Story - Ek-The Power Of One

Nandu (Bobby Deol) an orphan turned assassin somehow gets wrongly accused of a politician's murder and is on the run. On his escapade on a train he meets Shekhar (Pradeep), who is homebound after fourteen years, they get chatting and Nandu finds all about his joint family and the wedding of Shekhar's cousin that he is going to attend.

However the police catch up with Nandu on the train and shoot at him but Shekhar shields Nandu and dies on the spot. Nandu goes to Shekhar's family home in his village to return his grandfathers watch and also to break the news of his grandson's death to him. However it turns out that Shekhar's family mistakes Nandu for Shekhar and makes him a part of the celebration at home.

Ek - The Power of One: Nana – Bobby shine in an average film

Nandu (Bobby) and Shekhar (Pradeep Kharab) are childhood pals who have taken to crime and contract killing at a very young age. They get mentored by a goon Sawtya (Jackie Shroff) during their growing up years. Now as grownups, Nandu becomes the most dreaded assassin in town and Shekhar his accomplice who always helps him in getting away from the scene of crime within minutes. Opposition leader Anna Mhatre (Sachin Khedekar) to create a sympathy wave for himself in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections hires Nandu to make a false attack on him. According to the plan, Nandu aims a shot on Anna’s arms who is addressing a huge political rally but before he shoots, a bullets zips through Anna’s forehead killing him instantly. Now the Police present on the scene see Bobby fleeing and think of him as the assassin. When he tries to reach for Shekhar’s car, he sees it getting blown up after it hits a petrol tanker. Chased by cops Nandu enters a train heading towards Punjab.

On his train journey, Nandu meets Puran (Akshay Kapoor) who is going back home to Hoshiyaarpur after 18 years since the time he had runaway as a kid. The talkative Puran narrates in short time everything about his home and shows Nandu his souvenirs from home. Just then Police arrives and in the commotion that ensues mistakenly shoot Puran. Nandu yet again succeeds in fleeing the scene. He heads straight to Puran’s house but is mistaken as Puran by his family. Unable to reveal the sad truth, Nandu starts staying in their house impersonating Puran. There he encounters Puran’s childhood love Preet (Shriya). He takes it upon himself to solve all the problems that Puran’s family is facing. But his happiness is short-lived as a quirky but intelligent CBI officer Nandkumar Rane (Nana), hot on the trail of Anna Mhatre’s assassin, lands up in Hoshiyaarpur at Puran’s doorsteps. What follows next forms the rest of the film wherein many secrets are revealed some shocking, some not so shocking.

A Remake of Telugu super hit Athadu starring Mahesh Babu, Ek- The Power of One mixes the plot of many films together. The basic plot of the hero responsible for an innocent man’s death going to his family’s house and staying with them without them knowing about his true identity was first explored in Rajesh Khanna starrer Dushman followed by Akshay – Saif starrer Keemat. Then again, the whole political assassination drama and even the suspense angle is similar to Salman Khan – Sushmita Sen starrer Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge. Nana Patekar’s ‘chaaloo’ cop who knows his line of duty is a little naughtier version of Om Puri’s cop character in Rajiv Rai’s Gupt which also incidentally had Bobby being chased for murder. But the mixed khichdi of a plot works to an extent here thanks largely to the technical finesse and twists and turns plotted at regular intervals, superbly shot action scenes and of course Nana Patekar.

But where the film fails is in the pacing that drops down when Bobby arrives at Puran’s house. The whole joint family thing with all the irritating characters thrown in simply gets on your nerves after the initial few minutes. Too much time is wasted on unnecessary and predictable sub-plots. The film could have well done without 30 minutes that are wasted on all this and it would then have ended up as a nice taut thriller.

Bobby acts well and has even performed some of the stunts himself. Shriya Saran doesn’t have much to do but looks pretty. Kulbhushan Kharbanda who was a delight to watch in last week’s Aloo Chaat is saddled with the typical Punjabi grandfather’s role. Zarina Wahab seen after a long time hardly gets any scope. Jaspal Bhatti and Sanjay Mishra both irritate you to death. Priti Bhutani playing Puran’s sister act well and looks good too. Jackie in a small role impresses but Chunkey Pandey gets on your nerves in his special appearance with his fake Punjabi accent. Raghuvir Yadav as the wily politician is good as usual. The biggest star of the film however is Nana Patekar. The openly flirtatious cop with his crazy one-liners justifying his womanizing is extremely hilarious. In fact you keep waiting for him to arrive whenever his character goes off screen.

The film is aimed at the masses but could have been a better one had some loose ends been taken care of and the narrative kept tight. But it is not a bad film and may work well for you if you literally have nothing else to do and go in without any expectations.