Dishkiyaaoon

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 28th March, 2014
Time : 119 minutes
Director & Writer : Sanamjit Singh Talwar; Music : Palak Muchhal
Starring : Harman Baweja, Prashant Narayanan, Anand Tiwari, Ayesha Khanna, Sumeet Nijhawan, Hasan Zaidi, Aditya Pancholi, Rajesh Vivek, Sunny Deol



There is a germ of a fascinating story here, obviously inspired by Usual Suspects to a degree…but its so badly told that the narrative drags, it stretches on interminably, includes unnecessary sub plots and lacks clarity or single-mindedness, so much so that even its ‘twist’ ending fails to salvage it…my rating, I guess, is as much for Harman Baweja (does a good job) and for the idea, than for the actual film

Harman, thanks to a school bully and the influence of Prashant Narayanan (a mafia strongman), always wanted to be a gangster and eventually does become a peculiar kind of one. He does accounting for Prashant and also the strategic / vision kind of thinking. Stands by him as a war erupts between two overlords and Prashant switches sides, joining Sumeet’s gang vs his previous one, an unseen don named Gujjar, fronted by Rajesh Vivek. Sumeet also comes with a psychopathic hitman, Anand Tiwari, who can’t stand Harman (and vice versa). Other subplots include Aditya Pancholi as a corrupt cop, Hasan Zaidi as Harman’s childhood friend and Sunny Deol, who becomes Harman’s friend and advisor in rather unique circumstances.

You struggle to understand some of the choices made by the characters. You struggle to follow the story. You struggle to feel anything for most of the characters. And you really struggle to understand where this is all going, especially when some very ordinary songs break the narrative, with Ayesha Khanna as a good looking but superfluous love interest.

The script isn’t strong enough to hold so many characters – the dialogue is crisp (slightly filmy) but when completely silly things like a trip to Iran / Afghanistan happen or even the whole toxic waste angle, it doesn’t help keep you hooked. This is one bullet that sadly, despite a promising storyline, fails to find its mark.