Movie review: Shootout at Lokhandwala

An unending encounter

Shootout at Lokhandwala
Direction: Apoorva Lakhia
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi, Dia Mirza
Rating: * 1/2

Is it really necessary to dot every 'i’ and cross every’t’ when you are recounting a story that is still very much on top of everybody’s mind? More so, when it concerns one of the most charismatic police officers of the time and the incident has been analysed and dissected by the press over the years? Rather not, one would be inclined to say, but that is exactly what director Apoorva Lakhia does with ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’.

The actual shootout, which consisted of flushing out and killing six terrorists who were hiding in a flat at Lokhandwala by members of the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), not being able to sustain much attention, elaborate back stories are laid out. Not just of the terrorists but also of the senior most three members of the ATS. And what do you know, the ATS (represented by Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan) are not only duty abiding, righteous chaps, they are willing to sacrifice their family life in pursuit of their duty while the others (Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy and more) are louts. They spend their evenings in beer bars flirting with the dancers and generally extort wherever and whenever they can. Mean types eh?

All this and more is revealed through an internal interrogation the cops have when a public outcry forces them to justify their actions, with their appointed lawyer, a cynical, headmaster type of dictatorial figure, played by Amitabh Bachchan. He thinks nothing of insulting his clients, telling them to shut up and passing judgement on all they tell him. Very strange and wholly unbecoming, one must say.

The linear telling of the story, interspersed with flashbacks is as uninteresting and longwinded as the stories they reveal. Better editing and crisper scenes would have helped. And what was that brief appearance of Abhishek Bachchan about and why was Amrita Singh as Maya Dolas’ mother so psycho? As for Apoorva Lakhia’s Dawood, he is one fat thug given to wearing ill-fitting bathrobes as women of all nationalities lounge around his miniscule swimming pool.

What a hoot!Performance? Vivek Oberoi has the author-backed role which he uses to full advantage. Tusshar tries but he is still stiff in emotional scenes. Everyone else does, more or less, what they are expected to.

At the end of the day what stays with you are the sounds of multiple bullets being expended and blood being spilled. The fact that the lone reporter on the site is the pretty Dia Mirza attempting to egg on the viewers to make the police accountable leaves you cold. And that really is the problem with the film, it doesn’t touch you. None of the back stories humanise anyone on either side of the law—it’s just one more cops and robbers story, nothing else. It’s not even stylishly told, something you have come to expect from Sanjay Gupta’s banner.