Family - Ties Of Blood Review

The saga of revenge explodes when the world of a notorious, powerful don, and that of a young chef's family suddenly collide, and what began purely circumstantially becomes the sole business of the two families and, of course, the film.

Family #1 is that of a young chef, Shekhar Bhatia (Akshay Kumar in an excellent portrayal) who believes a Family should live together and stand up for and support one another. A son who loves his parents, and indulges his irresponsible but good-hearted younger brother Aryan (an OK debut by Aryeman, but marred by a slight lisp) to the extent of lying to cover up for his misadventures. Shekhar's biggest agenda in life? To stall his parents' desperate attempts to get him hitched. And soon enough, to win the heart of the only girl he's ever liked but she's a doctor, Dr Kavita (Bhoomika Chawla, likeable and believable), and he is sure she won't settle for the `cook' that he is! Well, a song and dance later, Shekhar and Dr Kavita are married, and life settles down in real earnest. The irresponsible Aryan continues with his errant ways, and one day, he storms out of the house, never to return! Of course, big brother Shekhar sets out to find him, and then, Fate steps in.

Family #2 is that of the powerful crime lord, Viren Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan),  a top international don based in Bangkok, whose hood of a wayward son Abir (Sushant Singh) is on the run after a violent and bloody fracas at a pub. Abir's life is swagger of confidence that emanates from the fact that his powerful father  Viren, who dotes on him, will move heaven and earth and mow down scores of hoods who may stand in the way --  to protect his son, his Family. You see, Don Viren believes in the sanctity of family ties as firmly as he chews upon his cigar.  Well, the son lands up in Bangkok, with a contract on his head thanks to another  vindictive father in the picture, the same gent whose son he had beaten up before fleeing India. The killers sent  by the don in Mumbai (Kader Khan's wasted effort) try to kill Don Viren and succeed in putting a bullet into Abir,  but the don explodes into action and mows down all of the attackers but one, who reveals the identity of the contract killer. And what does the don, who could have easily orchestrated a revenge shootout  from Bangkok, do? He actually decides to land up in Mumbai, guns in hand, and walks right into a  movie hall and fires upon Kader Khan and his nephew, chases them through the crowded cinema and ends up shooting the nephew.

And here, the two families that wouldn't even have breathed the same air, are thrown together. As Fate would have it,  a bullet from Don Sahai's gun finds Akshay Kumar, who has turned up at the very spot, looking for his brother Aryan! Shekar dies, and ignites a bomb of searing hatred in Aryan, who blames himself for his brother's death, and is now consumed with the desire for revenge.

In the story that unfolds hereafter, we see two layers as each Family's story unfolds. Shekhar's family is consumed by grief, while Aryan is driven by revenge, and the Don's past keeps coming back to haunt him as he thinks about each member of his family that's been kidnapped by Aryan and his gang. The intense personal undercurrents of his life with his estranged wife Sharda (Shernaz Patel in a refined, restrained performance) and the other members of his family, with the shocking twist in the end that shakes him to the core, shattering everything he ever believed in, give the story a personal drama hook that is as strong as the thriller element which has the audience willing the young Aryan to win the tense stalk and chase that's bringing the Don's hoods closer to him and his gang.

Aryeman's debut especially the introduction is interesting, and he looks the part of a pampered,  vulnerable younger br