REVIEW

The film Kartoos is about a mission where Asst. Commissioner of Police Jay Suryavanshi makes a plan to eliminate a terrorist called Jagatjogia and his outfit who has been behind creating terror in Bombay by exploding bombs in public places. This mission which is a secret has the code word - KARTOOS.

Jagatjogia (Gulshan Grover) carries out his destructive activities in India from London. The Indian Police does is unable to extradite Jagatjogia and book him behind the bars. ACP Jay Suryavanshi (Jackie Shroff) seeks confidence from his superior to use a criminal to get rid of Jagatjogia. The court has sentenced this criminal - to be hanged until death. For he is lethal killer and for him killing is fun, He is the Bad, Mad - Jeet Balraj (Sanjay Dutt). Jay has given Jeet a new life. Now he has to complete the mission or die, since he is already dead in eyes of the world. Jeet accepts the deal as he is promised a new life once the mission is accomplished. But the mission gets over only when Jeet kills Jay once Jagatjogia and his gang are exterminated.

Jay departs for London and meets Mini (Manisha Koirala) during the journey. Jeet gets closer to accomplishing his mission by eliminating associates of Jagatjogia. But he falls in love with Mini. Jay fearing Jeet will not complete the mission by becoming a Romeo reaches London. After lot of confrontations between Jay and Jeet, Jeet kills Jagatjogia. However Jeet comes to know about Jay's intentions to kill him. He tries to runaway with Mini but is unsuccessful. After some fights, action and reasoning from Mini and Jay, Jeet finally calls up his superior at the Bombay Head Quarters - Kartoos finished, Mission over. Jay gets a new life in form of Mini.

The film is good in presentation. It has good special effects and action scenes. The sound of bullet firing makes you feel like watching a Hollywood flick. The film is excellent on face value but lacks depth. It has no substance in it. The script is fragile and very predictable. The background score is interesting but songs are drawback of the film. It seems like the three music directors could not build a synergy amongst them. Action of the film is mind-blowing and this is what producer must be banking on. Firoze Nadiawala has spent lot on this film, which shows. Will he be able to recover the same remains to be seen. This probably is the last film directed by Mahesh Bhatt. One would have expected more engrossing stuff in the film from him. Acting wise both Jackie Shroff & Sanjay Dutt are remarkable in their roles. The confrontation between them is the highlight of the film. There is an underlying screen presence, which is reflected when they come on the screen. Manisha Koirala has done a decent job but her "You see" starts irritating the viewer. Jaspal Bhatti adds some comedy to the film but one cannot call it hilarious. One does feel this is a sequence to Khalnayak. But Subash Ghai had a USP in the song "Choli ke peeche" which is sorely missed in Kartoos. A person who wants to see good action and lot of bullets being fired than this is a film for him.