Rocky Handsome

Director Nishikant Kamat piles on horror upon horror to make John Abraham the action star that he has been in his earlier films like Force. But the horrors are so unbelievable - tourists being killed for their organs, kids kidnapped and killed for organs and thievery, drugs, guns, builder mafia - and executed so laughably, so over the the top that there's unintentional laughter instead of tension.

Rocky Handsome as much as it achieves what it sets out to be – an all-out action thriller will be far from being counted among Kamat's best works.

Style and stunts play a big role in action movies. But you can't discount other aspects of filmmaking just to make an action film that looks sexy. The biggest mistake Rocky Handsome makes is to give it's lead character an emotional and patriotic back story. It just turns him into another caricature and it never quite justifies his appetite for killing. John Abraham's training in martial arts is evident in the scenes featuring him in hand-to-hand combat. There the effort is 100 per cent. But rest of the way, this is one rocky film trying a little too hard to be handsome.

If you plan to watch Rocky Handsome then, you have two options: you could feast your eyes on John and his feats, or make the mistake of seeking depth and feelings within that pageantry. Choose Option 1 and you are pretty much assured of paisa vasool. I know, I know, that's a terribly superficial thing to say. This critic is guilty as charged.

Even at a multiplex-friendly 125 minutes, Rocky Handsome feels too long, mainly because it has nothing of real value to offer. The way the film is written, acted, and edited, it seems very clear that not much thought has gone into it. Presumably, Kamat thought the novelty value of the action sequences would carry it through. This is what happens when you start thinking of filmmaking as a day job, instead of the privilege it should be.

The moment when Handsome's real identity is revealed is tepid and underlines the emotional vacuousness of the script. The punch-by-numbers action scenes are not enough to save a poorly adapted film with poorly pitched performances, out-of-tune casting and tacky execution.

Kamat's ability to turn a good original film into a credible remake was suspect even in his last film "Drishyam", but "Rocky Handsome" is solid proof that Bollywood can ruin even the most straightforward of remakes. There are stereotypes galore, deafening background music and lots of blood and gore. Some of the action sequences are executed well, but that is about the only saving grace.

The movie's highlights are three action sequences that have been faithfully replicated from the original. Hamstrung by local censorship laws, Rocky Handsome has had to trim back the ultraviolence that marks South Korean crime dramas¸ but at least the movie comes to life when the death count is ticking. It's a pity that the survivors are not as interesting as the corpses.

An adaptation can always be done with one's own distinct touch. But Rocky Handsome is happy and satisfied in living off borrowed aesthetics even while clinging to its Indian self for all the wrong reasons. It ends up being neither here nor there. The nowhere film alienates, makes for a pronounced disconnect and also makes one long for the return of the good old fashioned, home grown Indian action hero who knew what he stood for. I will take a Ghayal Once Again over this any day.