Sometimes, formulas work. Thus, you have a Yash Chopra churning out his brand of candyfloss romances, or a David Dhawan mass-producing Govinda comedies. Mahesh Manjrekar appears set to add his own name to that list, with his own speciality being action-and-melodrama.

Which is not to say that Kurukshetra, the latest offering from the Manjrekar stable, will work wonders for the director's career. In fact, apart from Vaastav, none of his other films have hit the bull's eye, or even come close. In the film under review, you find yourself thinking the director could really have done better with the material on hand -- but if you had to make a call on the bottomline, you would say that the film just might find itself in the 'average' category in the box office stakes.

Kurukshetra is steeped in cliches, yet somehow the package, in totality, is not all bad. Here you meet the honest police officer, the long-suffering wife, the constantly threatened sister and, but of course, the baddie with his heart in the right place.

Sanjay Dutt is Prithviraj Singh, the police officer whose honesty and unyielding nature has been rewarded with 14 transfers in ten years, and Mahima Chaudhary is the long-suffering wife, Anjali.

The story is about Prithviraj Singh's fight against corruption, as practised by the local politicians, played by Om Puri and Shivaji Satam, and their pet goons. The fuse is lit when Prithviraj begins digging into the brutal rape, and murder, of a young girl. The issue snowballs and the honest cop, thanks to his own vulnerabilties, finds himself on the losing side of the battle. The denouement? Do we really need to spell it out?

Somehow, as you watch, you keep thinking back to that old Amitabh superhit, Zanjeer. Which is not to say the story is a straight lift. For instance, Amitabh battled smugglers, Sanjay Dutt battles politicians. Amitabh had a girlfriend, Sanjay Dutt has a wife. And so on.

Yet, the resemblance is there. Manjrekar in fact seems to have a penchant for lifting scenes out of earlier hits -- Vaastav, thus, had scenes 'inspired by' Godfather, while Kurukshetra turns to Zanjeer for inspiration. The result? Mukesh Rishi, in Kurukshetra, plays a role that, complete with dialogues, reprises the part played by Pran in the Amitabh classic.

But guess what? It seems to work, if the whistles and applause from the front benches is any indication.

To Manjrekar's credit, he brings out the best in Sanjay Dutt, using to optimum the 'deadly' looks of the muscular star. And under the astute guidance of the director, Dutt delivers a performance in which his strength, his vulnerability, his innate honesty are all well etched.

What does one say about actor like Om Puri? The corrupt chief minister has been portrayed ad infinitum, yet Om Puri brings something of himself to the etching, lacing it with the humour and arrogance that makes the role stand out from the many other corrupt CMs we have seen on screen.

Sivaji Satam, as leader of the political opposition, has a more striking role to work with, and does well in the part. He is thus the perfect foil to Om Puri. Unfortunately, the director who has done so well with the three male stars, doesn't handle his female lead with the same competence. Mahima, thus, is reduced to either singing songs, or shedding tears, on cue -- which seems an awful waste of someone who has acting ability.

The songs, praise be, are kept to a minimum and only on two occasions do they appear misplaced. The other two songs are folksy, with a fun element that keeps you from taking the mandatory loo break. Himesh Reshammiya has come up with hummable tunes, and three of the four songs in the movie are already moving up the charts.

The blood and gore, though, is definitely that touch too much. The violence is non-stop, unremitting, and at times, overdone to the point where you find yourself wishing it would end.

What else can you say about a film that perpetuates the cinematic cliche of honest cop versus corrupt politico? You would end up repeating yourself -- just like this movie does.

Credits:

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Mahima Chaudhary, Om Puri, Shivaji Satam and others.
Story, screenplay, direction: Mahesh Manjrekar
Cinematographer: Vijay Arora
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Producer: Pravin Shah.