Okay, an action film with Akshay Kumar, which is not bad at all. Right, it's not a great film but it is slightly watchable and, well, personally, most Akshay Kumar films even the very bad ones are at least not unwatchable, even if in parts, due to his effective presence. I may well be biased as I might be a bit of a fan of his screen persona of that time, but that's the way it is anyway. Jaanwar gives Kumar an opportunity to do what he had longed to do for years - a seemingly different role. Sadly, it is a melodramatic fare which doesn't really ring true, so not much could have been done here.
Kumar's role is that of a past goon who collects and adopts a kid from the street. His role goes somewhat along the lines of Mamohan Krishna's unforgettable role in Yash Chopra's social classic Dhool Ka Phool (1959). Now please don't get me wrong, this one is nowhere close to being the quality of Chopra's gem, but there's a fair attempt on the part of the director and particularly Kumar himself, who was already making some improvements in his career with Sangharsh, as well as other films that would be released later, including Hera Pheri.
Sadly, it is not enough - the film is really badly written. In one scene, Shilpa Shetty gives Kumar's little boy (who is actually her lost son, how predictable) a gift toy, and Kumar gives it back to her. This scene is one of the most embarrassing I can imagine as Kumar breaks into a monologue that is so cliché and exaggerated it's almost funny. Kumar is good in the first half, and quite weird in the latter (the hairstyle change is ridiculous). Shilpa Shetty and Karisma Kapoor are stagy and so is the boy. The ending is really badly overblown, but the film is not one of Kumar's ultimate worst.
