Bhindi Bazaar Inc

Indian Express Ratings:**

This film is a case of an interesting cast made to do familiar things in hoodlum flicks: small-time cons struggling to extinguish their deadbeat existence with the help of betrayal and bloody murder. Tabrez ( Sharma) and Fateh ( Narayanan) grow up in the narrow lanes of Bhindi Bazaar,overflowing with refuse and human waste,under the tutelage of the ruthless Mamu ( Malhotra),protecting their turf from Pandey ( Mishra) and his assorted minions.

The film opens with Tabrez being invited to a game of chess in the swish Malabar Hill apartment of Shroff ( Menon),and the action cuts back and forth between the game being played out inside and outside. The usual stuff comes trotting out : the camaraderie and the squabbling between the slum kids,the rivalry between two gang bosses,sly women,and a series of back-stabbing incidents.

Using chess as a metaphor is a good trick but the relentlessness with which it is played out becomes quickly tiresome. The ensemble cast is efficient but looks as it wandered off a Ram Gopal Varma slum-scrum. Narayanan and Sharma are made to pal up on the top of a half-constructed building,very ‘Slumdog’ style. Kay Kay is given a thin moustache,a thinner smile,and not much else. The only surprise inclusion is Deepti Naval as the dependable Pawan Malhotra’s screen wife : you only wish she had more to do.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com