|
EK - THE POWER OF ONE takes you back
to the cinema of yore. A criminal gets reformed when
showered with love and affection from the parivaar.
Recall the Meena Kumari - Rajesh Khanna starrer DUSHMAN.
EK - THE POWER OF ONE isn't DUSHMAN, but it belongs to
the same family.
 In actuality, EK - THE POWER OF ONE is the Hindi remake
of a super-successful Telugu film ATHADU, which starred
Mahesh Babu as the criminal and Prakash Raj as the cop.
Write your own movie review of Ek - The Power Of One
A subject like EK - THE POWER OF ONE packs just about
everything that pleases the hoi polloi. There's a really
big parivaar [emotional quotient], a childhood
sweetheart [romance], a joke-cracking cop [light
moments], a double crosser friend who's hand-in-glove
with a politician [drama] and loads and loads and loads
of action.
EK - THE POWER OF ONE isn't new-age cinema by any
standards, but it holds your interest at several points,
especially the penultimate 20 minutes. It's strictly for
those in a mood to catch a mass entertainer.
 Nandu [Bobby Deol] is an orphan. Opposition leader Anna
Mhatre [Sachin Khedekar] hires Nandu to assassinate him,
while he is addressing a rally for his election
campaign. But just before Nandu is able to lock his
target, another shot is fired, leading to the cold
blooded murder of Anna Mhatre. Nandu is shocked; he
manages to make an escape by leaping onto a running
train.
On the train Nandu meets Puran [Akshay Kapoor], a simple
boy from Punjab who is returning back to his homeland
after a long gap. Puran, in his excitement of returning
to his family after so long, narrates his side of the
story to Nandu.
The police, however, have not given up their trail on
Nandu and when the train halts at the next station,
Nandu discovers this. An officer spots Nandu and aims a
shot at him which accidentally hits Puran, who dies on
the spot. By the time the police converge into the
compartment, they find Nandu missing.
Nandu decides to come to Puran's house to break the news
of his tragic demise, but Nandu is mistaken for Puran.
Nandu now starts living with the family as its own
member. He experiences love, care, pain and goes through
a lot many emotions as he is showered by so much love
from all within the family. He bonds the most with the
grandfather [Kulbhushan Kharbanda] and the eldest bua [Zareena
Wahab]. Gradually, he also falls in love with Preet [Shriya
Saran].
 The case of Anna Mhatre's assassin is heating up and a
special officer from the CBI, Insp. Rane [Nana Patekar],
is given the responsibility of this case. Insp. Rane has
his own unique way of functioning and his investigation
leads him to Punjab to Puran's house where he meets
Nandu. Will Nandu be able to come out of the crisis?
Stamped as a director of comedies [KYAA KOOL HAI HUM and
APNA SAPNA MONEY MONEY], director Sangeeth Sivan takes
you back to the 1970s era with EK - THE POWER OF ONE.
The hero jumps from an under-construction skyscraper
straight onto a moving train. In another sequence, he
fights a bunch of villains single-handedly and doesn't
get bruised even once. The mainstay of the film is
action [Peter Hein]. The action scenes are stylish and
the crisp editing and effects only enhance the impact.
 On the flip side, the dramatic and romantic portions are
weak. The emotional moments just don't work, while the
romance between Bobby and Shriya is half-baked. Ramji's
cinematography is just right. Dialogues are witty at
times, but crude at places.
Nana plays to the gallery. The front-benchers should
like him. Bobby carries the intense look with ease.
Also, the action-oriented role suits him. Shriya gets
minimal scope. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is theatrical.
Jackie Shroff, Chunkey Pandey and Zareena Wahab are
wasted. Raghubir Yadav does well. Pradeep Kharab
[Bobby's friend] is a welcome addition to the ranks of
talented newcomers.
On the whole, EK - THE POWER OF ONE is age-old masala
with new packaging. It's more for the Hindi belt than
the metros. Business at single screens should be better,
while multiplexes might be weak.
|
