By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network

It’s bang, bang all the way; one encounter after another and after 20 bullets found its ‘spot’. I stopped counting.

Clearly, RISK is not for the faint hearted. Slickly made, one wonders whether there was need for so much blood and gore. But then, this movie deals with the underworld, corrupt cops and unscrupulous politicians pitied against one honest cop who finds support in a few of his loyal police friends. So director Vishram Sawant could not really avoid the inevitable.

RISK is the story of an honest and dutiful cop Suryakant Satam (Randeep Hooda) who is faced with a dilemma. One ‘risk’ can change his life. But he realizes his job is full of risks and doing his duty honestly is the toughest job. RISK is the other side of this cop’s life and the trouble his family and friends face for standing by him and his commitment to his uniform. He takes the one ‘risk’ that changes everything for him.
 
The director has done his best in terms of casting the right actors for the roles but somehow, Vinod Khanna as the dreaded Don who operates from Thailand falls flat in trying to evoke terror. He was even more menacing in PARAMPARA (1992) and the 2001 flick, DEEWANAPAN. Makarand Deshpande, it appears, does not know what he is doing in the film. These two flaws apart, the other actors fit the characters they portray.

This film rides on the tough shoulders of Randeep Hooda and the actor carries off the load gracefully with an intense, controlled performance, which not even once goes overboard. Watching Randeep underplay his character, I was reminded of another honest cop in another movie which dealt with corrupt politicians and the underworld – Manoj Bajpai and SHOOL. Full marks to Randeep. The man has clearly played to his potential.

As a viewer, you wonder whether the honest cop, Suryakant, who is wrongly implicated by his own bosses for favouring the underworld, and who is set free thanks to Khalid, did the right thing by biting the hand that fed him (going after Khalid and his gang, even shooting his brother). Or, whether he should have played into the hands of Khalid for the rest of his life, having fully understood that he ‘died’ the day Khalid had him released, for his own gain.

But that’s the risk Vishram Sawant is trying to bring into sharp focus and he succeeds in playing on the emotions of the viewer who too finds himself in a dilemma, just as Suryakant.
 
Vinod Khanna as Khalid fails to bring the fright into his opponents like Randeep as the ‘Encounter Specialist’ brings into his victims. Tanushree Dutta as Shraddha, Randeep’s love interest, has just seven scenes including the ‘Hichki’ number. The girl has put on weight and needs to hit the gym, pronto. Clearly, there is not much in it for her. It’s Hooda all the way.

For its slick direction and close to reality cinema, it’s a RISK worth taking.

Ratings: 2.5/5