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Family Ties

IT'S DAYAVAN Vinod Khanna in Don Corleone mode again in the Indo-Pak production Godfather. Khanna plays Abdullah Khan, a business tycoon to all appearances but in reality a notorious don, whom the police are unable to nab thanks to lack of evidence.

Khan is also a devoted family man, playing adoring husband to Salima (Nafisa Ali) and fond father to son Shakir (Arbaaz Khan) and daughters (Hrishitaa Bhatt and Preeti Jhangiani). He also dotes on his foster son Ali (Aslam Bhatti, who produces the film), who in turn reveres the don. The problems begin when Khan decides to hand over the reins of his empire to Ali. Shakir, furious with his father for sidelining him, now plays straight into the hands of the don's arch enemy Khalid (Shafqat Cheema). It is left to Ali to hold the family together and also to wreak vengeance on all the villains of the piece.

Directed by Hriday Shetty (who made the male bonding flick Plan and the Rishi Kapoor-Dimple Kapadia senior citizen romance Pyaar Mein Twist), Godfather comprises a cast from both India and Pakistan. The story hops between Dubai and Bulgaria but unfortunately there's nothing novel or exciting in the storyline. We've seen the 'Godfather' theme played out many times in the past and to better effect. The production values are weak, the songs aren't catchy and the performances, with the exception of Vinod Khanna, are nothing to write home about. Khanna makes a sincere attempt to get under the skin of the good-hearted don and succeeds to some extent, which, alas, cannot be said of many of the cast. The worst has to be Nafisa Ali, a veritable disaster with her sing-song dialogue delivery and inept expressions. Meera (as Arbaaz Khan's wife) has little to do while Shafqat Cheema has some quasi —menacing moments. Amrita Arora and Kim Sharma, in item numbers, jump around energetically.

A couple of interesting scenes. Hrishitaa Bhatt, taking her role of don's daughter seriously, kicks and battles dozens of men (attempting a kidnap) most valiantly. There's also an action sequence where a Hummer makes mincemeat of a Merc in the middle of the desert. Yes, it's always a pleasure to see the sands and streets of Dubai up on screen but it would have helped if the look, feel and plot wasn't straight out of the 70's and the performances so bleak. Godfather is average fare at best.