There is no doubt this movie is based on a true story. It’s too crafty for a screenwriter’s invention. So are the folks before us on the screen. While you know the basic story, you’re always aware there could be a fine twist at the end. And that is a surprise. Besides that this super-smart movie stars Akshay Kumar.

Song starts, music video plays, hero broods, heroine pouts, both dance. And then we go back to the baffling questions again: Will the couple get together? Won’t they? He stalks; she disappears, then reappears, she likes him, but maybe not, gets married, or perhaps doesn’t…. Oh, just get a room, and get it over with.

The narrator, who’s also the hero, suggests there are three kinds of kids in the world: “chamche”, who suck up to their parents; the rebellious sorts, who take them head-on; and the smart ones, who do what they like, and their parents never know. This stiff-neck, stone-faced, tight-assed lead character belongs to the mysterious fourth category: henpecked by mom (Ratna Pathak Shah), bull-dozed by pop (Boman Irani), this fellow grew up under-sexed, under-confident, under his parent’s thumb. That his parents are so unnecessarily phony and psychotic, I guess, takes away from some of the realism. But it’s all in the interest of comedy.

Fade in. Film starts. Camera zooms in on a mysteriously undivided Madhya Pradesh on the Indian map. Either the movie’s set before 2000, or the related stories Meet Veena ‘Channo’ Malik Satish Kaushik as common man in Gali Gali Chor Hai Don’t want to associate with every film: Akshaye Khanna filmmakers don’t know better. Singer Kailash Kher cranks up the volume with a noisy song that suitably goes, “Corruption, corruption, corruption ka shor hai,” referring to how those who should’ve stayed back in Chambal live in Delhi now. The person you probably think of is bandit queen Phoolan Devi – once a member of parliament, now no more.

An earnest Vijay Dinanath Chauhan delivers poetic justice before a nearly packed hall on the proverbial ‘first day first show’. Audiences at my cinema respond to the cues and lines. The comments passed sometimes distract you from the screen. Everyone guffaws at the same time. This is the kind of genuine theatre experience, now getting rare, which remains most precious in the life of a film-goer. Reason can take over later. I had a ball! – See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Reviews/Mayank-Shekhar-s-review-Agneepath/Article1-802542.aspx#sthash.kXRpmg6s.dpuf

A few players intend to share the loot, given the plan or plot (borrowed from Hollywood) is already in place. That’s the story of this film. It could be the related stories PLAYERS PROMO EVENT: Sonam raises middle finger!

The writers here have sub-plots. They continue to stretch and add thought to thought. The picture promises to never end. It gets hard to carry on with inane inventiveness, when you just couldn’t care less.

At worst, the film remains then a yawn inducing, half explained romance; at best, it’s an effortless watch all the way.

It’s unlikely to garner critical acclaim, of course. No male reviewer will recommend a movie because it gave him a hard-on. Female critic will probably sense exploitation. Silk couldn’t care less. She collects only photos of hers that appear in the press.

Generations change. So do audiences. Same garbage gets recycled still. We deserve it. So be it.