Friday film: TARGET

Directed by: Raja Chanda

Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Joy, Shayantika, Dipankar De, Biswajit Chakraborty

Target is 90 per cent action, 8 per cent dialogues and 2 per cent song-and-dance, with a cameo by Mithun as the icing on a poorly-baked cake.

The plot: Threatened by honest cop Suvankar’s (Joy) popularity, the police commissioner (Biswajit) packs him off to a village where Dipankar De runs a gang of criminals in the garb of a sadhu. But daredevil Suvankar starts beating the baddies black and blue. The man is also on a personal mission to avenge the death of his father and brother at the hands of this gang.

But not everything is bad and sad in this village. Suvankar finds his childhood sweetheart (Shayantika) here, and also unites with his sister-in-law and nephew.

Thus goes Suvankar’s journey, with short dialogues followed by long fight sequences. Midway into the movie and the mayhem, a bullet hits Suvankar. Enter Anthony (Mithun). While Suvankar fights for his life in the hospital, Anthony mouths ceeti-taali dialogues and thrashes the gang members with gusto.

Thumbs up: Mithun, the action man, is back with a bang; sadly, only in a cameo. Shayantika looks fetching in saris and short dresses. Joy is believable as a muscle-flexing cop.

Thumbs down: Too many fight sequences make Target a drag.