MUMBAI: Ahead of the release of SRK's big banner My Name is Khan next week, this Friday seems to be lacklustre at the box office. There is only one Bollywood film to consider and that's called Striker.

There have been umpteen films made on sports as the backdrop but one made on carrom has probably never been seen before. That could be a reason why Striker catches your attention. The film is about Surya played by Siddharth who is forced into playing carrom but eventually realises he's addicted to making money from it. He ends up getting duped by a master gambler played by Aditya Pancholi. Like any masala potboiler the hero decides to bring the villain's reign of terror to an end. What happens next is a drag despite the film being just a two hour one. The subject is interesting… but a loose scripts kills its potential. Striker fails to strike a connect with the audience thanks to too many subplots which erupt far too quickly in the story, leaving the viewer in a confused state of mind. There is also a love story to follow which would have been better left out of the story.

The only plus point of Striker is lead actor Siddharth who manages to evoke sympathy for his character with sincere effort. But without big names and any song and dance, this film is likely to be striked out by movie goers. We give Striker 2 stars.