Based on the book 'Dongri
to Dubai', the film tries to bridge between fiction and real life
incidents and attempts to make it as real as possible. However, barring the
lead character, the rest of the names have been changed for obvious
reasons! Also, since the title itself reveals what the movie is all about,
there is no suspense there.
The story starts
off with a scene in Kirti College, Mumbai where a studious Manohar Surve
(John Abraham) is writing his exam paper and refuses to show his paper
to his girlfriend and classmate Vidya (Kangana Ranaut), thus establishing him
as an honest-to-the-core character. He is keen to avoid the murky past
of his father and his step-brother and seeks to make an honest living after
completing his studies.
However, a freak
incident changes it all and Manya is falsely implicated in a murder
case along with his step-brother who actually committed it. With dreams
shattered, and a hard time in prison, he bulks up, learns to fight and Manohar turns
into Manya. While serving his sentence, he teams up with a fellow
convict Sheikh Munir (Tusshar Kapoor) and the duo stage an escape
after having done time of around nine years.
Manya returns to
the Mumbai and seeks employment with the Haksar brothers Zubair (Manoj
Bajpai) and Dilawar (Sonu Sood) who are seen as a challenging force to the
Pathans. When he is denied entry, Manya decides to form his own gang
and challenge them to the supremacy towards proclaiming himself as the 'Baap'
of the city.
On the side, his
love tale also evolves, since Vidya is now a widow and the couple rekindle
their romance. And this eventually proves to be his Achillies heel
when a cop Afaaque Baaghran (Anil Kapoor) along with his colleagues Tambat
(Ronit Roy) and Shinde (Mahesh Manjerekar) chooses to eliminate Surve
and his likes.
The movie attempts
to portray the dark days of Mumbai when gangs ran the show and how an innocent
college lad turned into a fearsome goon, thanks to the pathetic
justice delivery mechanism and the corrupt establishment. The story shows how cops
wait on the sidelines as one gang tries to eliminate the other. And when it
comes to picking a target for an encounter, they obviously pick the easier one.
What stands out in
the film are some good performances. John Abraham looks the part as the
goon who was once held the title of 'Mumbai Shree' as a professional Bodybuilder
and delivers an honest performance. Manoj Bajpai does well as usual
while Sonu Sood delivers a powerful performance. Anil Kapoor is good enough
too.
Among other actors,
Kangana Ranaut readily fits the bill of the 70's and 80's look and acts
reasonably well. Tusshar Kapoor does ok and his character does bring out
occasional laughs. Shakti Kapoor's son Siddhant makes his debut as one
of Manya's gangsters. Bollywood's noted yesteryear villain Ranjeet, who
was last seen in Housefull 2, makes an appearance as Bhaskar Dada, who has a
skirmish with Manya.
The songs aren't
memorable, except that they are played repeated on television. The oft
repeated ones are its three item numbers, one each by Sunny Leone in
'Laila', Priyanka Chopra in 'Babli Badmaash' and Sophie Chaudhary in 'Aala Re
Aala'. Well well, no prizes for guessing which of these three is better!
Verdict: When a movie has good acting and item
songs, and yes, dialog loaded with swear words, there is a tendency of such
movies to gravitate towards mass appeal. Nonetheless, for all that it
offers, 'Shootout at Wadala' is a decent watch. But, those of you who detest gory violence are better off staying away.
Rating 6/10: Typical gangster tale, for mass
entertainment
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