Audiences in India must have amazing attention spans if `Khakee' is any indication of what passes for `normal' in their cinema-going experience. This political action drama runs 180 minutes, a playing time usually reserved in the States for sweeping historical epics or theater-based musical comedies. Yet, despite its enormous length, `Khakee' is very rarely boring, mainly due to its no-holds-barred, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink shamelessness. Writer/director Rajkumar Santhosi throws just about every element he can get his hands on into the mix: car chases, hand-to-hand combat scenes, heroes who are dripping with nobility, a villain who wears sunglasses even at night and seems to be lurking around literally every corner, a pair of star-crossed lovers, innumerable plot twists, corrupt government officials, even a couple of delightful but utterly irrelevant fantasy musical sequences in the best Bollywood tradition. None of this really should work but somehow it all does. Credit the filmmakers for providing the high energy and exuberant spirit necessary to pull it off.
The plot seems as if it could have been ripped right out of today's headlines, what with the government bringing together a team of five crack policemen to escort a recently arrested Pakistani terrorist safely into the hands of justice so that he can stand trial for helping to incite a riot in an Indian city. Or is it really the government officials who are corrupt and the `terrorist' an innocent victim of their grand conspiracy? Despite the apparent topicality of the subject matter, `Khakee' is really nothing more than an enjoyably over-the-top, entertaining action picture with a surprising amount of humor and warmth to counterbalance the violence. The five policemen have an almost Keystone Kops quality to them at times, making them very likable from the outset. Santhosi also allows us just enough of a glimpse into their personal and family lives to make the characters believable and interesting. It doesn't hurt that the leader of the team is actually a craggy-faced, pot-bellied middle-aged man, far from the typical Hollywood action hero. As a result of this bond established between them and the audience, the trite and corny speeches the characters deliver extolling the virtues of dedication and honor are far more stirring and effective than they have any real right to be.
`Khakee' has an almost effortless quality to it that makes it preferable to most similar films made here in the United States. There seems so little sweating and straining going on here. While the editing is often very flashy and sophisticated, the somewhat muddy photography and almost laughably bad sound effects give the film a rough-around-the-edges, homespun quality that makes it especially endearing. The movie never stops moving, which is one of the reasons why one hardly notices its three-hour running time.
`Khakee' is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it knows what it wants to do and succeeds in doing it very well indeed.
