Producer: Shabbir Boxwala, Anup Gandhi. Director: Rajnish Raj Thakur. Cast: Govinda, Suniel Shetty, Jaaved Jaafery, Mahaakshay Chakraborty, Mika, Kim Sharma, Shweta

MUMBAI: There was a trend a few years back of gathering a bunch of actors of varied images, shape and size, sending them abroad with a stunt coordinator and special effects wizards and putting together a film qualifying as ‘thrilling action adventure shot on foreign locations‘; the foreign tag being a novelty.
 
In case of Loot, locations like Bangkok/Pattaya, the so-called novelty, have featured in more films than Govinda or Suniel Shetty, the lead players of this movie have; so much for location novelty.

Govinda and Jaaved Jaafery are blundering housebreakers who have a track record of never succeeding; whether as a punishment or reward they are despatched to Pattaya to steal some treasure, with Suniel Shetty and Mahaakshay Chakraborty added as other specialists by art dealer Dalip Tahil. What they don‘t know is that they will be pitted against the biggest dons of the subcontinent, who have settled there, and will become sacrificial goats.

Mahesh Manjrekar is a Pakistani don settled in Pattaya who wants to get rid of super don, Prem Chopra, and become the super don instead. The quartet of Suniel Shetty, Govinda, Jaaved Jaafery and Mahaakshay Chakroborty are told they are robbing a treasure but are instead sent to Mahesh Manjrekar‘s house, who they tie up and loot.

Along with cash, they also lay their hands on some tapes of Manjrekar‘s conversations with other sundry dons in which they talk about liquidating Prem Chopra. On the side is a RAW agent, Ravi Kishan, who has his own sinister ideas of getting his hands on these tapes to make millions. At this point, you don‘t care anymore where the story is going since even the writer seems to have no clue.

There are some super human stunts, Pattaya night life, songs, chase sequences and what have you. But these have all been seen in so many films over and over again. By the time it ends, you are more tired than all those performing the antics.

With a hackneyed script, the film‘s direction sticks to routine as well. Instead of performing, the actors have a style or what you may call "idiosyncrasies": Sunil Shetty keeps running his hands over his crew-cut, Govinda goes on never-ending, unfathomable diatribes in chaste Hindi, Jaaved Jaafery keeps getting mixed up between a Bhindi Bazaar Muslim and a Sindhi, and Mahaakshay Chakraborty looks all at sea.

The girls have only little more to do here than junior artistes in any other film. Mahesh Manjrekar is a caricature don and hams his way through the film. Other hunks picked up to fill the spaces don‘t matter. Mika as a street gangster is a laughable imitation of 1970s Hollywood films. Music is bad except background score.

Loot, coming as it does ages after its due date, is past expiry date.

Bhardwaj, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ravi Kishan, Prem Chopra, Razzak Khan, Dalip Tahil.
 
 
 

Producer: Shanti Varma, Raj Varma, Jay Prakash. Director: Late Ambrish Sangal. Cast: Swaraaj Singh, Swati Anand, Sambhavana Seth, Ali Asgar, Dinesh Hingoo, Raza Murad.

Tension ension Doooor is a huge case of misplaced understandings of film business

Every once in a while there comes a man loaded with cash and misguided notions of capturing the film industry in a short cut to attaining stardom. Films like Tension Doooor are the result: it is a huge case of misplaced understandings of film business.

So here is this guy called Swaraaj Singh, who is so pure-at-heart that when lightning strikes the bus he is travelling on, he is the only one to walk out of it alive. The lightning was meant to strike sinners and he was the only clean soul! He goes back to his village but realises he has lost his hearing (total waste of footage since this has nothing to do with things that follow) but has gained an extra sensory power to read people‘s thoughts. Soon he identifies the frauds in his village but this leads to trouble with the village heads and he is banished from his village. He comes to Mumbai where he meets pickpocket Ali Asgar who suggest they cash in on his gift of reading minds; soon Swaraaj Singh is a most sought after psychiatrist-cum-trouble shooter till his path crosses that of Raza Murad, a traitor, leading to an action climax.

The film has 1960s written all over it, from its titles to story and treatment. It is ancient and there is nothing pleasant to watch on screen. The hero has no qualifications to be one - looks, acting or personality - save for his own money put into the making.