Article Updated 28 September, 2007 10:22:45 PM IST   Johnny Gaddar By Our Correspondent ©2007 Bollyvista.com   Expect the unexpected. This holds true about the twists and turns in the film and also the ending, as it doesn't end by the time you expect it to! Five criminals come together again to do a job. Big money is involved, 2.5 crores to be precise. Sheshadri (Dharmendra) is the senior most and also the head of the gang. Shardul (Zakir Hussain) is the richest of the lot and runs Club Escape. Shiva (Daya Shetty) is the strongman of the group. Prakash (Vinay Pathak) runs a gambling den, in which all five are partners. The youngest rookie is Vikram (Neil Mukesh). The job is simple and the booty is to be split five ways. One of them gets greedy. After 'Ek Hasina Thi', Sriram Raghavan writes and directs this taut thriller. All along, the audience is aware of who the culprit is, but the thrill is in seeing if he will get caught or not. The first half is tight and has ample twist and turns, but the second half drags. The pace just doesn't pick up when actually things should have been revealed at a brisk pace, shocking the audience and leading to the climax. All said and done, it is definitely a smart script and wonderfully directed by Sriram Raghavan. Cinematography by CK Muralidharan is pretty good. Background score is excellent and compliments the pace of the film. Sound design by Dwarak Warrier is also pretty impressive. The only technical factor, which sticks out like a sore thumb, in this otherwise technically polished product is the editing by first timer Pooja Ladha Surti! This film is definitely a milestone in Dharmendra's career. He gives a splendid and endearing performance. Vinay Pathak excels in a serious role. Zakir Hussain as Shardul is good. Rimi Sen essays very well the character of Mini, Vikram's love interest. Govind Namdeo as Kalyan and Ashwini Kalsekar as Prakash's wife are also pretty good. No doubt about it that Neil Mukesh is a good-looking lad. He doesn't make the usual debut done by newcomers from a film family, but he still proves his mettle. He is an actor to watch out for. This one is definitely worth a watch. *** (Three stars.)   close   Print this Article http://www.bollyvista.com   http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/29/8142