The story bears more than a passing resemblance to two movies-Shimit Amins masterpiece AB TAK CHAPPAN and N.Chandras KAGAAR-LIVING ON THE EGDE. Set in Mumbai the movie revolves around an honest Police Officer Suryakant(Randeep Hooda), who is the top-cop in the department. His aim is simple-to eradicate crime from Mumbai and in order to do that he needs to bring down the king of the underworld-Khalidbhai(Vinod Khanna) who operates from Bangkok but rules Mumbai with his cell phone.
When Suryakant goes to arrest a corrupt politician who works alongside Khalid-Dekvi(Seema Biswas) a riot breaks out and in the process Suryakant ends u shooting two men. He is falsely implicated who having connections with gangsters, stripped of his uniform and put behind bars. Khalid takes advantage of the situation and gets Suryakant his uniform back; in return he wants Suryakants help in gaining a monopoly over the Mumbai underworld by eliminating his arch enemies. Little does Khalid know that Suryakant has his own ace up his sleeve. He kills Khalids younger brother (Yashpal Sharma) and right-hand man (Makrand Deshpande) in an encounter. Khalid is also arrested by the Bangkok Police and deported back to Mumbai where he has to face an enquiry commission. For the first time…Suryakant and Khalid come face-to-face. What happens next?
Vishram Sawants story offers the viewer nothing new. The whole honest cop versus underworld don’s and corrupt politician scenario is one that has been witnessed many times before on celluloid. The movie is no doubt borrows a lot from Encounter Specialist Daya Nayak, and the viewers have already been treated to a much better movie on the same subject-AB TAK CHAPPAN. The screenplay of the movie on the other hand is well written, though once again lacks originality. The initial scenes establish the mood and ambience of the film well, though don’t present anything novel to the viewer. The story then takes some sharp twists and turns keeping the viewer enthralled for its duration. The pace down drop in the second half only to pick up again right up to the finale.
As a director Vishram Sawant still relies on a heavy Ram Gopal Varma hangover which was also in his debutant film D. Yes, Sawant is talented and definitely has a knack for directing gritty thrillers as well as showing flashes of brilliance in many scenes, but one just wishes he had chosen something much more original given this story had already been done to death. What’s worse is that Sawant doesn’t anything new to the story either, and though the twists and turns in the second half were directed extremely well they do bear a very strong resemblance to AB TAK CHAPPAN which leaves a deja-vu feeling with the viewer. Sawant does direct the movie at a break-neck pace which leaves the viewer little room to breath in the first half, the second half too has been superbly executed despite the pace dropping a little. The entire finale is straight out of the old-school Bollywood films as our hero turns into a “one man army” and goes after Khalid while he is in jail; the climax infact bears a resemblance in many ways to E.Niwas’s SHOOL. Where Sawant strikes points is his presentation of the subject. Theoretically RISK is nothing more than a hardcore masala film in my view. The story is one that can be seen in almost every second 80’s masala fare with a honest cop going after the villain, and his climax affirms this(completely over-the-top and chucks realism right out of the window…yet it makes great viewing nonetheless). His D too was a superb masala fare, however where he strikes a difference is that his presentation of the story itself is in a relative stark and realistic manner paying more than a homage to films like Varmas SATYA and COMPANY. Heck even the voiceover at the start gives an instant reminder of Varmas COMPANY. For lovers of the knitty, gritty cops/underworld/crime genre, this is a treat, however please Mr. Sawant..something original next time.
I have been a huge fan of Randeep Hooda ever since his wicked performance in D and his superb act in DARNA ZAROORI HAI. In a role which does a complete 360 degree turn from D Hooda is again fantastic. The role is no doubt tailor-made for him and he takes to the character with absolute relish. Yes, Hooda is monotone at times which is the same problem I had in D, however in a strange way he justifies this by acting with absolute conviction and precision. His character is one I felt could’ve been better justified in parts, and the director didn’t quiet bring out the humane side well enough. However as the hard-ass, take-no-nonsense encounter cop Hooda is impressive. His dialogues, as well as diction is great, and Hooda has a rather magnetic screen presence which keeps the viewer captivated.
Vinod Khanna is superb in his comeback performance and it’s a pleasure to see the actor after a hiatus. He performs his role of a compassionate Don with relish and performs his part with terrific conviction like a true veteran and does complete justice to the character. Khannas larger-than-life persona brings Khalidbhai to life, and his voice modulation and delivery is simply outstanding. Khannas expressive eyes are used well here and physically Khanna is looking terrific. Just witness the scene at Eid when he loses his temper at his brother or the mind games he plays with Randeep over the phone. RISK certainly proves that there is much more in Khanna the actor yet, and one hopes that this leads onto better roles for him as this doesn’t quiet to justice to his talent.
Tanushree Dutta doesn’t have much to do here at all, and her character is one that sticks out like a sore thumb. As Hoodas love interest, she has a poorly etched character and doesn’t get a chance to perform much at all. The relationship she shares with Hooda fails to strike a chord at all with the viewers and her scenes could infact have been cut to make the narrative a lot smoother, despite the fact she looks gorgeous.
The supporting cast is apt in their relatively clichéd parts. Seema Biswas is sadly wasted here in a character that could’ve been written much better. She is no doubt superb with what little she is given. Yashpal Sharma is ace as always in a part that he has been type-casted in. He infact played a very similar character in Sawants last film D. Makrand Deshpande is sadly wasted in an inconsequential role. Zakir Hussain is good in parts, and goes completely over-the-top in others. Anant Jog and Shiv Subhramanium are both good in their small roles.
The movie features two songs, the first is the extremely catchy yet totally out of place HITCHKI(Akbar Sami) which is an item number featuring Tanushree Dutta looking very sexy. The song just crops up at the wrong time. The theme song(Bapi-Tutul) on the other hand is impactful and leaves a mark. A special mention to Shandesh Shandilyas background music which is just perfect and elevates the proceedings throughout the entire movie. A very moody and sombre score which compliments the movie perfectly.
Technically RISK is a slick film. Mahesh Muthiswamis camerawork fits the movie perfectly, and Muthiswami creates the right atmosphere and ambience with his camera for a genre like this. The realistic by lanes of Mumbai have been bought out to absolute perfection and adds to the viewing experience. Vivek Shahs editing is good though could’ve been tighter, especially in the second half. The gritty action sequences have been expertly canned. Yes the movie has a lot of gun violence with bullets and blood everywhere but in the context of the film it makes sense.
So where does that leave RISK? Well it certainly isn’t a great film by any means, and definitely isn’t an original film either, but for those that thrive on the genre RISK is nothing more than an indulgent guilty pleasure, and an enjoyable one at that.
Final Rating: * * * ½
