It is the story of Mumbai what is was in 2003. A maze of local trains, throbbing crowds, big land deals and intense politics. Maximum movie review…
in the center of it all we have a volatile story of two cops and stuggle for power. Maximum power.
Mumbai was a different city when the war against the underworld had been declared. The mandate to gun them down was given to a chosen few. One of them was Pratap Pandit and the other Arun Inaamdar, both of them, most talked about in the media as “Encounter Specialists”. However, each of them differed in their approach, with a strong informer base, sharp strategies and vying with each other about the tally of dead gangsters to their credit.
The struggle was always for control. If Pandit was ambitious, Inaamdar conniving and silent. One thing common between them – each of them was ruthless with an eye on garnering maximum power – within the police force, the underworld and the media.
Pratap Pandit (Sonu Sood) is the blue eyed boy of the police force. A man with all the greys (he womanizes, yet is a teetotaler) and has all the power with him. He has an intelligent, sensuous wife Supriya (Neha Dhupia) and a daughter.
Supriya provides the inner stability to his tumultuous world.
Arun Inaamdar (Naseeruddin Shah) is the other encounter cop. An old guard and Pandit’s constant rival who derives pride in the number game. He is senior to Pratap, so has more encounters to his credit.
But they were not alone in this game, with other players creeping up at every level. Taking the drama through a complex interplay of politics, land deals, farzi shoot outs and money. Dirty money!
And there is also an Uttar-Bharatiya neta. Tiwari (Vinay Pathak) is a world-wise, astute statesman. He is an insider to Pandit’s journey and an elder-brotherly figure to him.
There are conspirators moving at every level, taking the dream through layers of emotions. And there are betrayals in the film Maximum.
Maximum encapsulates the state of affairs of the Mumbai Underworld in 2003, then 2008 and onwards. A narrative that moves through five long years, ending on a railway platform. It is dark of the night, between the shudder of running trains and surrounded by echo of gunshots. An unpredictable climax.
Sonu Sood displays fine performance. Subdued and emotes through silence, talks through his eyes. His role in Maximum is the best performance from him till date.
Neha Dhupia as his wife, carries herself well. Sensuous and homely as well. Vinay Pathak as the wise and scheming north Indian neta brings life to the undercurrents of politics and wisdom. Amit Sadh as the television reporter who rises to become the bureau chief is impressive. Naseeruddin Shah is just average, as more was expected out of him.
Cast of Maximum:
Sonu Sood as Inspector Pratap Pandit
Naseeruddin Shah as Arun Inaamdar
Neha Dhupia as Supriya Pathak
Vinay Pathak as Tiwari (North Indian Leader)
Arya Babbar as the Builder
Swanand Kirkire as Bachi Singh
Anjana Sukhani as the budding actress
Amit Sadh as the Television reporter
Mohan Agashe as the minister
Rajendra Gupta as Pratap Pandit’s father
Reet Sharma as Pratap Pandit’s Daughter
Hazel Keech in a Special appearance in song Aa Ante Amlapuram
Crew of Maximum:
Production House: Vainteya Films P. Ltd
Director: Kabeer Kaushik
Director of Photography: Krishna Ramanan
Editor: Lionel Fernandes
Action Director: Tine Verma
Associate Director: Rakhi Soman
Art Director: Bablu Mahendra Gupta
Production Designer: Dinaz Kalwachwala
Script: Kabeer Kaushik, Rakhi Soman
‘Aa Ante’ Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Music: Amjad-Nadeem, Vikram-Swwan
Lyrics, Shabbir Ahmed, Raqueeb Alam
Background Score: Daniel B. George
Maximum – movie review
