Shikaar Movie Review

masala films that were churned out in the 1980s and 1990s. Himalaya Motion Pictures' SHIKAAR is one of those films.

The film revolves around a group of casino owners [Danny Denzongpa, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Tej Sapru and Shweta Menon], who strike a deal with a car thief Vijay Sanyal [Jas Pandher] for a hotel in Mussorie. Though priced at Rs. 100 crores, Vijay offers to sell it for Rs. 30 crores.

The partners jump at the offer and reach Mussorie to clinch the deal, but there's a twist in the tale. One by one the partners are murdered and the needle of suspicion points towards Vijay. Enter A.C.P. Sumed Singh [Raj Babbar], who is baffled at the rate the murders take place.

Who is the killer and what is his motive?

SHIKAAR relies too heavily on the age-old formula and that is its prime undoing. In an effort to pack the chills, thrills and songs, the makers have forgotten that a taut script is what the viewer demands.



Another slip-up is its climax, when the identity of the killer is revealed. The identity of the person does come as a surprise, but is difficult to absorb. Even the brother-sister act, which is unfolded then, is such a compromise from the scripting point of view.

Even otherwise, there are some unwanted characters in the film. Julie's mother and the waiter are two examples. Besides, there's a heavy flow of songs, which look out of place at times, and unwarranted fight sequences, which appear forced in the narrative.

Director Darshan Bagga has executed a few sequences well, but he is letdown by the choice of subject as also the screenplay, which is old-fashioned. Anand Raaj Anand's music is a saving grace. A couple of compositions are pleasing, notable among them being 'Tumpe Marne Lage Hain Hum', 'Nazro Se Nazro Ko' and 'Jitna Bhi Karlo Pyaar'. Cinematography [Narein Gedia] is okay.



On the whole, SHIKAAR is too old-fashioned to keep the viewer's interest alive. At the box-office, the film may find some flavour at smaller centres only.