Line of Descent

Although there would have been much better use of talent available of starcast and story/script written 1000 times better than this linear narration, this one is not as bad as some people have commented. Its about a Crime syndicate run by Family Partiarch Prem Chopra who's death leads to fight of succession and struggle between brothers, this is linked with International mafia scene. All could have been done in much better way though.

When I first saw its trailer in one of the streaming site, I had high hopes of from this movie with ensemble star cast like Ronit, Abhay, Neeraj Kabi and above all Brendan Fresar. 15 minutes into watching and got to know that I was wrong, a great potential got wasted . Narrative of this movie is very patchy, no thrill moment, it's like a family drama. Ronit's role was short, Neeraj and Abhay was ok. I don't know what makers wanted to show - a family issue, a thriller or action. But found nothing. Only good thing was it's running time which typically was less.

A good crime family drama. Director's view of crime is well noted, screenplay seems to be nice, acting was fairly delivered on the screen. In fact the character of Sidharth was amazing he seems to be fit quite well in Delhi goon image. Dialogues were good. Situations are well placed and applause for director's effort for the film. Very well written as well as adapted on the screen.

Written and directed by Rohit Karn Batra, Line of Descent is an umpteenth attempt to remake The Godfather with some twists. Bharat Sinha (Prem Chopra), operates an outfit with his sons Prithvi (Ronit Roy) and Siddharth (Neeraj Kabi), who threaten and usurp prime properties from hapless homeowners against their will, at throwaway prices. The youngest son, Suraj, is a beginner and his heart is not in the dirty business. But the old man is now repentant about his sins and bequeaths all his assets to his eldest son Prithvi and commits suicide.

Whilst Prithvi is determined to make amends and clean things up, Siddharth is adamant about getting a fair share of the family fortune and do more dubious stuff with the backing of Charlie (aka Charu, Brenda Fraser in a peculiar role of a Russian mafia lord). The two brothers also try to win over the youngest sibling to his respective side of doing things. Add to all this, Abhay Deol (Inspector Raghav), a no nonsense, devoted and upright policeman is assigned the responsibility of stopping the family on its tracks of crime and bring the criminals to justice.

Line of Descent has a strong storyline, albeit overused and somewhat stale, as starting with the classic Dharmatma, numerous other titles have been dedicated to The Godfather. Zulm Ki Hukumat, Sarkar / Sarkar Raj, Aatank Hi Aatank and Bhindi Bazar are some titles that I clearly recall. The latest offering has nothing different to offer - it doesn't have production values to boast of, the narrative never takes off to an exciting high, and despite every actor's sincere performance, somehow the film lacks the heart. Neeraj Kabi is perhaps the strongest contender for the top honours, but Line of Descent fails to engage.

I expected garbage, but this was a pretty good crime movie. The acting was great, the story was generic. Brendan Fraser gave yet another of those over the top performances, I loved it. The ending had too many twists coming one after another, it was weird.