during one of
the song picturisations, Dutt and Desai
appear superimposed against a stack of
desktop wallpapers) and fatuous
showdowns make Rudra's bam-wham-
packed fight for justice seem longer than its 141 minutes running time.
At one point your head pleads louder
than Mohile's ceaseless cacophony to
grab hold of that Tiger Balm bottle on
Om Puri's (wasted in a two minute role)
desk. Plots with threadbare logic rely too
much on larger-than-life heroics to
draw its target audience in. But none of
Dutt's swagger is blustering enough to
put up with a film as deafening, dowdy
and drudging as Policegiri.
Rating:- 1/5
