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Parwana
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'Parwana'

By ApunKaChoice Bureau
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Deepak Bahry-directed Parwana is a perfect example of Bollywood kitsch. Apart from the oft-repeated storyline, the movie has an outdated look, some shoddily done special effects and a narrative that changes track after every few minutes.

It appears that Bahry has tried to squeeze too many ingredients into a single story and therefore has ended up making a mess of everything. The movies has the Indo-Pak angle, the patriotic fervor, a Good Samaritan hero who robs the rich to feed the poor, a young belle who makes our hero want to be a better person. Yet Parwana is as hollow as a dry coconut.

The

movie begins with the dreaded terrorist Shahtaj (Sharat Saxena) of the Lashkar-e-Mujahideen, who harbors the dream of getting ‘freedom’ for Kashmir with more than a little help from friends across the border.

He places a bomb in a crowded amusement park and many innocents die in the blast. Terror reigns supreme. But soon Shahtaj is captured by the law and interrogated by authorities.

Cut – The focus shift to Parwana (Ajay Devgan), a small-time conman who swindles the rich and has a golden heart to share his booty with the poor. Every time he runs into trouble, and falls into the clutches of Inspector Hardev Singh Haryanvi (Sadashiv Amrapurkar), he is rescued by Haryanvi's wife (Ketaki Dave).

Enters a comely girl named Pooja (Amisha Patel). Two funny encounters and one rescue later, Parwana and Pooja fall in love. It takes just one song for them to get married. Parwana decides to lead a respectable life.

Thing take a swift turn when Pooja is injured in an accident and Parwana has to arrange for Rs. 50,000 for her life-saving operation. In desperation, Parwana decides to steal the money. He nicks a briefcase hoping for some cash in it, but there is a bomb in the case.

Thing take a turn for the worse after police nab Parwana with the bomb and label him as a terrorist!

There is hardly anything in Parwana that could hold a viewer’s interest till the end. The early reels of the movie has some good comic scenes – like when Seth Malpani (Jagdeep) gets conned by Parwana, or Ismailbhai Muskurahat’s (Kader Khan) comic encounters with Devgan and Amrapurkar. But the second half of the movie is completely intolerable.

Ajay Devgan just about fits in the role that is not only stereotypical but has no substance or depth to it. Amisha Patel is simply wasted in just-for-the-heck-of-it role.

In a nutshell, Parwana is a poorly made film that undermines the potential of a talented actor like Ajay Devgan. Seeing the movie is a waste of time. But if you are looking for some sound sleep, you can have a viewing.

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