Introduction
Sunny Deol has found his lost glory after the success of Gadar 2 and in the process of remaining relevant among the masses, he has chosen to do absolute mindless mayhem that's even inhuman to a certain extent! Produced by Mythri Movie Makers, 'Jaat' is directed by Gopichand Malineni (Hindi directorial debut), which stars Sunny Deol, Randeep Hooda, Saiyami Kher in the lead roles, while Regina Cassandra, Jagapathi Babu, Ramya Krishnan and Murali Sharma star in supporting roles.
Basic Plot
On the way to Ayodhya, a man, claiming to be Jaat, crosses paths with a dreadful gangster who's destroyed numerous villages in Andhra Pradesh.
Positives
Randeep Hooda and Sunny Deol
This film is almost devoid of scenes which do not have either Sunny Deol or Randeep Hooda, and it's mostly because of them that you would watch this film. While the film isn't performance oriented by any stretch of imagination (not intended either, and that's totally fine), both the lead actors do what you would expect them to. Randeep Hooda seems ruthless as Ranatunga, and really feels to be a tough force to reckon with; a proper villain! It's quite good to see him play roles like these. Sunny Deol, on the other hand, looks like the exact person who would be able to end Ranatunga's crimes all by himself. He's strong, he's tough and most importantly, he's Sunny Deol with his 'dhaai kilo ka haath'. Even Thanos would be ashamed of him! While Randeep Hooda is sleek with his sharp knives and daggers, Sunny Deol uproots everything that comes in his way. Be it a fan, a jeep, chains, chairs or even numerous men for instance, no one stands a chance against Sunny Paaji!
Execution and Miscellaneous factors
Although the film's not meant to be content oriented by any chance, the screenplay and the ultimate execution is actually good, all thanks to Gopichand Malineni's typical mass movie sensibility. The film starts in a rather good way, only to become caricaturish throughout the first half and soaring high again in the second half, making way for an enjoyable climax. The main factor behind the film's relatively well-paced second half is it's pulpy writing; at least it justifies the happenings in the film which are embarrassingly mindless otherwise. The BGM by Thaman is quite decent that's well cut and edited in several instances. Talking about the action, it's explosive, hilarious, abnormal but most importantly, a shameful treat to all the viewers out there, and that makes all the difference! Honestly speaking, I liked the raw nature of the action and the use of sharp objects but looking at the number of heads flying, it's laughable. The camera work is nice by the way. It's pretty outlandish, but gets the job done. Keeping the dubiously-delightful factor and insane slow-mo effects aside, the action surely has it's moments for the audience to watch and quietly enjoy.
Underwhelming Aspects
Treatment and a Cliched Framework
It's the downright absurd and cliched treatment that makes this film what it is. . The core plot isn't too bad and a proper gritty thriller could've easily been designed with whatever resources the makers had. But the moment Mythri Movie Makers signed Sunny Deol for the lead role, the film went overboard in terms of every aspect of filmmaking whatsoever; right from action, to loudness, to screaming, to mayhem; everyone's testosterone seemed to have got a diabolical boost after seeing Sunny Deol as the main protagonist. 'Jaat' has the same old template of a mid 2010's Telugu film, anyway. Same acting performances and over the top emotions, even the same way of people crying, strange! The hyped up emotions do not work beyond a certain point for mainly two reasons: one, the overall film is quite unserious, so you aren't bothered about who's gone mad after a trauma, who's corrupt, or even, who's prestige is being played with, because our Terminator Sunny Paaji is going to beat all of them into a pulp anyway (hasta la vista baby!) Secondly, the audience watches this exactly same emotional template in every South Indian film nowadays, and so, it's very repetitive. Also, the pre climax character revelation of Randeep Hooda was good. But Sunny Deol's 2-step character revelation in return was abnormally childish. There are two songs in the film which are forgettable at best. It's only Urvashi Rautela doing a toned down Dabidi Dibidi in one of the songs. Also, these two very different characters (Deol and Hooda) crossing each other's path is so casually established as if it's a parody film. Whatever Sunny Deol did in the first half, was all because someone knocked down his idli that he was eating and he wanted them to apologize (and I'm not kidding). What could've been a genuinely good political thriller or action drama is heavily cut short at the expense of show-casing Sunny Deol as Baahubali. I mean, commercial cinema is appreciable but Jaat is an obliteration in every sense.
Conclusion
In spite of a good core plot, execution and some nice moments in the story, Jaat primarily delivered what it promised: A cliched plot, some backdated and repetitive sub plots, a 90's Sunny Deol creating absolute pandemonium and rising decibels on and off the screens. A genuinely good Randeep Hooda is kinda overshadowed amidst all of this. Jagapathi Babu's character starts his journey from Hyderabad (when things haven't even started) and by the time he reaches the place where the film is based, it's already past climax and Sunny Deol has single handedly brought everyone and everything to justice. A total waste of Jagapathi Babu! Several opportunities of making this film a good one seemed to have been voluntarily missed by the filmmakers to make way for Sunny Deol's straight-faced madness. But what's not to be ignored are the subtle positives of this film along with the guilty pleasure action, which is what will matter anyway. Also, the film will continue to draw audience due to the fact that it isn't boring by any means and that's surely a plus! Even if multiplex audience do not show up into the theatres fearing a headache, it's the hardcore single screen audience who will enjoy this 'dhaai kilo ka haath', no matter what.
Watch Out For
- Subtle way to pay a homage to Sunny Deol: Dhaai kilo ka haath and Pakistan ka khauf.
- Randeep Hooda's performance.
- Sunny Deol wrecking havoc in the action scenes.
WTF Rating
5.5/10