‘Garv’ a regular cop drama

The theme of a cop-politician-underworld nexus has been attempted so many times that one loses count. To name a recent few are “Khakee”, Moqbool”, Ab Tak Chappan”, “Aan” and, “Dev”. “Garv is no different.

Three police officers — Samar Singh (Amrish Puri), Arjun Ranawat (Salman Khan) and Hyder Ali (Arbaaz Khan) — launch a spirited battle against underworld don (Mukesh Rishi). And the threesome are made to pay for their uprightness.

Salman Khan springs some sprightly performance. Breaking the mould of a lover boy, he plays the cop with integrity and honesty. The nexus proves to be much stronger and he fails to save the principles and values for which he had stood. Nevertheless he can be called the saviour of the film.

The camera focuses on his eyes, and the sound editor on his crisp diction. It's definitely not his best work, but he does lend Garv a certain aura without which it would have fallen flat entirely.

There is however nothing exceptional about Garv in terms of story or execution. You know exactly what to expect. It's a beaten-to-death plot about a righteous cop and his Satyamev Vijayate [Truth will triumph] stance. Like most do-gooder cops, here too the hero falls in love with a bar dancer (Shilpa Shetty in a role as skimpy as her wardrobe).

Shipa Shetty is wasted. But she sizzles in dance numbers.

Puneet Issar is his directorial debut has given adequate momentum with a racy first half. But the second half lets you down with incoherent twists. Item numbers “Dum Mast Mast” and “Hum Tumko” are forced entries, marring the tempo.

Anirudh Dhodspkar’s dialogues are encouraging. Some violence scenes depicted in its extreme are repelling.

In short, it has predictable plot and excessive violence.