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By Taran Adarsh, September 12, 2003 - 14:50 IST
Deepak Bahry's PARWANA is an apt case of old wine in new bottle. A typical masala fare, it reminds you of the commercial potboilers made in the 1980s.
The film tells the story of Parwana [Ajay Devgan], a present-day Robinhood, who robs the rich to feed the poor.
Parwana finds himself entangled in a web created by a terrorist organisation, working for the cause of Kashmiris.
Their leader [Sharat Saxena] believes in carnage and mayhem, so that it creates national headlines, thereby creating ripples on the international level.
The leader is aided in his mission by the Commissioner of Police [Akhilendra Mishra], who acts as his puppet.
How Parwana saves Mumbai from a major bomb blast forms the crux of the story.
Writers Rajiv Kaul and Praful Parekh have chosen a story that's as old as the hills. To be honest, looking for anything original in the film is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
Not only is the story oft-repeated, even the screenplay is of utmost convenience. It starts off with the Kashmir issue, but exactly fifteen minutes later, it suddenly deviates to Ajay Devgan and his gang of petty thieves.
With Amisha's introduction, it changes tracks yet again – it becomes a love story. Subsequently, it takes on a different route altogether, when Ajay is labelled a terrorist.
With so many sub-plots in the film, it seems that the writers wanted to squeeze just about everything in the film, so as to cater to the popular tastes.
While the first half is lifeless, with the viewer guessing what the next scene would be like, the second half is comparatively better. The sequences between Ajay and Gulshan Grover, a corrupt cop, are well executed.
The action sequences [Veeru Devgan] between the two actors are deftly handled. In fact, the stunts are the redeeming feature of this enterprise.
The climax is long-drawn and the effort to save the city from a deadly bomb looks plain ridiculous. In fact, it's hard to digest. Even the special effects, when the bomb explodes in the sea, look tacky.
Director Deepak Bahry has opted for a theme that has precious little to offer and that's where he stumbles. Sanjeev-Darshan's music is equally uninspiring. Barring 'Pallu Gira Diya', the remaining numbers are mere gap fillers.
Cinematography is patchy; at places alright, at times dull. Dialogues are monotonous and rudimentary.
Ajay Devgan gives a sincere account of himself, but looks out of place in an enterprise like this. Amisha Patel continues to be wooden. Pooja Batra has no role to talk of.
Sadashiv Amrapurkar does quite well. Kader Khan is wasted in an insignificant role. Gulshan Grover is convincing. Akhilendra Mishra does an okay job. Sharat Saxena suffers due to a sketchy role. Pramod Moutho is so-so. Ketaki Dave does her Gujarati act yet again, but irritates. Jagdeep manages to raise a few laughs.
On the whole, PARWANA has nothing new to offer. At the box-office, the film has some chances at small centres where masala films are still lapped up. However, much cannot be expected in big cities and multiplexes.
 
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