Rowdy Rathore is a kind of film that could only have been conceived out of a desperate attempt to make money. Sans any logic, reason, story or even pretense to have a plot, the two hours 20 minute long remake of a Telugu super hit is a loud garish low-brow rehash of old 80s Bollywood trash.
Akshay Kumar plays Shiva, a petty thief and goofy good at heart rowdy who finds a small girl in a box he steals from a lady at a station. The girl, who calls him dad, is the daughter of Vikram Rathore, an earnest police officer who is on the run fighting with the goons. Random gory bloody action and several squirm worthy jokes after, the film reaches to a predictable climax where Shiva teaches the goons a lesson and all is well in la la land. Oh yes, there also is an extended cameo of Sonakshi Sinha whose only purpose in the movie seemed to have been showing off her midriff and dancing like a possessed woman to ghastly songs.
Films like Rowdy Rathore arent new at the silver screen, Salman Khans Dabang and Wanted and Ajay Devgans Singham have set a high benchmark for such 80s style action capers. Rowdy Rathore sadly subscribes to trashy mindless entertainment than attempting a smart desi wild west type film.
Akshay Kumar, who has done much slicker and smarter action films in his Khiladi Heydays, is needed to sleepwalk through the film, and he does it with elan. Save for a few one liners here and there, his performance is a sum total of Bang, Bam and Boom. He apes the original Ravi Teja immensely yet fails to bring in the street smartness that Ravi brought to the character. Prabhu Deva, whose last outing in Hindi was the crazy joy ride Wanted, copies the original forgetting to tweak the aesthetics and language to suit a Hindi adaptation. It is a surprise that a combo of Prabhu Deva , action and Akshay kumar could have gone this wrong.
What is even more surprising is that this is a Bhansali production. Evidently, Sanjay Leela had not much to do in the making of the movie apart from pay. Music, an integral part of any Bhansali film, too disappoints- the Preetam Pyaare song is particularly revolting-making one wonder how low the makers could get just to rob the movie goers of their money.
For those familiar with Telugu potboilers, Rowdy Rathore for most part is not very different from a dubbed Don no: 1 on TV. A loud background score enough to induce a headache, a rotund Sonakshi Sinha, a sleep walking Akshay with fake mustaches (visible clearly in many a scene) and absolutely nothing in the name of a story, this is one two odd hours of your life you would never get back again. Stay clear.
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