Bobby talks with his fists

Vivek Fernandes

Hot on the heels of brother Sunny Deol, whose current hobby is beating terrorists to a pulp, comes younger sibling Bobby Deol. An ace in following Sunny's example, it turns out, in the free-for-all called Kranti.

Bobby is Assistant Commissioner of Police Abhay Pratap Singh, epitome of all virtues. A more upright officer would be hard to find, you think? But he does exist --- Abhay's father and Commissioner of Police, Awadesh Pratap Singh (Vinod Khanna back on screen after a disastrous outing with Deewaanapan).

This is a godsend for Amisha Patel --- Sanjana Roy, US-returned PhD candidate whose thesis is based on honest cops in Mumbai. Sanjana and Abhay hit it off instantly.

In uniform, Abhay likes to think of himself as the X-generation cop. His credo: "No FIR, No arrest, No talk, Faisla [decision] on the spot." Awadesh begs to differ: no one can be above the law. Father and son don't see eye to eye --- cause for concern for the woman of the house (Rati Agnihotri).

Adding to her woes and to those of the nation is devil-in-disguise Mahendra Singh Rana (Kabir Bedi in plaited ponytail). It's really not quite apparent what Rana is after, but he is made out to be the cause of all evil. Abhay quickly sniffs Rana out and is soon on his trail. Much of the reel is taken up with their cat-and-mouse games --- car chases, bar-room brawls, morchas and shoot outs ensue as each tries to outwit the other.

Rana almost wins --- he gets Abhay suspended and imprisoned. But good must prevail. Father and son finally join forces as the evil fiend meets his end.

Kranti holds no surprises. It hardly moves beyond the realm of the ordinary. It is gripping, but just about --- Kashmira Shah item number thrown in and Om Puri special appearance et al.

Performance-wise, Bobby and Amisha make the best of the deal. Bobby has come some way from his Barsaat days. But he still has a way to go.

Amisha Patel is of ornamental value, which is swell as far as the front-benchers go. Vinod Khanna maintains some dignity but Rati Agnihotri gives in to the philmy calling at times as she goes over the top.

Kabir Bedi gnashes his teeth and raises his eyebrows to great effect, but he doesn't quite get under the skin of villain. The garish background score and the unnecessary songs provide more grief than relief.

Blame rests on script and the screenplay courtesy N Maharajan (director of the Sunny starrer Indian).

Call me a traitor, but misplaced patriotism and trite, jingoistic one-liners here serve more to exasperate than entertain.