Those were the days of the Indian cinema where: All the kind moms is blind, all the blood is pink, all the punches sounds "Dosh, Dosh"! There is at least one who seeks revenge or parents (or both), a music which rises high at any silent moment in the dialogue then goes down at speaking, always a hero who flies in the sky while hitting bad guys, (Amrish Puri) is the forever evil man that even Satan himself can't compete with!, and (Amitabh Bachchan) is a super star than the sun, who his contract stipulates: acting, singing, dancing, fighting, making jokes and a speech, with no kisses and no mercy for (Puri)!
Once, a friend of mine had this idea of establishing a movie channel to air just (Amitabh Bachchan)'s movies, so I told him: "It's a wonderful successful idea. But sorry, whenever (Andhaa Kanoon) will be on, I think I may pass.. No certainly I will!".
Actually, if they cut out the coincidences, the holes, most of the songs, (Rajnikanth)'s red eyes (or Rajnikanth himself!), I think we'd have a very good script. It's the revenge story, however in a plot that attacks the law's deficiency to the utmost, with a smart cynical end that satirize the law's deficiency, and somehow supports being a vigilante to achieve the lost justice. The movie summarized it brilliantly and effectively through (Bachchan)'s character. It's bold wild satire that suits the era, and I may prefer it more than the whole franchise of (Death Wish) where (Charles Bronson) is just an angry man who seeks finishing some criminals. BUT on the other hand, let's go through what was about to make me another angry man who seeks finishing some movie-makers!
(Rajnikanth)!! Well, despite that he wasn't that bad as an actor or a dancer, surely he is that bad as a lead, not to mention the matter of having the big B himself in front of him. (Rajnikanth) was suffering from: a genuine silly presence, some obesity, a sick desire to imitate the stars' cool moves like putting the cigarette in his mouth, or wearing the sunglasses, both in a memorable way! In fact, those things come naturally if you're a real star, and in (Rajnikanth) case, they all looked childish, artificial, and stupid (who would wear sunglasses at night??!!). Remember the first fight at the nightclub with him, then the next one with (Bachchan)?! Simply the second wins, because it's more believable and adequate. Moreover, we didn't know what's the job of him beside being an avenger?!!, or why his eyes didn't turn into red when he was killing the last murderer?! (Maybe they ran out of burning drops!). He had features that could make him the perfect evil guy, the perfect Indian Dracula, or the perfect anything that might take him away from movies (making commercials about eyewashes for instance!). In brief, while (Rajnikanth) was punishing his enemies, he punished me for watching, giving me such a hellish night!
(Bachchan) made the finest performance, however being on the top of his game at the time made his short appearance that disappointment. (Hema Malini) was talking with her mother about handing over her brother to the police to execute him like she was arguing about having an ice cream for dinner! And when she sang with (Rajnikanth), I began to laugh hysterically with tears in my eyes! It was the dullest time for a song. Though, if you measured it by the Bollywood dogmas, you'd understand, whereas it came after the very sad melodramatic story of (Bachchan), so THERE MUST BE A RELIEF. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy UNLESS you're an old fan of the Indian movies!
I loved the wise intensive dialogue. (Bachchan)'s 2 songs were super, especially the beautiful and powerful title's song. Yes, I didn't like the rest of the songs and the numbers, some were unnecessary, but I noticed how the romantic ones were more aesthetic, symmetric, with sensitive lyrics more than the ones of today. Most of the 2000s' Indian songs or numbers became American video clips, with an ascendancy of more western music. Aside from being annoying, this lacks the Indian cinema's stylish originality, and harms its distinguished personality too.
The direction ranged between mediocre and horrific. There is an insistence to make (Rajnikanth) as a bad joke. Watch carefully whenever he calls his enemies before killing them, where there must be a camera that shoots him from his groins' point of view! Add to that, the endless close-ups to see him in red eyes as he sees red LITERARY, which turned these intense moments into a comedy. All the movie's houses looked oddly the same, like well furnished one all along. And naming the 3 evil guys by (Amar, Akbar, Anthony) was an ugly reference to the famous hit!
It's a movie about ruthless people who the law's system can't punish or even condemn. But by making it this way, and with that lead, you have to feel how it was made by no less ruthless people!