A poster of Zakhmi
Film: Zakhmi
Director: Inderpal Singh
Cast: Dev Kharoud, Anchal Singh, Suvinder Vicky, Jaggi Dhuri
Gurnaaz Kaur
First things first, all those have been anticipating a typical Dev Kharoud movie may get surprised or disappointed. Now, that’s because the actor plays a family man in this one. But it doesn’t mean there is going to be a sea of change. He is as much an action hero as you’ve seen him in his past films. The difference, and a pleasant one at that, is that he isn’t constantly drinking or doing drugs. But his angry young man image stays intact, only the reasons are emotional and familial.
So, it is a story of a common man, who is fighting for the safety of his family and alongside is also fighting against the injustice of the system. His name is Gurshaan (Dev Kharoud) and he is married to Reet (Anchal Singh). They have a seven-year-old daughter.
In the first 40 minutes, we are introduced to the fact that Gurshaan is a sensitive man and cannot see anyone being bullied or ill-treated for no reason. Then we meet Reet on her first day of college. The good-hearted man that Gurshaan is, he comes to the rescue of this damsel in distress, who can’t find her classroom and is being troubled by some loafers. The college scenes will remind you of Kabir Singh and how everyday Shahid Kapoor makes Kiara Advani leave the class to just meet him. It’s a Xerox, just different faces and Punjabi dialogues. Next, we know they are in love but Anchal wants him to mind his business and not go on fighting for random people. In no time they are married, have a daughter, leave their village and move to a city for a better life of their kid. Everything is going well, until one day three goons loot the bank where Gurshaan works as a cashier.
The real action begins and so does the fight against corruption, injustice and unlawful practices. One after another, villains are beaten to death and their kingpin is brought to book.
Dev is mostly convincing when he fights but romance is not his cup of tea or should we say he needs to practice it more.
Anchal looks pretty but her dialogue delivery or even her expressions when she has nothing to say fail to impress. There is some melodrama when the little girl is exposed to her dad’s fights in the climax.
Overall, the direction is mostly plausible but some visible weak points can’t be denied. One does end up thinking if in real life too the system is as corrupt and social activists as fraud as in Zakhmi. No one likes sad endings or unhappy stories but we do read such incidents in papers. Zakhmi brings out a protagonist in a common man and how he rises to the occasion to protect his loved ones.
