Jewel Thief review: Saif Ali Khan brings Race-meets-Dhoom swagger to a plot full of detours

Jewel Thief — The Heist Begins synopsis:

In a world where charm is a weapon and betrayal lurks at every corner, master thief Rehan Roy (Saif Ali Khan) sets his sights on the elusive African Red Sun jewel. Love, danger, and ambition collide as detective Vikram Patel (Kunal Kapoor) closes in and mafia kingpin Rajan Aulakh (Jaideep Ahlawat) pursues his agenda. With Farah (Nikita Dutta) tangled in both the heart and the heist, Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins unravels a thrilling chase where the stakes are high and no one plays fair.

Jewel Thief — The Heist Begins review:

Saif Ali Khan is an actor whose outings always seem worth the wait, thanks to his adaptability and moulding into any character given. Over the past few years, the actor has been absent from Bollywood, experimenting with roles alongside Telugu stars in films such as Devara: Part 1 (2024) and Adipurush (2023). People questioned his choices and eagerly anticipated his next move to bring the captivating Saif Ali Khan back to the screen. Here is the exciting news! The OG and snappy actor we have been awaiting is stealing the jewels, as well as showing up in the latest Netflix original, Jewel Thief: The Heist. Joining him is another actor who has brought swag and dropped simplicity, Jaideep Ahlawat.

Going by the posters and trailers, the film produced by Siddharth Anand with direction by Kookie Gulati and Robbie Grewal looks delicious for people needing a break from screaming the definitions of patriotism every now and then. However, the safest bet for such movies is OTT, and that's also where Jewel Thief has turned. 

Firstly, the film presents Rajan Aulakh (Jaideep Ahlawat), a stylish villain disguised as a wealthy art collector. He steals priceless paintings and jewels in his own way and sells them to mercenaries and becomes richer and more dangerous day by day. You know the drill! 

In no time, he gets to know about a rare Red Sun jewel from Africa which will be placed at a museum in Africa temporarily. Indeed, the moment is reminiscent of the scene in Dhoom: 2 where Hrithik Roshan travels to Mumbai solely to pilfer a diamond jewel. Anyway, heists are always about priceless stuff that thieves collect for themselves or sell further and make a name for themselves in the world.

Coming back to Jewel Thief, Aulakh desperately needs the jewel in his pocket, and for that, he only knows one person who can steal it for him. That's none other than Rehan Roy (Saif Ali Khan)! If only this could've been the plot for Race 4. Well, it's quite similar to the popular franchise headlined by Saif, where revenge and heists are mere common factors.

The heist begins, taking you on a journey while simultaneously attempting to surprise you. Screenwriter Sumit Arora, known for his work on Jawan, The Family Man, and other projects, attempts to incorporate unexpected twists and turns into this story. However, the more we get deeper into the Jewel Thief, the better we know the escape route, probably much better than the villain Aulakh. 

The film falters when it introduces a villain who is so strong and unapologetic that he even shoots his pet dog for taking treats from someone else. However, as the film progresses, it becomes clear that Aulakh is not so intelligent that anyone can outsmart him. 

But if the character arc drips for Ahlawat, for Khan it just gets better and better— not because his character does something groundbreaking, but because the actor maintains the sweet spot where his charm works exuberantly, and that too after a very long time.

To be honest, that's where the film became thoroughly enjoyable; having Khan deliver his antics like that has been missing in action, and no filmmaker wants the actor to bring back the quirks he is known for. So it didn't matter to me that he is stealing some Red Sun, like how he duped John Abraham's character in Race 2 by faking a heist of stealing the Shroud of Turin. Still makes me laugh even thinking about it. 

Thankfully, it's not a laughable matter here, because Arora blends family man Saif into rogue Saif to bring some empathy to his character. Thus, a thief who likes to steal jewels just to not turn to poverty gets a bigger purpose when it's time to steal the Red Sun. 

But it doesn't make you want to turn off your brain and enjoy it as they want. In that sense, it worked to a slight extent, but I still had "tch" moments while watching the film reminding me that my brain is not ready to take so much foolishness as it deserves.

The film makes a concerted effort to evoke emotional depth through the placement of a few songs and the constant presentation of Saif's character's backstory. However, it's a well-known fact that a heist film doesn't necessarily need to be a revenge saga, and certainly not to such an extent that it fails to elicit a single tear or even a squirm. Indeed, none of these events occurred in this film!

Why would someone choose a romantic angle, especially one that involves infidelity? Why so predictable? Where is the shock value? The limit does not exist, so let's not even try to get there. Having two directors, Gulati and Grewal, added more complexity to a film that already had its limitations on a script level. Therefore, the heist saga that it aspires to is not achieved by two minds.

Moreover, the film is so derivative and unoriginal— not from Hollywood but from homegrown heist thrillers alone. Kunal Kapoor's (watch White Shirt) character Vikram Patel is reminiscent of Abhishek Bachchan's portrayal of the cop Jai Dixit in the Dhoom series. The actor constantly says that a thief can be caught only while stealing. Bachchan reiterates this point, and Kapoor does the same. It's as if he wants the thief to escape, believing that capturing him next time will be easy. Being a cop, he is the last one to know about the whereabouts of the thief, even when the latter informs him. SMH!

Performance-wise, I did enjoy watching Saif, where he overpowered everything on the screen whenever he marked his presence. Such strength is his forte and no one can excel it better than him; I think the actor is even aware of that and flaunts it well while performing. 

While Ahlawat is always captivating to watch, his character lacked the necessary antagonism, largely due to his physical appearance and certain moments. The actor always deserves better and needs to be a scene-stealer, though he lacked a bit in this film. 

Nikita Dutta (watch Ek Duje Ke Vaaste) is the female lead in the film and, unfortunately, a token female presence to bring the glam and glitz. To be honest, both the male leads did that job and Dutta didn't even serve any purpose as a catalyst. Not every movie needs to say "something is better than nothing" while ignoring the cast's talent.

Jewel Thief is nothing but a stolen opportunity which doesn't steal anything worthy, if not your time!

Jewel Thief — The Heist Begins verdict:

Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins had all the tools—star power, sleek visuals, and a premise ripe for mischief—but ends up cracking under its own blueprint.