Sooryavanshi review: Akshay Kumar, Rohit Shetty bring back masala potboiler but fail to make it an entertainer

2.5/5

The Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad's chief, DCP Veer Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), and his staff join forces to foil a terrorist group preparing for an attack on the city.

The wait is finally over and Rohit Shetty is back doing what he does best: creating full-on masala entertainers. However, the filmmaker often finds himself in a fix when it comes to the measurement that goes along with the entertainment factor. Over the past two decades, Shetty has created a fan base that is untouchable and ever-growing with films like the Golmaal franchise, Chennai Express, Singham and Simmba. Meanwhile, he decided to add a new member, that is, Akshay Kumar, to his cop-universe after succeeding Ajay Devgn with Ranveer Singh. But has he succeeded in his efforts? For the masses, definitely, but not for someone who is seeking a content-driven outing too.

First things first, the film's first half is an epitome of shoddiness with too many villains and a 'pagal' ATS officer (Veer Sooryavanshi) going after them one by one. Well, he is called 'pagal' by the fictional Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the film. However, that word is not at all justified as one would expect it right at Akshay's entry. The actor makes a stylish entry straight out of a chopper.

Much like any of the Rohit Shetty film build-ups, Sooryavanshi also has a backstory that doesn't play a catalyst in the character build-up of the protagonist. The film starts with the 1993 Bombay bombings and how Kabir Shroff (Jaaved Jaaferi) nabs the accused in no time. However, his hunt for a few other terrorist members is still on for those who have absconded to Pakistan. Thus, after 27 years, the hunt is on and he is joined by Sooryavanshi, who is now heading the team.

Let's talk about the terrorists. Jackie Shroff, as Omar Hafeez, is the brainchild behind the attacks in Mumbai over the years. Thus, to continue his streak, he passes the baton to his son, Abhimanyu Singh, as Riaaz Hafeez. Yes, that's a total miscast to have Abhimanyu play Jackie's son as they can pass on as brothers. The worst to see is Shruti Panwar playing Abhimanyu's mother.

Anyway, that was one of the red flags in Sooryavanshi. The other one has to be the voice hammering 'Sooryavanshi' playing every five seconds. It doesn't go with the scene and yes, you have already established the title, no need of repeating it throughout the film.

On top of that, if you say terrorism has no religion, well it has one, which is screamed at the top of its voice in Sooryavanshi. The film takes the communal angle, mainly in the first half of the film, a whole monologue by Akshay’s character on Indian Muslims and how they will fight for the safety of the country, be it as lawmakers or as citizens.

More so, in the second half, there's a scene where a maulvi and his members enter a temple to take the statue of Ganpati so that it doesn't get destroyed. If the intention was to ease down the communal tropes, it didn't serve the purpose. Not just that, the background music of Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein, Kal Ki Baat Puraani, a song from the 1961 film Hum Hindustani, also doesn't make it emotional enough.

The first half establishes the next act of the terrorists, which they do with sleeper cells that have been stationed in the country over the years. Ring a bell? Yes, Akshay has played this game in Holiday, which was the Hindi remake of the Tamil film Thupakki. But sadly, he looked more convincing in that film than in Sooryavanshi.

The actor misses the mark in certain scenes that had him off balance and it’s evident that he’s unable to fathom how he should react. In one of the scenes, the actor almost witnesses his dear ones near-death, but the actor is so engrossed in his "job" that he turns like a ramp model and finds himself lost for a moment. This is just one of the many instances in the film.

There’s no denying the fact that Akshay has good comic timing, which he utilizes even in the most serious situations in the film. But does it leave everyone scuttling? It’s almost as if it were new from the actor who has been missing from comedy films for a long time now.

Overall, it felt like Shetty had created an amalgamation of Akshay from Neeraj Pandey and Priyadarshan movies, to create Veer Sooryavanshi.

Sooryavanshi's best comes in the second half and you, of course, know the reason why! The very reason Shetty made this film was to bring the cops from his filmography into one universe - Singham (Ajay Devgn), Simmba (Ranveer Singh) and now Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar). This was the main objective of the film and also to take his franchise forward.

This has worked for the film, as the moment Ranveer makes it on screen, it lights up like fireworks. The actor seems to have never left Simmba and was in his usual element of being goofy and pulling the legs of his seniors. If Ranveer starts stealing the show, Ajay easily takes it ahead from him, whose veins have Singham flowing in them. The actor's banter with Akshay and Ranveer are major highlights, and he takes away all the attention in no time.

Sadly, amid Ajay and Ranveer, Akshay seems to be the weakest cop, just like the screenplay. Yes, the story Rohit could have brought to the screen a few years back and not waited for 2020.

Penned by Yunus Sajawal, he has also written the screenplay for Shetty's earlier outings such as Simmba, Golmaal Again, Dilwale and also Chennai Express. However, in Sooryavanshi, he adds a lot of elements that make them look like a fallen empty vessel, making too much noise.

Adding a lot of villains in Sooryavanshi has not at all worked for the film. The characters could have been easily decreased and that screen time should have been given to Katrina Kaif.

Oh yes, she is the female lead of Sooryavanshi, who has been reduced to nothing more than the proverbial 'Eid ka Chand', making an appearance only when the maker felt like it. The actor has upped her performance as she had her actor mode on while shooting for the film. It was after her praiseworthy performances in Zero and Bharat that Sooryavanshi came to her, for which the actor put in all her efforts. Unfortunately, it has gone in vain.

Very conveniently, Sooryavanshi and her love story were wrapped up in the song Mere Yaara, so that the makers could concentrate on other "important" aspects of the film. Katrina plays the role of a doctor (Riya) in the film and thankfully, she is shown as doing her job unlike many female leads in Shetty's films who just wait for their shot and mark their presence out of nowhere.

But it's high time the testosterone levels are controlled and not overpowered. With the exception of Chennai Express, most of Shetty's films rarely have female leads to take the story of the male characters forward as it's all about them.

However, the high point of her appearance is hands down in the Tip Tip Barsa song. The song is placed right after the second half, which sets a good pace for the film.

The film also proved why the on-screen jodi of Akshay and Katrina has been missed a lot over these years. It was refreshing to see them together after a decade, but you will sadly be left wanting for more. Katrina, however, has more screen space than Sara Ali Khan had in Simmba and deservedly so.

The action sequences are "designed" by Shetty and you will see everyone flying, including Akshay on a chopper. The actor tries for an International Khiladi re-attempt and it looks funnier rather than being stylish.

Talking about Shetty's direction, it looked less like his original work and more as one inspired by Sanjay Gupta, minus the sepia tone. The filmmaker has put a lot of flashback sequences, even of the scenes which were shown like ten minutes back. It's sad if he thinks the memory of the masses is limited. It didn't feel like Shetty was in his usual cop element and more of an experimental outing like he did with Chennai Express and Dilwale. It won’t be wrong to say that Sooryavanshi has gone the Dilwale route without much of a good story to narrate. Bunty Nagi, who edited the film, served more disappointment in his work as it was far from perfection.

Meanwhile, the dialogues by Farhad Samji (which is pretty evident), Sanchit Bendre and Vidhi Ghodgadnkar go overboard in several sequences, from screaming jingoism to trying to be too funny even in serious sequences. Akshay's character has a habit of forgetting names, which, after a point, looked like a cover-up to squeeze in some lighter moments.

While Jomon T. John, the man behind the lens, does a good job in the slow and "normal" sequences, he fails to show his magic in the action-packed scenes, which look shakier and not clear as crystal.

Sooryavanshi will definitely bring back the magic of the theatre with its masala content, but not as an entertainer.

An entertaining second half of Sooryavanshi makes the film tolerable, but it's sadly not among Rohit Shetty's best.