Mukhbir

Director: Mani Shankar

A police informer who infiltrates terrorist organisations has to walk the thin edge very carefully. One tiny slip can mean death. Mani Shankar’s “Mukhbir” has an interesting, if not a startlingly new premise, and seasoned performers, but it delivers less than it promises.

Crack intelligence agent Om Puri sends baby-faced Sameer to spy on an outfit run by has-been card sharp Alok Nath, whose chief lieutenant Sushant Singh is prone to instant, hideous violence. How Sameer fumbles his way around the minefield that goes with the territory before finding his feet, and helps prevent a calamity of a huge order, should have been riveting.

But “Mukhbir” loses focus because it is neither real enough, nor is it glossy enough: it falls between the two, a problem which has plagued Mani Shankar’s earlier ventures (16 December, Tango Charlie). A scene between the excellent Sushant and an in-your-face sexy ‘didi’, who’s also part of the gang (she’s bare-backed on a couch, and he’s slathering Oil on it) is not picked up on. A dull item-number slackens the pace. And the climax stretches on and on.