AB TAK CHAPPAN

A gangster sitting in a local cafe ( it is our very own Guptaji's!!!) discussing criminal plans, suddenly he is rounded up by cops who form the special squad. Sadhu Agashe ( Nana) along with his junior Francais ( Kunal Vijaykar). The criminal freezes. Sadhu sits beside him putting an arm around him like friends, the atmosphere becomes tense. Gangster tells sadhu "mujhe malum hai saab, aap mera game bajane ko aaya hai". Sadhu nods negative and takes him to Nasik instead.
On the way they stop to have tea, the cop pulls out his gun and places on the gangster's head and asks whether he has any girlfriends. He says two, they laugh, more laughter .......................BANG!!! News flashes that a hardcore criminal is shot dead en-route nasik in an encounter. (shocking sequence as Bhiku Mhatre's death in Satya)

This opening scene alone was worth my ticket price of 130/- (stall). Ramgopal Verma with his new found director walks the Satya lane, and with much confidence and style. If Satya was a true masterpiece, then this is nearly one - gritty, crude, bloody, violent, true to life, enough to make Karan Johar blush!!!

The 1st half of the movie cruises with rocket speed, the second half though a bit slow comparitively, has enough grip to hold u to the edge of the seat. The suspense element is also good enough.The only flaw being the open ended finale, which reminds me of "Hindustani", in which Kamal hassan vows to fight the enemy from overseas.

Performances:
NANA PATEKAR is a genious. He has never been so controlled and perfect. Arguably , this is his best performance till date. Be it his laughter, brooding looks or extreme pain which is subdued and finally comes out in the end. He fits perfectly into the role; can somebody give him an oscar please!!! Revathy as his wife is extremely natural, though she's got a small role. The junior astist as his son is excellent.
Kunal Vijaykar & the serial actor(forgot his name) is effective as Sadhu's faithful sidekicks. Yashpal sharma (the rogue of the village in Lagaan) looks very different and fits the role of the jealous subordinate to a T. All the performances by smaller artists (esp the guy from South as the new joint commisioner) are worth applauding. The camerawork is amazing, the background score is HAUNTING ( Vishal bharadwaj). Do see this movie on big screen with an excellent Sound system. Thankfully no songs!

So finally here is a movie, made by RGV, stars Nana with a knockout performance and remeniscent of Satya with all the elements of a perfect cop v/s gansters drama with striking reality. What else do u want?
Bury ur head in sand of u missed this movie. Even Khakhee looks pale!!!

-Arun Ganesh