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'Farz' 'Farz' doesn't spell 'Sunny' days for the actor

By N K Deoshi
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

If you are expecting a refreshing break from Bollywood’s stereotypes then you’ve got none. Just a couple of days ago we saw Sunny Deol testing his muscle power against newcomer Rahul Dev (in Champion) and now we see him doing nothing different in Raj Kanwar’s latest Farz.

As a Police Officer Sunny Deol seems to be encapsulating all the goodness of the world and relentlessly bringing the bad guys under the shadow of his gun. He of the beefcake physique and screaming lungs thinks that the wicked can be brought to book only by the use of force. Yet this iron-willed man mellows down into a soft-spoken romantic when in company of pretty Preity Zinta.

Now

Preity Zinta is a bit ill placed romanticizing a screaming hero whose mind is forever pre-occupied with the thoughts of underworld dons and crime infested dark alleys of Mumbai. An actress like her better not do roles that merely require her to play the hero’s girl and wear a plastic smile everytime she faces the camera.

Another ill placed character is Om Puri who for reasons known to the director only has been relegated to play a chicken-hearted colleague of Sunny. Or rather we should say it is Sunny who is ill placed with his single deadpan expression opposite the multi-faceted Om Puri.

ACP Arjun Singh (Om Puri) is a withered warrior. Having lost his big brother (Dara Singh) in a bomb explosion he has mellowed into a peace-loving spirit who doesn't want to get involved with the bad guys. He is now very protective of his family that comprises a loving wife in Farida Jalal, a bubbly daughter in Kajal (Preity Zinta) and a son Rohit (Rahul).

Arjun Singh's colleague ACP Karan Singh (Sunny), on the other hand is his antithesis. If Arjun wants to live and let live Karan believes in ridding the society of the scum that infests it. Young dedicated and brimming with testosterone as he is, he believes in going out, accepting the challenge and making the evil pay through their noses.

Now as anyone could easily expect, Karan saves Kajal from a fatal attack and she falls for his valor. He is her dream hero—macho, iron willed and yet mellow at heart. Karan too is enamored by Kajal and sees in her a perfect life partner.

But there is the narco-terrorist Gawa Firozi (Jackie Shroff) who wouldn’t let Karan have any peace of mind. Already he has attempted killing Arjun Singh in a bomb blast that eventually killed Dara Singh. Gawa dotes on his brother Sikandar (Mukesh Tiwari) and both of them wreak havoc on Mumbai. The spell of their very name sends shudders down the spine.

Things take a swift turn after Kajal witnesses Sikandar committing a murder. Now her father Arjun Singh, who is a pacifist does not want to bring the matter up for the fear of winning Gawa’s animosity and asks Kajal to gag up. But Karan, being the fearless cop that he is, entreats Kajal to testify in order to nail Sikandar and thus cut off Gawa’s right hand. Kajal obliges and soon Sikandar is behind the bars.

But Gawa is not the one to take it all stoically, so he plans Sikandar’s escape. But things go awry and his plans are foiled thanks to Karan. Sikandar is killed and Gawa arrested. With this Karan heaves a sigh of relief and thinks Gawa’s chapter is closed forever. He marries Kajal and plans to settle down in conjugal bliss.

Little does he know of the consequences in store for him. Gawa keeps the venom of vengeance simmering inside him only to spew it out at the right moment when he knows that there will be no chances left for Karan.

Ever since a bevy of newcomers thronged the tinseltown, Jackie Shroff seems to have been relegated to play negative roles. An Afghan militant in Mission Kashmir and now a narco terrorist.

Raj Kanwar, the film’s director seriously needs to give a thought to his plummeting career. His Dhai Akshar Prem Ke with junior Bachchan was a total debacle and things don’t seem to be too bright as far as Farz is concerned. It is the same old story told many times and holds no element of surprise. Uttam Singh’s music score is also a let down.

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