‘Rocky Handsome’ Movie Review : John Abraham won’t let you blink your eyes

Directed by: Nishikant Kamat
Produced by: John Abraham, Sunir Kheterpal, DMEL
Cast: John Abraham, Nishikant Kamat, Diya Chalwad, Shruti Haasan
Duration: 2 hours 06 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3.5/5

The return of a star like John Abraham in the serious zone of action, joining hands with a director like Nishikant Kamat makes ‘Rocky Handsome‘ an anticipated movie since its inception. This successful team of John and Nishikant has earlier come up with an action thriller like ‘Force’ taking the level of expectations far higher for their fans. The soul of ‘Rocky Handsome’ lies with a person who can go to any extent to save someone with whom he is connected through a bond of love and understanding. So touted as the biggest action film of the year, will this ‘Handsome’ and his team be able to impress you? We definitely think, YES!

The plot begins in Goa with Kabir Ahlawat, an aimless man who runs a pawn shop for his living and is called ‘Handsome’ in the neighborhood he lives. Being very cut off from life, Kabir has a soft corner for one of his clients, the sweet little Naomi who considers him as a friend and often comes to him for mortgaging small items. Naomi’s mother, Anna, is a bar dancer and drug addict who, one day, gets an opportunity to steal a valuable consignment of drugs owned by Pereira brothers – Kevin and Luke. Both of them run a drug mafia with many other illegal activities like human trafficking and organs harvesting. As they get to know about Anna having their stuff, what follows is kidnapping of Anna along with Naomi. Kabir, who himself has a past, now takes the responsibility of freeing Naomi from the clutches of these people. Will he be able to save Naomi? What past story of Kabir has made him aimless in life? Will he be able to survive in this open war against Pereira brothers? The answers lie in this brilliant movie named ‘Rocky Handsome’.

Talking about the writing, the movie is an official remake of a Korean film titled ‘The Man from Nowhere’ and the adapted screenplay and dialogues are written by Ritesh Shah. There are a few flaws in the first half but the movie picks up fast and keeps you glued to your seats once the character of Kabir starts his search for Naomi. The second half is equally taut and gripping and manages to pull off some very good dialogues and one-liners from Kabir and Kevin, the prime antagonist.

Coming to the star cast, John Abraham is phenomenal in the role of Kabir Ahlawat. The actor makes a bang on comeback with this movie into the genre of action which is seriously never seen before on big screens in an Indian film. The attitude and the way John Abraham has carried it throughout the film makes him a true action hero. His handling of emotional scenes is also very good and he should be credited for sweating it out for a month to gain a chiselled drool worthy body, the way he has made any girl and even boys go weak on their knees. After John, the next big performer in this movie is the surprise packet, director Nishikant Kamat, who portrays the role of Kevin Pereira, the head honcho of the drug mafia. He excels in this role giving a tuft fight to a character like Kabir through the mind games he plays constantly. The way he has performed this role with the evil bald head look would easily fetch him all the accolades, beating every villain in the category of negative performances next year.

Child actress Diya Chalwad shows immense prominence in her role, she easily fills up the emotional quotient in the movie with her heart touching dialogue delivery. Most of her scenes are with John Abraham and she proves her mettle as a performer at a very young age of 8 years. Shruti Haasan is fine in her special appearance as the wife of John Abraham. Special mention to a very talented and supportive cast of actors Sharad Kelkar, Sanjay Khapre who play the parts of ANC (Anti-Narcotics Cell) officers. Teddy Maurya is another surprise as Luke Pereira, brother of Kevin (played by Nishikant). His acting leaves you astonished with a couple of scenes he has with actors like John and Nishikant.

The movie is directed by Nishikant Kamat, one of the best directors we have in Hindi and Marathi films. This is his third official remake after successfully helming ventures like ‘Force’ and ‘Drishyam’ previously. He has done a fantastic job sealing down his stamp of versatility in this genre. The way of handling thrilling and action sequences is equally gripping as the way he has managed to take out the core emotional scenes which were equally important to the story. With his each upcoming film, he is surely getting better and better as a filmmaker.

Technically, the movie is very sound as a talented team consisting of Shanker Raman (cinematographer) and Aarif Sheikh (editor) give their best work with each and every frame looking perfect. The pace of the movie is also managed correctly which keeps you engrossed till the end credits roll. Apart from them, action coordinators Sunil Rodrigues and Kesha Kamphakdee are the real heroes of this movie to give such jaw-dropping action sequences. Especially the one which is done with the knives deserves a great applause for these technicians to bring out such a wonderful piece of action on Indian screens.

The music composed by the duo of Sunny Bawra and Inder Bawra is good. There are also two additional songs in the film, the remix version of ‘Rock Tha Party’ song by popular band Bombay Rockers and Ankit Tiwari’s soulful track ‘Alfazon Ki Tarah’. Visually they are shot beautifully, especially two songs ‘Aye Khuda’ and ‘Rock Tha Party’ perfectly carry the narrative forward in their respective situations. This duo of Sunny Bawra and Inder Bawra have been given the credit for the background music as well and here the real magic of this talented duo is seen with much more intensity and haunted feel.

Certainly, this festive season of Holi has brought a good offering from Bollywood which you couldn’t give a miss. ‘Rocky Handsome’ is worth a watch for John Abraham, Nishikant Kamat and the killer action sequences!

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.