Ab Tak Chhappan

This is by far one of the best films that India has ever made. Following are the plus points of the film...

Wonderful direction, cinematography and editing, the editing is very smooth and the timing of changeovers is excellent.

Even though the film shows the life of Mumbai Policemen and their hardships, it never gets boring or sympathetic.

Mind-blowing acting by lead actor Nana Patekar. One can surely hope that he gets nominated for the Best actor for the academy awards.

Controlled violence. The violence is controlled and the film doesn't become a bloody mess.

No stupid songs as in usual Indian movies.

Crime drama genre is just like the chess game, if handled sensibly and very seriously. Its like you don't notice the motive or intention behind any move played by players ( in a movie, there are protagonist and antagonist) But as soon as the game comes towards climax, and protagonist checkmates the villain, you think of all those moves in sequence and how those moves trick the opponent to fall into his own trap. This game becomes more interesting and engaging when you get to know thinking behind every move played by the players. This is what director Shimit Amin achieved, with his brilliant direction, in this film by portraying each character and their role in main story which makes the movie one of the best crime drama movie.

When you first see the poster and Nana Patekar in it with a tag line like "If I have to think about what's right and what's wrong just like you guys (addressing to the readers), then Who will do it (the killing)", u get the feeling that you will get to see something very interesting on the screen.

The fearless encounter specialist, with very supportive commissioner of Mumbai Police Department to perform his duty without any restriction to clean the underworld and at the same time struggling to keep himself away from becoming a victim of jealousy of his own department member, faces difficulties while doing his job when a new commissioner is appointed. And execution of new orders from commissioner about an encounter leads to set a chain of incidents which create a gripping mind game.

The depth in the character of Sadhu Agashe is wholeheartedly portrayed by legendary Nana Patekar with nuances and remarkable detailing. The dialogue delivery, body language and attitude of this actor is perfect for fearless Encounter Specialist. At the same time Nana Patekar portrays a loving family man, a protective father, frustrated cop. His facial expressions were outstanding while having a dialogue with his colleague about how cops are puppets of the politicians and system. All the other supporting actors play their role very well. Special mentions are Yashpal Sharma and Nakul Vaid.

The character theme for Nana's character created by Salim-Sulaiman suits that character. The editing is tight and doesn't lose the hold and pace. Story and screenplay are awesome. Dialogues given to Nan's character are quirky and help build the character strongly. Dialoges between Nana and Don also add some humor in scenes. Cinematography is OK. Overall a good crime drama with magic touch of Nana Patekar is what Ab tak Chhapaan can be well described as. And yeah it is worth having along shelf life on DVDs.

I love the way he experiments. Ab Tak Chappan was a thrill to watch just as much Satya and company was. Jatin the new comer also lived up to his role and Nana Patekar was at his best. Suchak was really irritating but I think he fit the character he was playing - he had really ugly teeth. The story has a great progress and no songs in the movie makes it better. I only wish he signs up Urmila for his other up coming movies. I think they are the best director and actress combination I have seen. I have not seen Naach as yet but I am looking forward for it. I for some reason don't find Antra Maali that exciting to watch on the screen - unlike Urmila.

Nana Patekar once again proves that he is the best actor working in Bombay without a doubt. His recent movies involved shouting his lines that does not bode well for the theater trained thespian. One wonders why he is always not given his accolades during awards season.

"Shakti-The Power" was one of his flicks that was an utter disapointment along with Kohram (a missed oppurtunity to create screen magic with Amitabh Bachchan).

But Patekar exudes a cool calm in this film playing a cop on a sort of social justice journey. Ridding the streets of Bombay of underworld dons in fake encounters, Patekars character takes control of the screen (and the viewers attention) and never lets go. The editing is tightly paced and there are no annoying songs to distract from the story.

Along the same lines as the modern day cult classic "Company", the movie is well acted, directed and should have a long shelf life on DVD.

The final ten minutes that see Nana and the main villain talk at his offshore haven are bound to be part of Hindi cinema classics. Won't be dissapointed with this cops and robbers flick.

An excellent movie and a definite must see. Great plot, screenplay, direction and cast - with just the right amount of Nana. Goes to show that Bollywood can produce movies of cinematic brilliance second to none. I saw shades of Training Day in the beginning of this movie (corrupt cop showing the ropes to a rookie cop), but the similarities ended there. IMHO, Nana did a way more credible job than Denzel's overhyped and overrated Oscar winning performance. A very serious and realistic movie, but not very dark and it did not treat the subject with a heavy-hand. I think this was why the movie moved along at a good pace, and always kept the viewer involved. Gets bonus points for having a white person on screen that can actually speak English [if you've heard white people speak English in Hindi movies, you know what I'm talking about]. A very solid 9/10.