Masand's Verdict: Shoot on Sight is an average watch

Shoot on Sight suffers because the director uses every cliché in the book to make his point.

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Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Brian Cox

Direction: Jag Mundhra

Director Jag Mundhra's Shoot on Sight is inspired by events that followed the London Underground bombings of 2005 – mainly the controversial police killing of a suspected terrorist.

The film stars Naseeruddin Shah as Tariq, a Muslim police officer who's picked by his Scotland Yard boss (played by Brian Cox) to investigate that questionable shooting of a fellow Muslim at the hands of an aggressive cop.

There's a promotion being dangled in his face, and although it's never actually said to him, it's fairly obvious that Tariq's expected to give a clean chit to the officer to save the department's face.

But things get complicated when Tariq's British wife begins to suspect his nephew is involved in a terrorist plot that's masterminded by a religious fanatic (played by Om Puri) who's Tariq's own childhood friend.

Although the film has its heart in the right place, Shoot on Sight suffers because the director uses every cliché in the book to make his point.

The narrative dodders along at a snail's pace and what could have been a taut, explosive drama turns into a loose, sketchy kitchen-sink saga which overstays its welcome by at least twenty minutes.

I'm going with two out of five and an average rating for director Jag Mundhra's Shoot on Sight.

It's too simplistic and full of silly coincidences; yet there's something important being said here, so it's not an entirely pointless watch.

Rating: 2 / 5 (Average)

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