Starring: Nana Patekar, Revathy, Mohan Agashe, Yashpal Sharma, Prasad Purandare and Hrishta Bhatt
Music: Salim Suleman
Producer: Varma Corporation
Director: Shimit Amin
Just what the doctor ordered! Yet another film about the Mumbai underworld versus the best of Mumbai! Bhai versus pulis, black versus khaki. Well, Ab Tak Chappan does seem like new wine in an old bottle (to mix my metaphors most horribly), the framework we have seen many times before, but the message (if there is one) is mixed. Vigilante justice? Crime does pay?

Nana Patekar as the protagonist Sadhu Agashe, top cop, encounter specialist with a license to kill is vintage Patekar. Mercifully bereft of his usual mannerisms, he gives one of his best performances ever (after Salaam Bombay) as the embittered flinty policeman, cynical and sarcastic to the core. His team comprises of officers with similar murderous tendencies, there is Imitiaz Siddiqui (Yashpal Sharma gives a brilliant performance here), corrupt and eaten away with jealousy every time Sadhu gets a new notch( abtak to chppan hai) in his belt. The ubiquitous rookie cop is Jatin (Nakul Vaid), who emulates and adulates Sadhu, along with the others in the office. Nana lives with his wife Namita (Revathy) and son in the suburbs.

The story is based loosely on the life of Daya Nayak the Mumbai uber cop and encounter specialist who shot his way to fame and into the hearts of Mumbaiyyas. Bollywood is now rife with films that show gritty encounter scenes, here too we witness many such ruthless slayings, instant justice dispensed by our men in khaki. There is scant sentimentality or maudlin stuff in Ab Tak Chappan, each new horror is treated as an every day event!

The gentle banter between Sadhu and his wife is handled with grace, even the scenes where the mild mannered wife hears Sadhu trash talk on the phone with a noted criminal is carried out with minimum fuss. The wife looks on as if it is the most natural thing in the world to have her husband tell a gangster that he was going to put a bullet through him. Prasad Purandare, as the offshore-based don with whom Sadhu develops a love-hate relationship and finally turns to for help is quite credible in the role.

There are informers, honest cops, bad dishonest cops and politicians galore, trusts are broken and the code of conduct of the hapless police officers is often hard to fathom. When an errant bullet at a wedding party kills Sadhu?s wife, the stuff really hits the fan and Sadhu pledges revenge. Behind an impassive face is an enraged grieving husband. Sadhus' quest for justice and the ultimate execution make up the ending.

This reviewer enjoyed the film immensely; the direction (debut effort by Shimit Amin) and editing are taut. Produced by Ram Gopal Verma's banner, the film is enjoying mixed success back home.

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