This film looks down right obnoxious!. And this is coming from the same guy that debuted with a dark masterpiece like Chandni Bar, and moved forward with Satta (my favourite Bollywood film of 2003). What the hell happened to him?

I've got to say, I was pretty horrified when I saw the trailers with Akshay and Lara dancing to a song that sounded like it should have been released well over 10 years ago............

Have you seen the action stunt promos? It looks really.. really.. REALLY! Bad.

AAN ki AAN bachey gi na SHAN! LOL

Aan: Give this fight fest a rest!

H S Bunty | June 03, 2004 16:53 IST


Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-bish-baff-boof-kaboom-dishum-thud-dud

The first 45 minutes of Aan: Men At Work are a series of punches, kicks, bullets, machine-gun fire, shattered glass, smashed skulls, torn arms, broken ribs, blood, death, one item number on model Gauhar Khan (rather lost in the swarm of sexy videshi dancers), and then some more fights and kicks.

And just when you think this Madhur Bhandarkar-directed, Firoz Nadiadwala-produced fight fest will at last get down to telling the story, along comes the interval.

Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, and Shatrughan Sinha are cops — the good guys. Jackie Shroff, Irrfan, Rahul Dev, a Mumbai home minister, two Korean muscles, a rival don called Raghu, a bad cop played by Ajinkya Deo, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Shri Vallabh Vyas as a havala guy are all villains.

Funnily, with so many villains, the enemy keeps changing until you deduce that the four cops will take on the entire system and beat it black and blue!

Of the cast, Akshay Kumar is good. Ditto for Suniel Shetty. Paresh Rawal is fun until he lasts. But I have no clue what Shatrughan Sinha is doing in this enterprise. He looked like he was suffering from a bad hangover throughout the film.

And let's not forget the girls. Lara Dutta has precisely four scenes and one song. Preeti Jhangiani has three. Raveena Tandon, playing a character that does not make any sense, has maybe four scenes.

The editing is interesting. Since Aan is digitally graded, it looks good. But the sound is so loud, it gives you a headache.

The action is ripped off every Hollywood film you know and is relentless. The tuneless songs, mercifully only three, are played just partially in the first half. The script is like a train that keeps going on and off the track after being late for 40 minutes.

Trade forecast: The film should do well in B and C centres. In multiplexes, the fall should begin by Monday.


*** Where is RANA!! Man this one has LOUD SOUND!!

Satta was a good movie but Raveena's acting was awful. I was shifting uneasily whenever she would contort her face and break into a sermon. I think Madhur has been going downhill since Chandni bar

The great big testosterone rush!

Vivek Fernandes | June 04, 2004 18:41 IST


Lethal action finds new meaning with producer Firoz Nadiadwala's Aan: Men At Work.

The bullet fest never lets up in this Madhur Bhandarkar-directed shoot-o-rama. But with the likes of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Shatrughan Sinha, Om Puri, Irrfan, Paresh Rawal, and Rahul Dev headlining the cast of this caper, can you blame him?

Read the Sneak Peek of Aan: Men At Work!

Fists do most of the talking here, but here's how the story goes: Akshay Kumar is honest cop Hari Om Patnaik, who gets transferred to Mumbai's crime branch as DCP. He meets encounter specialist Inspector Appa Kadam Naik (Shetty), Sub-Inspector Vikram Singh (Sinha), and Constable Khaled Ansari (Rawal). This motley crew likes to take the law into its own hands: eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Think trigger-happy, and you will figure out why no one survives a Kadam encounter!

Honest intentions take the back seat here as these cops succumb to a system rife with corruption, bribes, and the ubiquitous underworld nexus. Which brings us to industrialist Gautam Walia (Shroff), the crooked Home Minister Manik Rao (Mohan Agashe), and the man who's 'don' it all, Yusuf Pathan (Irrfan) — all hand-in-glove in search of more power and more money. It is a web of deceit, double-crossing, and debauchery.

Though Kadam, Singh and Ansari try to weed out the troublemakers of Pathan's gang using the third degree, it is Patnaik who pushes them into toeing the line. They buy his 'criminals are humans too' logic and 'it's not about the pay, but the honour', and see themselves transform into the moral police. Make that police with morals.

But morality returns to haunt Patnaik when members of his own team fall victim to these troublemakers' bullets. When Walia's rival industrialist Ajit Pradhan (Milind Gunaji) is killed by Pathan's goon Yeda, and when Pathan's henchmen shoot at Kadam's wife and child, the police force, including the commissioner (Om Puri), bays for blood.

Vengeance is theirs when, post-interval, a helicopter chase and much bloodshed later, the traitors meet with their fate and justice triumphs.

Aan is an ode to the police force. The storywriters (Manoj Tyagi and Sanjeev Puri) don't rest till they have thrown in every issue in the cop's diary — meagre wages, job transfers, a difficult family life — to ensure audience empathy. But the story gets a tad tedious with the many subplots involving all the women.

Raveena plays Roshni, Walia's main squeeze who squeals on him later and serves no other purpose. Preeti Jhangiani (Janki, Sunil's onscreen police wife), and Lara Dutta (Kiran, paired opposite Akshay Kumar) have even less ornamental value.

Another grouse is that director Bhandarkar spends too much reel on introductions. True, it lends depth to the character, but can we please get on with it? The action sequences have been much talked about and do make for some exciting viewing. But whatever happened to moderation?
As for Bhandarkar's style, it is impressive, juxtaposing songs with split-screen action-plus snapshots as the story progresses, shifting to sepia dual tones to highlight moods. Kudos to cinematographer Madhu Rao, who comes up with some great visuals, especially in the song picturised on Lara and Akshay. Musically, Anu Malik does all right, though the item songs with Reema Sen and Gauhar Khan jar, visually and acoustically.

Action heroes Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty live up to their sobriquets, turning in power-packed performances. Muscle power never had it so good. Former Union minister Sinha, who took special permission from the prime minister to shoot for this film, has an endearing presence and gets the best lines.

Paresh Rawal, as always, is a barrel of laughs. Irrfan can pat himself for another job well done. Jackie Shroff, Om Puri, Rahul Dev provide adequate support, though Rajpal Yadav and Vijay Raaz aren't made the best use of as comic relief.

Aan is a technically competent film, but is it moving? No. However, if you fancy an adrenalin rush, don't miss this.

CREDITS
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Shatrughan Sinha, Raveena Tandon, Preeti Jhangiani, Lara Dutta, Jackie Shroff, Irrfan, Vijay Raaz, Rahul Dev
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Producer: Firoz Nadiadwala
Music: Anu Malik
Cinematography: Madhu Rao
Story & Screenplay: Sanjeev Puri, Manoj Tyagi


** missing rana in ADRENALINE RUSH in action..lol.

IMHO, NO AAN/NO SHAAN!

'Aan - Men At Work' - 'Mayhem!'
By Prema K. ©2004 Bollyvista.com


Credits
Producer/s: Firoz Nadiadwala
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Shatrughan Sinha, Raveena Tandon, Preeti Jhangiani, Lara Dutta, Jackie Shroff, Irrfan Khan, Vijay Raaz, Rahul Dev
Music: Anu Malik, Akbar Sami, Jatin
Lyrics: Sameer, Tejpal Kaur, Dev Kohli


Buy the DVD here
The film has nothing new to offer (the oft-repeated elements like extortion, mindless killing, encounters, the politician-underworld nexus, the tough lives of cops, and the clash of ideologies, is all there) except for a few dialogues that are very pro the police force.

For the change the Commissioner of Police (Om Puri) is not corrupt as happens in most Bollywood films. One also has to praise some of the action sequences especially the one between Akshay Kumar and Rahul Dev in which the former throws the latter from the 20th floor of a building. The action scenes in the latter half of the film are good but the ones in the first half are elaborate and slow, at times getting on your nerves.

There is a bit of realism in the film but unfortunately it is masked by the over-use of commercial elements like item songs, and the romantic number picturized on Akshay and Lara Dutta. We wonder why the romantic track between Akshay and Lara was there in the film (Lara is wasted in this flick)!

This is definitely a Firoz Nadiadwala film (senseless commercial fare), not a Madhur Bhandarkar film. Those who have enjoyed his previous flicks, 'Chandni Bar' and 'Satta' will swear by it.

Now for the story. Actually this is what the film lacks! To make up for this there is high voltage drama in many places.

Mumbai is ruled by three people, Home Minister Manik Rao (Manoj Joshi), Underworld Don, Yusuf Pathan (Irrfan Khan) and a high-profile businessman, Gautam Walia (Jackie Shroff), all hand-in-glove with each other.

Police officers at the Mumbai Crime Branch have adopted a laidback attitude towards life. Sr. Inspector Vikram Singh (Shatrughan Sinha who was regarded as a highly efficient officer once) has given up on the system. Encounter specialist, Inspector Appa Naik, (Suniel Shetty surely inspired by real life encounter specialist Daya Nayak), is of the opinion that criminals need to be eliminated. Constable Khalid (Paresh Rawal) is happy-go-lucky. However, things change when D.C.P. Om Patnaik (Akshay Kumar) is posted in Mumbai. Initially the trio find themselves at loggerheads with Om, as he does not believe in gunning down criminals.

Manik Rao gets businessman Ajit Pradhan (Milind Gunaji) eliminated by Yusuf Pathan's younger brother (Rahul Dev). So far the film was boring and lackluster but picks up from this point. Of course, it is a case of 'all's well that ends well'.

For the performances. Irfan Khan, as usual is the scene stealer and is brilliant in every scene. He even emerges superior in the scene when the cops drag him outside his house and take him into their custody. Om Puri leaves his mark even in a brief but important role. Paresh Rawal is funny as usual. However, he exits midway through the film. The audience is sure to feel cheated. Talented actors like Vijay Raaz and Rajpal Yadav do not have much scope in this film and are almost wasted. Shatrughan Sinha, back after years is a disappointment. Although he has been given a couple of good dialogues, somehow the punch is missing. He has been wasted. Despite his seniority he is playing second fiddle to Akshay. Ditto for Suniel. Otherwise he seems comfortable with himself. This is definitely a showcase for Akshay's histrionics. Jackie and Raveena fail to make an impact in their half-baked characters. Preeti Janghiani delivers in a small role. Anu Malik's item songs are good. The item girls, Gauhar Khan and Reema Sen, are good. Some good cinematography too.

On the whole, 'Aan' is hardcore masala and has great scope in the interiors. No chance in the multiplexes though!

** (TWO STARS)

*poor; **average; ***good; ****very good; *****excellent

Very disappointing to see a talented filmmaker go into making masala-flicks.

I agree!! It Wont Hurt DD doing that, or Johar/Chopras!!

But a SENSITIVE/THOUGHTFUL/CAPABLE director start churning POT BOILERS! is Pathetic indeed!

Simillarly, When an INTELLIGENT FILM MAKER like MANI RATNAM/PRAKASH JHA/GOVIND NEHLANI/KHALID MOHD, will try to MASALATIZE their POTENTIAL GOOD FILMS! Results will be NOTHING BUT DISASTER!

You've got to remember though, this is where Madhur Bhandarkar started out - Trishakti (with Arshad Warsi and Milind Gunaji) was an out and out masala flick.

i've seen this movie.. its MAHA SHIT....

nothing at all to recommend this movie... the only good thing about is Sunil Shetty's performance and Paresh Rawal's comedy act but Rawal is only there till the interval.


Akshay is shit, Lara Dutta has one song, 3 small scenes. Jackie is Shit, Shatrughan is shit, Irfan is shit.

The whole movie is a waste of my time... ENJOY!!

Sunil and GOOD PERFORMANCE???

Police officers unhappy with Aan

By IndiaFM News Bureau, June 07th, 2004 - 1400 hrs IST



Click above to read Aan review


Director Madhur Bhandarkar known for making realistic films like Chandni Bar and Satta seems to have gone somewhat illusory in his latest multi-starrer release Aan – Men at Work. A group of real life police officers from Thane who watched the film on Sunday were not completely satisfied with the final product. Their major grudge was that the film did not stick to reality and at many instances went larger-than-life.

A scene showed inspector Kadam (Suniel Shetty) firing bullets flashing his ID card while other scene depicted head constable (Paresh Rawal) pointing on a map using the DCP’s baton. The officers claimed that such things do not happen in real life. Also some action sequences, disciplinary rules and encounter scenes were far from reality.

Perhaps the police officers might have expected a more realistic film from Bhandarkar considering his past track record of hard-hitting films. Also the director had earlier stated that he had met some real life cops and took help from them while scripting his film. However from the very start, Aan appeared to be a hardcore masala film with a lot of commercial elements added to it to appeal to a larger section of audience. Realistic films are generally restricted to a niche audience.

We just hope Bhandarkar comes up with more realism in his next film Page 3.

BUSINESS TALK

By Taran Adarsh, June 10th, 2004 - 0930 hrs IST


'AAN' - NOT MUCH 'SHAAN'

The new releases are faring exactly like the One Day Internationals. If your film can't score in the first week, there's no second chance for it. Gone are the days when the collections of HERO [Jackie Shroff, Meenakshi Seshadhri] picked up in its third week or a SHOLAY consolidated its position in its fourth week. In the current scenario, it's either hit out or get out…

It has also been proved that films having excessive violence or sex-laden sequences, without the story demanding it, won't find many takers these days. Gone are the days when an action flick would keep its investors smiling. In today's scenario, mindless action and that too in excessive doses only end up making holes in the distributors' pockets!

Two points to ponder about… and both fit AAN, Madhur Bhandarkar's latest offering, to the T.

Irrespective of the b.o. outcome of his films [1 hit - CHANDNI BAR, 2 flops - TRISHAKTI, SATTA], the one allegation you could never level against the director was that he doesn't work hard enough on the subjects that he chooses.

But Madhur can't escape the allegation that AAN relied too heavily on action and gimmicks [technique] and less on substance. Stories like the one in AAN have been witnessed time and again. For someone who has attempted daringly different stuff [CHANDNI BAR, SATTA, even PAGE 3 is not the run-of-the-mill kind], one fails to understand what exactly did this protégé of Ramgopal Varma see in the script of AAN.

Expectedly, AAN took a good start at several centres, but the collections started sliding downwards from Day 2 [Saturday], which clearly indicates that a strong face-value can attract audiences on Day 1, but what counts eventually is the content. It's simple: No substance, no audience!

While the opening weekend of AAN was quite impressive in Mumbai, the drop in the b.o. collections from Monday onwards must've caught its distributors unaware. Even at key stations of Gujarat and Maharashtra, the film followed a similar pattern.

However, the film is faring well in parts [smaller centres] of Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, but at most big cities the verdict is loud and clear.


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** Now MORAN using my words!