Aan (2004)
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Shatrughan Sinha, Om Puri
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Music Director: -------
Synopsis: Much style and action to try and camouflage the films many weaknesses
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

Aan: Men at Work (2004)

I have to begin by doing the film a slight disservice.

Forget Aan: Men at Work.

This ought to have been called Aan-men at Work.

With a title like that, one rather expects something along the lines of The Untouchables—a hard-hitting crime thriller about an elite squad of incorruptible policemen taking on organised crime, with the ageing Shotgun Sinha filling the Sean Connery role.

Sadly...

that isn't quite what we get.

In fact, I rather wish it had been, because it might have resulted in a far more coherent film.

Hari Om Patnaik (Akshay Kumar) is an honest and uncompromising police officer transferred to Mumbai as Deputy Commissioner of Police. Upon arrival he discovers a force riddled with corruption, where bribery has become less a crime than an accepted way of life. Since the film was produced with considerable cooperation from the police force, we are naturally reminded at length of officers' meagre salaries and the systemic frustrations that encourage corruption.

Hari Om, however, is made of sterner stuff.

He refuses to compromise.

His new team consists of encounter specialist Inspector Appa Kadam Naik (Suniel Shetty), veteran Sub-Inspector Vikram Singh (Shatrughan Sinha), and the loyal Constable Khaled Ansari (Paresh Rawal). Vikram was once every bit as honest as Hari Om before years of disappointment, political interference and missed promotions slowly eroded his idealism.

It is a promising set-up.

Into this already crowded landscape arrive enough villains to populate several different films.

Irrfan Khan plays Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Dev appears as his equally unpleasant brother, Jackie Shroff turns up as another crime lord, and assorted gangsters drift in and out until the screenplay begins to resemble a roll call of Bollywood's favourite heavies.

Initially Hari Om insists upon fighting crime within the law.

Naturally, this doesn't last very long.

Following the death of Khaled and an attack upon Appa Kadam's family, our heroes abandon legal niceties and embark upon a campaign of righteous vengeance in which bullets fly with cheerful abandon and due process quietly exits through the nearest door.

The remainder of the film consists largely of explosions, shoot-outs, fistfights and assorted action set-pieces interrupted at regular intervals by forgettable songs, obligatory romantic interludes and the inevitable item numbers.

It all sounds entertaining enough.

Unfortunately, it never quite comes together.

This is where Madhur Bhandarkar surprisingly loses his way.

One normally associates him with realistic, issue-driven dramas that examine the darker corners of contemporary Indian society. Here he attempts a glossy commercial action spectacle and never seems entirely comfortable within the genre.

The result is a film with plenty of style but remarkably little substance.

Bhandarkar lavishes enormous attention upon introducing each of his heroes. Akshay Kumar's entrance, in particular, is staged with maximum fanfare, while the action scenes are choreographed to look as stylish as possible.

They certainly look impressive.

The problem is that they rarely carry much dramatic weight.

One spectacular sequence simply gives way to another while the story itself wanders aimlessly between its ever-expanding gallery of heroes and villains. The narrative never develops the momentum that an action thriller desperately requires.

There are flashes of inspiration.

Bhandarkar's use of split-screen photography is genuinely imaginative and lends several sequences a welcome visual energy. One only wishes such inventiveness had been employed in the storytelling as well as the camerawork.

Producer Firoz Nadiadwala's fingerprints are evident throughout.

Lavish sets.

Explosions.

Slow-motion heroics.

And, of course, the obligatory item numbers featuring scantily clad Eastern European dancers whose sole narrative purpose appears to be keeping the front-bench audience suitably entertained while the plot catches its breath.

Despite its shortcomings, Aan possesses one major redeeming feature.

Akshay Kumar.

Watching his career develop has been genuinely satisfying. Once dismissed by many as little more than an athletic action hero, he steadily matured into one of Hindi cinema's most dependable leading men. Aan captures him during that transition. His performance is restrained, confident and refreshingly controlled, proving that he had begun to rely on acting rather than simply martial arts and screen presence.

It is easily the film's greatest strength.

Suniel Shetty also performs admirably, bringing quiet conviction to a role that could easily have become one-dimensional, while Shatrughan Sinha does exactly what his fans expect him to do, delivering dialogue with effortless swagger and enough charisma to keep the gallery happy.

The female characters, sadly, are almost entirely decorative.

They drift in, sing a song or two, disappear again and leave scarcely any impression whatsoever.

The music follows a similar pattern.

Forgettable.

Loud.

Entirely functional.

Ultimately, Aan: Men at Work is one of those frustrating films that constantly threatens to become an engrossing action thriller but never quite manages it. It boasts an attractive cast, impressive production values and the occasional flourish of visual style, yet the screenplay remains hopelessly overcrowded and surprisingly unfocused.

There is a good police thriller hiding somewhere beneath all the noise.

Unfortunately, Bhandarkar never quite finds it.

Stylish?

Certainly.

Slick?

Occasionally.

Compelling?

Not nearly often enough.