Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Apoorva Lakhia

Writers:

Apoorva Lakhia (writer)
Suresh Nair (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 2007 (India)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Based on true rumours

Plot:

On a calm summer day in 1991, in the bustling Lokhandwala Complex, five criminals including Maya and Dilip were counting 70 lakhs in flat no...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Police Officer | Summer | SWAT | 1991

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sanjay Dutt	...	Shamsher Khan
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Ex-Justice Dhingra
Arbaaz Khan	...	Inspector Javed Khan
Sunil Shetty	...	Inspector Kaviraj 'Kavi' Patil
Vivek Oberoi	...	Maya 'Mayabhai' Dolas
Tusshar Kapoor	...	Dilip 'Buvabhai' Buva
Ravi Gossain	...	Aslam Chikna
Rohit Roy	...	Fatim 'Fattoo'
Diya Mirza	...	Mita Mattu
Neha Dhupia	...	Rohini S. Khan
Aarti Chhabria	...	Tarannum 'Tanu'
Shabbir Ahluwalia	...	RC
Amrita Singh	...	Mrs. Dolas
Aditya Lakhia	...	Doubling
Abhishek Bachchan	...	Sub-Inspector Abhishek Mahatre

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (2007) | India:A

Company:

Balaji Motion Pictures

Trivia:

In an interview 'Amrita Singh' said that "Maya's mother encouraged him to become a gangster". This upset the real life mother of Gangster Mahindra Dolas who sent a legal notice to Producer 'Sanjay Gupta'. The director confirmed that Mahindra's mother has sent them a legal notice over Amrita Singh's comments and that his legal department is looking into the issue. To cover the matter up the director also stated "the film is mainly based on real life incidents revolving around the shootout but at the same time, they have also built fictional situations".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During Tusshar's intro scene in the showroom, Flat TV's are shown which was not available in india during 1991.

Quotes:

Dhingra: [interrogating the cops involved in the shootout] You mean all the charges against the ATS
[Anti-Terrorist Squad]
Dhingra: - lockup tortures, public shootouts, encounter killings are all lies?
Javed Shaikh: The truth is not something that you read about on some piece of paper. The truth is something that you find out, on the streets of Bombay.

Shootout at Lokhandwala

The star cast is huge. The director is decent. The production house is creative. The claim is that it is based on true rumors. All these appeals to audiences, and I too was! The story is based on so called true events that lead to a broad day light shootout in a residential area flat named Lokhandwala of Bombay; of underworld mafia by Bombay police lead by Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS). The movie is clearly divided into two halves. The first half showcases the emergences and development of all key characters and their past through several flashbacks and recollections. The second half is more engaging with the actual shoot-out taking place in the last 40 minutes.

The ATS squad is lead by Shamsher Khan (Sanjay Dutt) who selects several officers for the task (Suniel Shetty and Arbas Khan are the key two). The underworld mafia is remotely controlled by Dawood Ibrahim from Dubai through a small gang led by Maya Dolas (Viviek Oberio) of four other members (one of them is Tushshar Kapoor). The character of Lawyer Dhingra is played by Amitabh Bachchan who cross examines the ATS squad (that leads to several flashbacks) and finally wins the case for them.

As the movie is based on research the directors have tried to show all the sides of the story and the key one is of Shamsher Khan getting the tip off of the mafia hide out from Dawood or a local informer – both the events are shown for the audience to judge the truth.

The movie is too loud and noisy with continuous action scenes, chases and gun-fire. Apart from that there are too many song and dance sequences that are specially made for the front benchers. The first half of the movie is boring, whereas the second half holds good attention. Three songs before interval are lousy and one song after the interval (Ganpat Chai La) is excellent – music and choreography are good.

All the actors have performed well. Amitabh overacts a lot during cross examination. The movie belongs to Sanjay Dutt. He performs the role of Shamsher Khan to the hilt – the personality, the emotions and the sway of his walk steals our heart. Daringly his counter part role has been performed brilliantly by Viviek Oberio, who puts his heart and soul into this black role of Maya Dolas. After Company, Viviek would be remembered again for this portrayal for a long time. Viviek is ably supported by Tushshar Kapoor who too has acted well.

There is too much of guns and violence. The camera angle is journalistic and at times jarring. The music is over the top and loud. The overall direction is not up to the mark. The Director – Apoorva Lakhia could have done a wonderful job with this volcanic subject. But there are no second chances! (Stars 5 out of 10)