Crime drama genre is just like the chess game, if handled sensibly and very seriously. Its like you don't notice the motive or intention behind any move played by players ( in a movie, there are protagonist and antagonist) But as soon as the game comes towards climax, and protagonist checkmates the villain, you think of all those moves in sequence and how those moves trick the opponent to fall into his own trap. This game becomes more interesting and engaging when you get to know thinking behind every move played by the players. This is what director Shimit Amin achieved, with his brilliant direction, in this film by portraying each character and their role in main story which makes the movie one of the best crime drama movie.
When you first see the poster and Nana Patekar in it with a tag line like "If I have to think about what's right and what's wrong just like you guys (addressing to the readers), then Who will do it (the killing)", u get the feeling that you will get to see something very interesting on the screen.
The fearless encounter specialist, with very supportive commissioner of Mumbai Police Department to perform his duty without any restriction to clean the underworld and at the same time struggling to keep himself away from becoming a victim of jealousy of his own department member, faces difficulties while doing his job when a new commissioner is appointed. And execution of new orders from commissioner about an encounter leads to set a chain of incidents which create a gripping mind game.
The depth in the character of Sadhu Agashe is wholeheartedly portrayed by legendary Nana Patekar with nuances and remarkable detailing. The dialogue delivery, body language and attitude of this actor is perfect for fearless Encounter Specialist. At the same time Nana Patekar portrays a loving family man, a protective father, frustrated cop. His facial expressions were outstanding while having a dialogue with his colleague about how cops are puppets of the politicians and system. All the other supporting actors play their role very well. Special mentions are Yashpal Sharma and Nakul Vaid.
The character theme for Nana's character created by Salim-Sulaiman suits that character. The editing is tight and doesn't lose the hold and pace. Story and screenplay are awesome. Dialogues given to Nan's character are quirky and help build the character strongly. Dialoges between Nana and Don also add some humor in scenes. Cinematography is OK. Overall a good crime drama with magic touch of Nana Patekar is what Ab tak Chhapaan can be well described as. And yeah it is worth having along shelf life on DVDs.
