Maximum

But all said and done, Maximum isn't a washout – not by a long chalk. It is well crafted and superbly acted. Sonu Sood in particular leaves a lasting impression as the police officer under fire for excesses committed in the line of duty.

Maximum has stray moments of power but the film feels like a Ram Gopal Varma rehash; mercifully though there are no cameras zooming into teacups like there were in Varma's recently released Department, which was also about power-hungry, corrupt encounter specialists.

Maximum' turns out to be a dampener. Not because it doesn't have interesting actors. Nor because it doesn't have interesting situations. But because it comes off merely as 'Sehar' redux, minus its power.

The film is a blur of plans being hatched, accomplices switching sides, and information being compromised. But it's hard to stay awake when it's all unfolding so slowly… Many bullets are showered in the film's climatic confrontation at a railway bridge, but by then you're counting down to the end credits.

In the end, almost like an afterthought, Kaushik realises he's left too many guns unfired, and things come to a head in a pointless hail of bullets, rivals trading fatal gunshots in turn, like polite ping-pong players.

There are scenes where he triggers good performances, but with the inclusion of too many facts, figures and case files, it loses entertainment value. And gradually the plot fades into dark gullies of our big, bad Maximum city.