In a story where good wins over evil, Bhaag Johnny doesn’t do justice to the old wine in a new bottle theory; rather it beats around the bush until you get the pulse of what the director actually wants to say. All in all, Bhaag Johnny should be the last thing on your list if you’re planning on catching a movie this weekend.

If you ask me, you’d do well to just let Johnny escape this weekend and find something actually fun to do instead.

While the plot is uniquely layered and the film is interestingly designed, it is the writer’s carelessly adopted formula: “Show only what you want the viewers to see”, that leaves gaping holes in the plotline.

The whole exercise of presenting these twin stories with the same protagonist displaying contrasting behaviour is interesting. However, the motive of the crime itself is too cliched and the chase has zero thrill or suspense. Instead of making you nervous, it makes you go to sleep.

Bhaag Johnny is not your film for the week unless you want to watch a film that stars Vikram Bhatt as a genie. I am going with a 1.5/5 for this crass thriller that never ups its pace.

While the film does have its moments under the sun (strictly a handful of them), the rest of the film lands up doing nothing to the viewers, except confusing them to the core. The film is far, far away from having an engaging or a gripping storyline that is required to hold the interest of the viewers.

As kids, we used to act out fight scenes with the dishum dishum voice over and all, it was over the top and badly acted. Given the silliness and tawdriness in every department of film making, Bhaag Johnny reminded me those childhood antics.

The direction nearly goes haywire. A lot of things don’t make sense in this ambitious project about differing timelines. The songs especially pop in without notice or need. The characters behave erratically and the story doesn’t make too much sense either. The predictable climax is a real disappointment. A classic case of wasted opportunity.

Somewhere near the beginning of Bhaag Johnny, we see young Johnny (Kunal Khemu) sitting in a plush hotel room in Pattaya, bewildered and helpless, with a gun in hand. Right till the end of the film, he stays that way—Johnny from nowhere, whose only specialty is being able to woo women.

While the story is interesting, the treatment and structure don’t quite fit in. Kunal doesn’t appear quite convinced about what he had to do and that shows. Zoa and Mandana don’t look so hot on the performance front either. Music, direction, choreography and action are indistinctive. So there’s precious little purchase to be had here.

You should give Bhaag Johnny a try simply for it being a fast-paced thriller with a story that isn’t cliched. The movie is not bad for a one-time watch. You will see an effort made to make a movie that is ‘different’ and at the same time, not trying to go overboard to stand out.

…has no story however, it has all the elements of commercial film and if one is free, just watch the film.

Fundamentally, all chase films have someone on the run and someone trying to track the first ‘someone’ down. Where this one differs is that it fails to be unpredictable. Here, every kick, stab and car screech can be estimated accurately. You can make a correct choice each time, so to speak.

Skip it is the only thing we would advice as the genie too cannot do much to change the fate of this one.