I hate this when critics label an actor as a piece
of ‘furniture’ in his said professional work. This is really demeaning
and an act of character-assassination of serious intensity, I believe. But
then, what adjectives could you use for someone who has precisely and only a
couple of expressions to showcase? A rock, if not some furniture? Well, it goes
well with the title of the film and also describes the neatly oiled and
chiseled body of John Abraham playing the main protagonist in the film. Trust me;
he is so unshakeable, unflinching and immovable (for all the wrong reasons)
that at some point, you might outburst your patience with ‘bhai, kuch
toh acting kar!’ Nishikant Kamat directed ROCKY HANDSOME
too, has exactly the same kind of after-effect on its viewers. You are left
unshaken, unmoved and cold as a rock, again for all the wrong reasons.
Copied frame to frame from Korean blood-porn THE
MAN FROM NOWHERE (2010), ROCKY HANDSOME revolves
around a mysterious pawnshop owner [JOHN ABRAHAM] and his unusual
bonding with his 7-year old neighbor Nayomi [DIYA CHALWAD]. The
tryst of Nayomi’s drug-addict mother [NATHALIA KAUR] with the deadly
sharks in the game lands them in an unwanted situation only our mysterious man
can get them off from. And then starts a hysterical action adventure having
some amazingly choreographed hand-to-hand martial arts combats, knife fights,
blood & gore action-sequences and a couple of peppy, foot-tapping,
well-shot item numbers! Sounds good? Well, some of it but not entirely. There
is always a sense of disbelief floating around throughout the film. It’s like
visiting those arty-farty exhibitions where everything looks neat & clean
and presentable but you could never make any connections with them as most of
it was just an imitation.
I am not sure if the film is an official remake of
its Korean original but even then, Kamat known for remaking DRISHYAM
in Hindi last year, never actually bothers to use his right side of brain while
recreating it. Most of the props used in the film are shamelessly and leisurely
gets modeled on the original ones e.g. the noticeable pouch to carry
drugs. Kamat’s unimaginative approach is largely overshadowed by
stylized action-pieces and a typical cinematography relying always on
slow-motion tiger walks in the rain, red-tinted lighting and continuous shots
during fights (An impressive one has John running towards a window, jumping
on to it, breaking it and making a safe landing on the ground through it…all in
one continuous shot). The ear-defying background score is another
run-of-the mill tactic Kamat never shows any problem with but I truly wish
if the control would have been in viewer’s hands.
ROCKY HANDSOME has a cute looking kid in its major star-cast.
Diya is sure a talent to watch out for but the dialogues are so grave
and methodical, it doesn’t sync in well with the innocence Diya brings
on screen. Kamat himself plays the main villain but could never create
any impression with that. Teddy Maurya, despite being a good
actor, settles with a regular portrayal of the done-to-death character of a drug-sniffing
maniac. Sharad Kelkar owns most of his performance with the right
kind of attitude and confidence in him. For John Abraham, read
the first para of this article again. There is nothing more to add.
At the end, ROCKY HANDSOME strengthens
your believe in ‘the other side of the coin’ theory. For every KAPOOR &
SONS and NEERJA, there is always a ROCKY HANDSOME or
a JAZBAA. You can call it the balancing-act of Bollywood. Love it, hate
it but you can’t ignore its existence. It’s a copy & paste (Ctrl C + Ctrl
V) job better left to find a place in your trash bin, soon after watching it if
you had already managed to watch! [2/5]