Art & Entertainment

Rowdy Rathore

Follows <i>Dabangg</i>’s footsteps in offering us a mix of action and comedy but falls way short of gaining the latter’s iconic stature

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Rowdy Rathore
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Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
Directed by Prabhu Deva
Rating: **

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The promos of Rowdy Rathore had set the tone. Akshay Kumar in glares, moustache and cop’s uniform harked back to Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg. The film proves it. Akshay’s Rowdy does follow Chulbul’s footsteps in offering us a mix of action and comedy. He also manages to strike a popular chord with the masses, but falls way short of gaining the latter’s iconic stature.

The film is yet another of those Hindi remakes (like Ready and Wanted) of South Indian blockbusters, especially Telugu ones. But the change of place, setting, context and stars do not quite click. Rather, it jars. Everything appears souped up, be it the loud acting and dialoguebaazi, over-the-top humour, or lethal amounts of gore.

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Akshay’s Rowdy is a small-time thief who can steal a mobile off you even while you are talking on it and can manage to get the better of cops ever so lovingly. The token love of his life is Sonakshi Sinha (who has little else to do other than sway with a tray of laddoos), and he hates children, who he considers inauspicious. There are some nice gimmicks at play, like the catchy tap of Chinta Ta Chita Chita which he randomly drums with his fingers. Or lines like “Rowdy jo bolta hai wo karta hai aur jo nahin bolta wo definitely karta hai”. Akshay plays the role with ease and candour. The infantile humour is tolerable and harmless, primarily because of his casual manner. But only till such time, as a few kids become the butt of his tasteless joke.

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Soon enough Rowdy gets saddled with a child, the action shifts to a lawless Devgarh, cruelty and violence spill on the screen and many a human body gets beaten to sheer pulp. What we witness is such a lawless, regressive world that even cops can’t lift a finger to protect their own women. So, predictably, Rowdy goes about setting things straight. But he takes way too long, making the film stretch on like a tasteless wad of chewing gum. As a bonus, there’s an item song with a star from the north and another from the south. But what I took away was the song Chikni Kamar, in which Akshay dances in trousers of all kitschy shades—peach, yellow and blue—with matching canvas shoes. Very nostalgically Govinda!

High Fives

Bollywood

  1. Rowdy Rathore
  2. Ishaqzaade
  3. Arjun: The Warrior Prince
  4. Chhota Bheem
  5. Department

Hollywood

  1. Snow White and the Huntsman
  2. Men in Black III
  3. The Avengers
  4. Battleship
  5. The Dictator

Country

  1. Blown Away (Carrie Underwood)
  2. Tuskegee (Lionel Ritchie)
  3. Tailgates & Tanlines (Luke Bryan)
  4. Chief (Eric Church)
  5. My Kinda Party (Jason Aldean)

Courtesy: Film Information

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