Here now...here now

Uski aankhon me baatein, baaton me jaadu
Jaadu me kho gaye hum, ho gaye bekaabu

Dus has star power, no doubt and with the kind of treatment given by the director to the characterisation of these stars, the star power has been used, for a change, effectively. An effective treatment does not mean that Anubhav Sinha has been successful in making a quality movie because apart from the slick sets and fast-paced action, the movie can not really be said to belong to class. However, the effectiveness is brought out in the way the actors are made to carry the aura of the movie around their characters. It is this aura that adds to the glamour and attitude of the movie and ensures that if nothing else, Dus will be a commercial success.

Siddhant (played by Sanjay Dutt with his trademark swagger defining the character's I-don't-care-as-long-as-I-believe-in-it attitude) heads the Anti Terrorist Cell which has received information about something big planned by terrorists on the 10th of May (thus Dus :-)). His officers and comrades-in-arms include Shashank, his brother (played with unmatched confidence by Abhishek Bachchan), Aditya (Zayed Khan in a role that he has been almost type casted in), and Aditi (played by the ravishing Shilpa Shetty with a bat tattoo just above the tail bone and a figure to die for). Danish (Suniel Shetty looking good as he does not have too many lines exposing his poor dialogue delivery) is an officer of the Canadian police who is forced by circumstances to help the ATC (anti terrorist cell) officers in their mission.

On hearing about the imminent danger from the terrorists, Siddhant sends Shashank and Aditya to Canada where their agent, Neha (Esha Deol who does nothing more than walk around in designer tights) will help them find and neutralize Jamvaal (the unknown and face-less terrorist who has planned the 10th May attack). In Canada, the two officers (each of them carrying dollops of attitude and style) meet Danish who is separated from his wife (Raima Sen who does not get any chance to display her talents) and is willing to take on crime and criminals for the principle of it.

While Shashank, Aditya, Neha, and Danish are hot on the tracks of the terrorists and their cronies (including Pankaj Kapur in an amazing display of acting that overshadows even the biggest of the rest of the so-called stars, and Gulshan Grover in an act that does more staring than talking), there is something else being hatched in Delhi at the ATC headquarters. Siddhant's sister (Dia Mirza who hardly appears in more than a few frames) is kidnapped with her to-be-hubby and the terrorists, in association with a mole at the ATC office, want their arrested colleague back in exchange for the sister and sister-in-law.

One action sequence follows the other till the climax shot in a football stadium in Canada where all the players of the drama make their last appearance. Obviously, good finally wins over evil but the way it does is what is going to make Dus a hit with the masses. The movie may not be able to do sustained business but the kind of opening it is already receiving is going to be enough to make its fortune. Apart from the huge star cast, the other plus that Dus carries is, of course, the style and the slick nature of the flick that is made clear to the audience right at the beginning when the credits roll in along with the immensely popular Dus bahaane song.

Audience starts expecting a certain kind of treatment from the movie once the trailors show four immaculately dressed people in black suits toting guns and coming out of stylized cars. Dus succeeds in meeting those expectations...almost. The first sequence where the squad diffuses a car bomb (and where Shilpa Shetty gets to execute her much discussed kick) really seems to fit the image and expectation right to the tee. In fact, the entire first half is racy and even the initial moments of the second half are watchable for, if not anything else, the masterful performance of Pankaj Kapur.

The movie, however, starts going downhill as the climax starts getting uncovered. Lots of loose ends, a screenplay gone awry, sequences out of context including spoiling the racy and action packed effect by mixing it with some typical Bollywood sentimental-ism, unncessarily subduing the evil to make sure that all of it ends happily and yet, providing an out-of-context jerk to the happily-ever-after proceedings, all give an impression that the director is done with showing what he wanted to, and is now in a hurry to finish things and go home.

The music is already topping the charts and even the placement of songs is just right. The cinematography adds to the style and glamour that the movie is counting on to cover its weak points. Ditto for the actors, with Abhishek Bachchan stealing the show through another confident display of what success can do to a talented but unlucky actor. The direction is adequate and Anubhav Sinha, in an attempt to try something he has not done before, manages the routine quite well. However, he is not able to come out with something fresh owing to the screenplay that is rather unfitting and cripples the director and the movie.

There was a movie called 16th December that came a couple of year back. It was the story of how an anti-terrorist special force led by Danny and comprising of Millind Soman and Sushant, among others, prevented a terrorist attack at a crowded place scheduled for a particular date, which was 16th of December. Dus has almost the same story line but with a difference (stars, style, attitude and a little more) and the difference is what made 16th December forgettable and what will make Dus a force to reckon with for at least some time...time enough for the producers to go happily to the bank.