Everything a thriller needs is in here, and you settle down, fully prepared for a non-stop, breathless, firing-from-all-cylinders ride. But Saaho turns out to be a damp squib.

John Abraham is strictly one-note, which may be how dour cops are meant to come off, but it becomes same-same in a screenplay stretched to show off a well-muscled chest.

It leaves a smile on the face. And you do feel a swell of pride as the ‘yaan’ comes into view and settles successfully in orbit. Despite the over-arching presence of the latter-day Mr India, ‘sab mangal hai’.

From start to finish, there’s isn’t a single shred of conviction on display. The result is a confused, unpleasing, long-drawn mess, which the viewers will ‘jabariya’ have to sit through.

The trouble with this film is that quite soon it chickens out. From a comedy with a strong ‘social’ component which could have been a barrel of meaningful laughs, it turns into a soppy melodrama.

This is the kind of movie which will sharply divide audiences. And that’s as it should be. Once I began seeing it as the murmurings of a different mind, I bought it as a caper, as burlesque, where nothing is as it is. I had problems with some of it, but I really liked the rest of it.

With Diljit Dosanjh’s high likeable quotient, faithful sidekick Varun Sharma’s skills at delivering broadsides, pretty heartthrob Kriti Sanon’s dazzling pearly-whites, and a host of reliable supporting acts, Arjun Patiala should have been much better than it is.

For an effective film, you need both plot and treatment. Family of Thakurganj has neither, and a solid ensemble cast is let down, once again, by inept handling.

The Hrithik Roshan movie is way less than super…Yes, the real-life story is inspiring. But the telling of it is a drag. The film has its moments, which belong mostly to its young people: the kids are all right.

Article 15 may have an unsatisfactory element or two, but as a film, it rushes in to tread forgotten grounds. It is what is needed, call it what you will– a clarion call, a bugle, a shout-out.