I was clueless as to why our film makers opt for making period films with the medieval times or the pre-independence era as the back drop.Why not recreate the past two or three decades instead?It was in February 2007 that a movie called 'Black Friday',a docu-fiction depicting the serial bomb blasts of 1993 walked away with much critical acclaim.Shootout at Lokhandwala makes me think that things have finally changed.That it's not much of an issue if a movie is set in the 90's.
'Based on true rumours' is a tag line that prompted me to watch shootout in the first place.With a narrative heavily borrowed from the Robert Redford-Brad Pitt starrer 'spy game',the movie unravels a world of gangsters who went on a killing spree and that of cops who were no different,save for the uniform that they wore.Romours or not,the movie looks as if it were made on the lines of some true incidents.
Director Apoorva Lakhia creates an impression with the movie and so does Vivek Oberoi in his,say,'comeback' role.It's been five years since Oberoi made his debut in company as a gangster and no other role seems to fit him this well.His portrayal of the blood thirsty 'Maya' is proof enough for that.
Lakhia's eye for the finer details leaves the audience with some memorable sequences.Though there is enough drama,the entire shootout is shown pretty much realistically.Eventually what one gets to see is ripped plasters of the walls,doors with innumerable holes,shattered windows;all from the shootout.A nightmare that grips one of the gangsters,arising from his guilt of slaying an innocent family,is shown brilliantly.The scene in which Oberoi lashes out at a man,kicking him out of his upstairs apartment to the ground floor is shot so masterfully that there is no room for errors.But one fails to understands why Oberoi's sidekicks start shooting like maniacs at the public.Sometimes it's the subtle emotions that grips us than a movie's overall look.Amrita Singh deserves a mention for that.As the mother of Oberoi she appears only on three or so scenes but makes them memorable.
In a complete buffoonery of casting,TushaarKapoor plays the role of 'Bua'.Though overshadowed by the character of Oberoi,an actor with a masculine voice and appearance could have made the role of Bua worthwhile.However,when Shobha and Ekta Kapoor are donning the producer's garb one would be surprised if the kid in their family doesn't walk away with a meaty role of that sort.Arbaaz Khan looks out of place in his cop's role.Something that Akshay Kumar should have played,especially since he has teamed up with Sunil Shetty for many movies in the past.Shetty plays the street smart variety of someone in uniform as opposed to the philosophical Arbaaz.Sanjay Dutt towers over the rest of the cast in his portrayal of Khan and the verbal exchange between him and Oberoi is commendable.The Bachhans are reduced to doing cameo and Rohit Roy plays the faint-hearted among the baddies.Diya Mirza looked the part of a television anchor of the 90's but the hint of a smile on her face after each meeting with the police is puzzling.So much so that I began to suspect a love angle between her and the fiery Shetty.Thankfully the director restrained himself from anything of that sort.
There are three songs in the film which does not blend with the mood or the flow of the narrative.The worst of all is that all three of them have the same scenes.I've seen many mainstream Bollywood movies without songs,in the recent past,and was left to wonder as to why the producers insist on having songs even for thrillers.Despite that and some of the scenes which went overboard in their depiction of atrocity,I feel that 'Shootout' is a sincere effort in the genre of action thrillers. .
