New Delhi: If Salman Khan made a power-packed entry in 'Dabangg' with his innumerable punches and gun shots, his counterpart Sanjay Dutt tries too hard to do the Chulbul Pandey act in action-thriller 'Zila Ghaziabad'.
Devoid of any underlying humour, Dutt, who dons a police uniform in the film, does not even come close to Salman's charisma in the 'Dabangg' series. He's a police officer who is more dangerous than the goons.
It's too hard to empathise with the gang war between two powerful entities of Ghaziabad. The usual tale of a good guy who picks up a gun after a family member is killed at the hands of a goon is the most abused plot line in cinema's 100 year history. Director Anand Kumar chooses the theme and tries to weave a story around that in his action-thriller.
'Zila Ghaziabad' revolves around Mahender Fauji Bainsla Gujjar (Arshad Warsi) who is at loggerheads with Satbir Gujjar (Vivek Oberoi) after an attack on the former's house. Satbir Gujjar, a teacher, joins hands with the local politician (Paresh Rawal) but later delves deeper into the murkier world of blood and gore after his brother (Chandrachur Singh) is killed by Fauji. The gang war between the two begins. Both clans begin to bump off their rivals. Amidst all this gore enter police officer Thakur Pritam Singh (Sanjay Dutt) who is the only one who can take the two goons to task.
Zila Ghaziabad tries to encash on the popular genre where it's the few punches and a few punchlines that work in favour of the film. But at the same time the director somewhere fails to interestingly weave a story around the punches. With almost no emotion being evoked, the film tries to do justice with the genre only in terms of the action scenes. The action director seems to be the hero of the film as 'Zila Ghaziabad' gives some glimpses into the action scenes which form an integral part of the dubbed films shown on television on weekends.
Despite a weak story line, the actors are the soul of the film. Arshad Warsi brilliantly portrays the dark and menacing side of a goon and his wickedness somewhere justifies the storyline. On the other hand, Oberoi is authentic in his transition from a good guy to bad. Dutt tries hard to imitate Salman but brings his own colour to the character. Needless to say, the heroines in the film play minor roles.
Apart from the strong performances by the star cast of the film, it's the dialogues that make you easily sail through the film. Beautifully camouflaging the wit, the punchlines stir a sense of humour in the otherwise gory film.
The director tries to give a new perspective to the gangster film but somewhere 'Zila Ghaziabad' finds itself stuck in the realms of inspirations from other films. 'Zila Ghaziabad' doesn't offer anything new. Almost all scenes, all punches and all punch lines are seen in some or the other film. Watch 'Zila Ghaziabad' only if you are a fan of hardcore action films.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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