Garv is yet another run of the mill films about cops, corruption and what have you. It’s an idea beaten to death and yet, we have it cropping up time and time again.

Garv opens with maverick cop, Arjun Ranawat (Salman Khan), being taken to the Court, with calls for his death being chanted by crowds waiting outside to get a glimpse of this bloody-thirsty cop. We then learn that this murder machine had gunned down 18 people in a murderous attack. But we all know that there has to be a reason behind such “rash” behaviour.

We lapse into flashbacks and find a hara bhara sansar, a white saree clad mother (Farida Jalal) gormless sister (Akansha) which immediately makes you think that she’s there for rakhi services or to be the object of bollywood’s 60 and 70’s favourite villainous pastime…rape. Well, Garv never veers off the beaten path and predictability is not one of its strong points.

Arjun has a sincere and uncorruptable muslim saathi (Arbaaz Khan) who is ready to fight injustice, both within and outside the system. Arjun does not think twice about meting out his own brand of instant justice…bang bang bang, be it pimps, drug dealers or their associates. Sickened by the looseness of the system, Arjun has his own manner of dealing with crime. However, the only man who wields any influence on Arjun is the Police Commissioner (Amrish Puri) who is able to manage the loose cannon that Arjun is.

But nefarious politicians and corrupt politicians gang together to ensure that the Hindu-muslim pair is split up.ironically by accusing the muslim of ganging up with the ISI of Pakistan, which prompts Arbaaz to tear off his shirt and show his scars from bullets of Pakistani terrorists. It’s only a matter of time before the Muslim saathi is betrayed and murdered which then sends Arjun on a murderous mission of trying to find those responsible!

Back to the present and why won’t Arjun respond or defend himself having been accused of heinous crimes? What can possibly be the cause? Retired Police Commissioner now returns to the fore and decides to defend Arjun. Will he be able to find out the secret? What lies beneath???

Punit Issar offers nothing new to Garv except that he makes it as slick as he can considering he is dealing with a hackneyed story-line and hideous predictability. Given that its really a “B” film dressed up as an “A” film, it manages to hold your interest but only marginally.
Salman Khan is glassy as ever…Shilpa Shetty has two songs and one scene and could have been removed from the proceedings completely with no detriment to the film. Being the producer’s daughter, Akansha has a few weepy scenes but I doubt whether she will ever live up to her genes! Amrish Puri is his assured self. By and large, this is for the interiors. How I managed to sit through the whole movie, I shall never know.