Movie Review : Contract

Contract (crime)

Cast: Adhvik Mahajan, Sakshi Gulati, Prasad Purandare

Direction: Ram Gopal Varma

Critics rating: 

DEJA vu! Ram Gopal Varma may insist that he's trying to take the underworld drama of Satya and Company forward by focusing on its link with terrorism, but the truth is that Contract breaks no new ground. There is the same inter gang rivalry between gangsters who are clones of Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan, with one gang reporting to the government and the other to a terrorist who plans mayhem in Mumbai. Sadly, the film lacks the chutzpah of Satya and Company and ends up as a pale shadow of Ramu's finest works.



The film lives only through the performances of some of its character actors: honest cop, Prasad Purandare, menacing terrorist, Zakir Husain and gangster, Upendra Limaye. Debutant Adhvik Mahajan who plays the army man who infiltrates the gang to nab the terrorist is himself a pale shadow of Abhishek Bachchan. He does try hard to portray the anguish of a man who loses his family in a bomb attack and undertakes a diehard mission to rid the world of all the bombers and terrorists. And there are a few gripping encounters to shake you out of your stupor. But by and large, there is a been-here-done-that feel throughout with the camera, the soundtrack and the narrative following Ramu's usual bidding. Also, most of the action seems to happen off screen: the assassination of the corrupt home minister and the gang overlord.



Final verdict? RGV desperately needs to chase some new Satyas and break free from the company of the underworld. Most of it's been said and done. And seen.