Rating: *1/2

The 'loan culture' has caught on in a big way. A majority of people have availed of assorted loans, at some point or other. That makes EMI relevant, identifiable.

Debutant director Saurabh Kabra picks up incidents from real life and depicts the pros and cons of availing loans. In this film, four different stories run parallel, plus there's a 'Bhai', who not only recovers outstanding dues from defaulters, but also sorts out their personal lives.

Sadly, the story doesn't do justice to its title. It starts on an interesting note, but transforms into atypical masala film, where the 'Bhai' plays the good Samaritan and even solves personal problems.

Wait, the recovery agent too falls head over heels in love with one of the defaulting members and much of the second hour is devoted to it. Clearly, the story starts off on a different note and ends up being something else altogether!

To cut a long story short, EMI loses focus midway and hence, loses balance. Watch it for Sanju's sake, who plays the lovable 'Bhai' with flourish.

Sattar (Sanjay Dutt), owner of Good Luck Recovery Agency, is the saviour and the solution for all those caught in the debt trap. From Bhaigiri to business to politics to social work -- that's how Sattar wants to progress in life. He has already graduated from Bhaigiri to business and is now eager to jump into politics.

Most sought after by banks, telecom companies and various multinationals, today his Good Luck Recovery Agency is a leading recovery agency. Sattar follows a simple rule when it comes to his business -- Loan liya hai to chukana padega.

But will Sattar succeed in using this simple principle when dealing with disparate characters and cases like Anil-Shilpa (Aashish Chowdhary-Neha Uberoi), Chandrakant-Arjun (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), Ryan-Prerna (Arjun Rampal-Malaika Arora Khan) and Prerna (Urmila Matondkar)?

Money crunch? Need a house? Looking at a car? Wanna travel abroad? Pick up a loan for just about everything today. The pesky calls at odd hours, the sweet talk and rosy picture painted by financial institutions, before you pick up a loan -- EMI picks up stories/incidents from real life. Interesting!

But EMI does a somersault as it deviates from fact to fiction and follows the beaten path in its second half. And that's when the film slips. While the writing clearly lacks dum in the post-interval portions, a few scenes do register an impact, courtesy Sanju.

Director Saurabh Kabra's choice of the subject in perfect, but the writing gives away. Chirantan Bhatt's music is strictly okay. Dialogues are strong at places.

After a lacklustre performance in KIDNAP, Sanju is in elements in EMI. Remove him from the film and the movie would fall to abysmal levels. Arjun Rampal is natural. Urmila doesn't really get scope. Malaika looks alluring, that's it! Aashish Chowdhary and Neha Uberoi don't look too believable. Kulbhushan Kharbanda stands out.

It's the goons, the Bhai's henchmen, who add spice to the goings-on, especially Manoj Joshi, Snehal Dabhi and Dayashankar Pandey.

On the whole, EMI has its share of interesting moments, but they are few and far between. Disappointing!