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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ticking all boxes you expect from a film belonging to the genre, Maximum ends up as a ‘me too’ among many RGV-inspired films in the last few years, even though that may not have been the intention. Sadly, there was potential.

Maximum just beats around the bush for a long time and is not really an enjoyable fair.

On the whole, MAXIMUM has an attention-grabbing premise, but lacks the meat in its screenplay to leave much of an impact.

there are lots of loopholes in MAXIMUM. The intent was to make a slick cop caper. Sadly, nothing works, not even the item number. Hazel Keech’s outfit needed better tailoring.

In short, it’s collateral damage!

With a kind of brisk business-like immediacy and the least amount of fuss, “Maximum” takes us into the world of shoot-out killings and the internecine war in Mumbai`s police department which threatens to destroy the very institution built to mend the wounds and fissures in the social fabric.