Paandav (1995) User Reviews

Typical and Overdone

[superindrajit · 1/10 · 28 March 2011]

Akshay Kumar is a great action hero but his selection of movies aren't always good. He has chosen some of the worst movies ever in his whole career from 1992-2013. In the 90s, Akshay Kumar had some big hits and a few blockbusters. His biggest flops were in the 1997-1999 period but in the early and mid 90s, he selected some of his worst films ever. Films like Zakhmi Dil(1994), Mr. Bond(1992), Kayda Kanoon(1993), and Maidaan E Jung(1995) were some of his worst movies. Paandav released in 1995 and it isn't entirely bad but there are so many typical scenes that are badly handled, that the film is a pain to watch.

Paandav has some of the most comical and hilarious villains which brings unintentionally comedy. The story is about Akshay Kumar who lives with his brother Mukesh Khanna and sister in law. He has a friend Prithvi and there are several crude comic scenes in the first half which are supposed to be funny but end up being cheap and overdone. The actual trouble and conflicts between the law and the villains is well shown but the handling succumbs to mediocrity whenever the romance and the comedy appear in the film. The forced comedy isn't needed and the romance is boring, the stereotypical elements in the film simply ruin the main conflicts and actual story of the film.

Direction by Raj Sippy is awful, he gives Akshay another bad film after Amaanat(1994) another badly handled action film. He handles the main conflict well in parts but the comedy and romance sidelines the main story which drags the film quite a lot. There is no proper flow in the movie and when the flow appears, it doesn't take long for the movie to achieve the no flow goal. What sucks the most is Akshay doesn't fight in this movie that much, all he does is beat people in the police station which makes his action hardly appeal.

Akshay Kumar does fairly OK as the stressed out cop but this time, Sippy didn't take his action into credit, the action element of the movie is poor making the film crass. Prithvi is no hero, he is wooden and no wonder he wasn't offered any films after these last roles of his career. The heroines are stupid, no talent at all. Mukesh Khanna is OK in a boring role and his dialog delivery is pathetic. Kiran Kumar and Pankaj Dheer are typecast as the unintentionally comical villains. The rest provide poor support.

On the whole, Paandav is a crass action film directed by Raj Sippy, the film could've have been a lot better if Sippy had presented a proper and well handled story with more action, interrogation in the police chamber is not action.

Quite a good film marred by Bollywood conventions

[shmsndr8 · 5 November 2011]

I remember seeing a poster of this film as a kid back in 1995 that had a tough-looking Akshay twisting one of his legs around the neck of a baddie. That was enough to excite me. But it was not until 2011 that I was finally able to see it. I had little expectations but I was pleasantly surprised.

The movie is quite good by Bollywood standards. The entire movie has been styled in the form of an epic with the heroes being molded as modern-day Paandavas in the Kurukshetra that a crime-filled Mumbai has become. The main story revolves around a demoralized Inspector Vijay (Akshay, probably as a replacement for Big B who could not play young roles anymore) who tries to fight crime single-handedly. His ideals clash with his elder brother Ashwin (Mukesh Khanna) who is the ACP of Mumbai. Noetheless, Vijay has high respects for his brother.

The city is lorded over by two tough gang lords, KK (Kiran Kumar) and Daata. Vijay tries to stop these ruffians with brains and brawn only to uncover a dark secret about his family. I should not reveal the rest of the movie, which has several unexpected twists and turns.

Direction-wise,Raj Sippy is quite good here. But it is in the last 45 minutes of the movie that glaring loopholes start showing. An enormous amount of suspension of disbelief is required to take these sequences seriously. But the strong performances of the lead actors make up for the defects. This is '90s Bollywood and so you have to put up with clichés of those times like attempted rape scenes, songs appearing out of nowhere, implausible powers of both protagonists and antagonists and above all, villains meeting an extremely gory end. Speaking of villains, they are almost reduced to caricatures in the beginning. Though, KK turns in an extremely competent performance in the later half which makes you loathe him with all your heart.

However, the movie boasts of good enough dialogs that stay away from excess melodrama or patriotism. The writers have achieved the right balance and even incorporated modern terms for those times, such as "Mercy Killing".

Akshay is in top form here with restraint and subtlety in the confrontation scenes. Pankaj Dheer and Kiran Kumar are quite good too. Sadly, nothing much can be said about the others. Mukesh Khanna continues with his dramatics and the heroines are mainly there to look as glamorous dolls.

Music is very bad from Jatin Lalit with only the "Pyar Ka Bukhar" having a pleasing effect for the masses.

Overall, an average 90's movie that was a semi-hit at the box office. A tighter script, good music and more plausible storyline could have made this one a masterpiece. Hope a good director like Raj Kumar Santoshi remakes this with more credibility to the plot. Incidentally, Santoshi's "Khakee" (2004) seems to be inspired by this movie. But that was a lot better and can even be held as a modern classic.

My rating - 6/10. Watch this only if you like 90's movies. You won't be disappointed.