Article Updated 16 January, 2006 10:04:45 AM IST   Family By Prema K. ©2006 Bollyvista.com   Veteran filmmakers seem to be slowly losing their touch. Rajkumar Santoshi is one such case. 'Family' is gripping in parts with some brilliantly executed sequences but at the end of it all, its yet another revenge drama. Coming from a reputed filmmaker like him, it's a letdown! One of the major problems with the film is that it's not a tussle between Mr. Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, as one thought. It's between Mr. Bachchan and newcomer Aryaman. So it loses its conviction to a certain degree. The other is Mr. Bachchan's look. He has the same look in almost every film. It's getting boring now. To top it all, the second half just goes on and on and becomes very boring. 'Family' is the story of two families; Viren Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan), and Shekhar Bhatia (Akshay Kumar). Viren is a don who operates from Bangkok. His family, comprises of his wife (Shernaz Patel), son (Sushant Singh), daughter-in-law, daughter and grandson, who live in Mumbai. This is because his wife doesn't approve of his activities. Shekhar is a chef. How do the two clash with each other? Actually it's Shekhar's brother, Aryeman, who clashes with him. Shekhar is a middle class guy living with his parents (Anjan Srivastava, Bharti Achrekar), wife (Bhumika Chawla) and brother. Shekhar's wife is a doctor, while his brother tries his hand at various jobs. It's all one big happy family until tragedy strikes. Shekhar gets killed by Viren. Now begins the revenge drama but like we said before, a raw newcomer pitted against Bachchan takes away the impact. Some of the scenes stand out. The kidnapping of Viren's family is well-executed. But this again seems unbelievable, in retrospect. How is it possible for a group of young, raw guys to track down the don's entire family so easily. There are some really edge of the seat scenes; when Bachchan comes back to his old house where Aryaman and his friend's have held Viren's family captive. The way the friends wait with bated breath as he is approaching the room unawares is great. The other one in which Bachchan takes revenge on a man by ripping open the fresh stitches on his stomach in a hospital makes you turn your face away. The action scenes too are brilliant, especially the one in which Bachchan guns down a couple of gangsters who attack him. Ram Sampath's music is okay except for 'Katra Katra'. Performance wise Bachchan is okay, nothing extraordinary. At times his cigar smoking irritates. Akshay is good and lends some light moments to the initial 20 minutes of the film. Bhumika Chawla has shed weight and is looking great in the 'Katra Katra' number but her close-ups leave a lot to be desired from her makeup. But her sequence with Bachchan in the hospital is excellent. Aryaman needs to lose his puppy fat especially from his face and get a ribbed body if he aspires to be an action hero. That's the right slot for him owing largely to his piercing eyes. Shernaz Patel is okay. The rest are okay too. Don't pin too much hopes on this film. ** (Two stars) *poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/6086