Footpath, the latest offering from the Bhatt Banner is one more film based on the underworld and another one to bite the dust this year!

The film opens with a dying man narrating the story of his life. Flashback to childhood when three street kids suffer separation because one of them (Raghu), kills the murderer of his friend’s (Arjun’s) father. Fast forward to 12 years later when crusader cop (Anup Soni) discovers the estranged Arjun (Aftab Shivdasani) and offers him a trade-off, either imprisonment or an assignment to befriend his long lost friends and thereby infiltrate and bust a major drug cartel.

Circumstances dictate and Arjun is forced to take on the assignment. Torn between friendship and his mission, Arjun wages the war of good against evil, trying to re-habilitate his wayward friends, Shekhar (Rahul Dev) and Raghu (Farhaan Hashmi)... alas there is a twist to the tale! What follows is some chilling bloodshed with Arjun left as the sole survivor.

Aftab Shivdasani renders a good performance as a man guilty of betrayal, yet hopeful of fulfilling a dream. Rahul Dev comes across well as the lean, mean, cold-blooded don. However, the heart goes out to debutant Farhaan Hashmi who does a commendable job as the dangerous, crazy, yet, lovable bad fella.

Among the rest of the cast, Irfan Khan is brilliant in his brief cameo as the drug king. Bipasha Basu looks gorgeous. She, however, needs to breathe some life into her performance.

The music by Nadeem Shravan is entirely forgettable. The locations lack connectivity and are not visually exciting. Written by Mahesh Bhatt, there are too many stories interwoven into the plot. Vikram Bhatt focuses more on the human side of his bad guys thus making Footpath somewhat less dark and ruthless than what it could have been.

-- Madhavi Gokhlay