'Garv' - 'Old Wine In A Sparkling New Bottle'

Article Updated 09 July, 2004 10:28:19 PM IST

'Garv' - 'Old Wine In A Sparkling New Bottle'

It's raining cops in Bollywood now. Honestly this film has nothing new to say but it will definitely score with the masses. It has the right formula and just can't go wrong. Credit is definitely due to debutant director Puneet Issar. Cinevistaas must be breathing a huge sigh of relief after their disastrous big screen debut that went by some silly name, 'Sssshhh...'.

So what is 'Garv' all about. It is about honest and dishonest police officers. While the former are fighting corruption the latter are aiding and abetting crime in the country. Of course, there is a bit of the Muslim-Hindu angle as well as a wee bit of the anti-Pakistan too. But basically it is about corruption in the country and the underworld-police nexus.

So what makes this oft-repeated formula watchable? Salman Khan without a trace of doubt! He looks convincing in everything that he does, be it muscle flexing, pumping iron or bashing up the bad men. He has the front-benchers rooting for him. Another factor that goes in his favour is that he has not had a release for quite a long time. And above all, the guy is still a star who has not lost the intense look in his eyes. He can still melt hearts.

Arjun Ranawat (Salman Khan) and Hyder Ali (Arbaaz Khan) are the city's 'encounter specialists'. Aided by Samar Singh (Amrish Puri) they get rid of dreaded criminals. Arjun and Haider are also very close and are almost like brothers.

But what beats us is the two spending their evenings in plainclothes at a city's up market night club. Cops indulging in this is sort of unheard!

Coming back to the story, while Samar Singh is transferred, Hyder is killed. Arjun has barely recovered from Haider's death when his sister, Rakhi (Akanksha) is kidnapped and gang-raped forcing Arjun to take the law into his hands. This he does with conviction. Hasn't he been notorious for his dare devil ways? This is what really goes in his favour as well as that of the film. Salman is sentenced to death until the truth is revealed in the end. So all's well that ends well.

The film moves at a brisk pace and there is a lot happening. Shilpa Shetty (a nightclub dancer) is there only for oomph value in a forced romantic track. She loks gorgeous and has precisely 3-4 dialogues and about three songs. Obviously the hero needs respite from fighting the bad guys and indulge in some dream songs!

'Dum Mast Mast' and 'Hum Tumko Nigahone Mein' are hummable numbers. There is also a hot item number, 'Marhaba' (Reshma Bombaywala) that will be lapped up by the front-benchers.

Performances are good. Arbaaz Khan leaves a mark especially with his performance in the latter half of the film. Rajpal Yadav has precisely two scenes but makes an impact. The action sequences (brilliant) and dialogues are going to be lapped up by the masses.

This is no multiplex film. It is a total mass appeal film!

*** (THREE STARS)

*poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent

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