Action Jackson Movie Review: Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chaahat' Remixed

Remember Chaahat, that movie from the late 90s where Naseeruddin Shah's sister Ramya fell in love with Shahrukh Khan and wanted him to leave behind his steady girlfriend Pooja Bhatt? Now pick that Mahesh Bhatt film, add a good 'double dose' of Rowdy Rathore and pepper it with a bit of Ghajini's violence to it.

There, you have Prabhu Dheva coming up with yet another mssala flick which despite an obvious attempt at winning over class audience stays on to be a single screen affair eventually. That too because the first half of the film goes by like a breeze and keeps the audience engaged at multiple points, whether in terms of action, drama, humour or romance.

This is why you do chuckle even if Sonakshi Sinha's reasons behind wooing Ajay Devgn are all below the belt. Well, literally. The songs (Mast Punjabi, Keeda) are super fine and the suspense quotient is held well too. While action choreography is good, the highlight of the film remains as the sequence leading to the interval point which is simply fantastic. Yes, it is very violent but then does its job in catching hold of the masses attention.

With certain revelations being promised, you do expect Action Jackson to head for a peak. As it turns though, the film is only sporadically interesting in the second half. While an obvious attempt is made to give the film a massive wide screen look with a lot of stuff happening in the post production studio, the outcome isn't as enticing. With a bald villain and his psychotic sister (Manasvi Mamgai) creating havoc in Ajay's life by targeting his wife Yaami Gautam, it is time for revisiting Chaahat.

The film goes a lot haywire in this part as plot loopholes start emerging at rapid pace. People keep flying between Mumbai and Bangkok at an alarming pace like no one's business. The songs start intruding narrative while jokes work only occasionally.

In the middle of this all, there are some well choreographed action sequences, especially the ones that have swords as the weapon of choice. However, with scenes coming in and going out through all directions, Action Jackson starts getting diluted at a rapid pace, as a result of which the overall narrative takes a hit and the entertainment quotient of the first half is diluted too.

Meanwhile, it is good to see Ajay having good fun in front of the camera. He indeed lives every moment of being an 'action' as well as a 'Jackson'. However, an overdose of that doesn't help the film's cause. As for Sonakshi, her detractors may argue that she is doing the same thing repeatedly. Still, the fact rains that she is pretty comfortable with her act. Manasvi has a very substantial role to play in the second half of the film and while she doesn't mind skin show that is on your face in every second that she is around, performance wise she is decent. One wonders though about the 'horror' background score that accompanies her. As for the bald villain, he is totally forgettable and one wonders how he was included in the first place. Kunaal Roy Kapur is good in his comic act and enlivens the film every time he comes on screen.

Ultimately, Action Jackson turns out to be a single screen massy affair that could have indeed benefitted had the second half been as entertaining as the first.