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Bollywood's fascination with the Indian underworld continues with Shootout At Lokhandwala, the latest in a long line of violent gangland thrillers. This time the action is based upon a real-life police shootout that made headlines in 1991 in which an anti-terrorist squad sets out to eliminate a group of young mafiosa. Writer/director Apoorva Lakhia brings together some of the biggest names in the film industry to take sides, however star power alone isnt enough to save this cops versus mobsters saga from being little more than macho gunslinging.

Real-life Bollywood bad boy Sanjay Dutt takes on the role of Police Inspector Aftab Ahmed Khan, the hardcase in charge of cleaning the murky streets of Mumbai. Top of his shoot-to-kill list are Maya Dolas (Vivek Oberoi) and Dilip Bua (Tusshar Kapoor), two upstarts whose trigger-happy actions are causing their notorious 'Big Bhai' and the police concern. But which posse will win the showdown when cornered in a suburban housing complex? The answer is obvious, thanks to Lakhia's unimaginative use of flashback, in which Amitabh Bachchan's legal prosecutor reveals each chapter of the fateful story.

"HARD TO TAKE SERIOUSLY"

Although based on a true incident, Lakhia and co-writer Suresh Nair take artistic license by adding masala to the dialogues and including a handful of jarring songs. It's hard to take villains seriously when they break into song and dance every twenty minutes. The wimpy portrayal of Dawood Ibrahim, India's most notorious crime boss, is another let down. His tale, and the likes of his bretheren, has been better told in Company and Ab Tak Chapan, superior films in this genre. While Shootout At Lokhandwala does well to highlight suspicious police 'encounters', there's not much else of interest here.

In Hindi

Shootout At Lokhandwala is released in UK cinemas on Friday 25th May 2007.