An Action Hero

Whether it be his breakthrough role in "Vicky Donor (2012)" or his bravery in picking up uncomfortable subjects that typical heroes in Bollywood shy away from such as in "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017)" (hero with erectile dysfunction) and "Bala (2019)" (balding hero), Ayushmann Khurrana has always managed to surprise audiences with his films. Just when one was starting to think that the star's career had hit a zenith and was on a downward spiral with recent flicks like "Anek (2022)" and "Doctor G (2022)" failing to make any impact at the box office, the virtuoso performer turns it up a notch with a film laced with razor-sharp wit and immense fun that is sure to entertain audiences across the spectrum.

Ayushmann stars as "Maanav Khurrana" a quintessential egotistical Bollywood hero with an overblown sense of self, a clear satire on the mainstream heroes of the Hindi industry. How the star gets enters into a bitter feud with a Haryana strongman politician "Bhurra" (played by an immense Jaideep Ahlawat) and the ensuing chaos forms the rest of the story. Director Anirudh Iyer threads the needle with the screenplay, finding the right balance between bone-crunching action and rib-tickling zingers to keep audiences hooked.

The script by Neeraj Yadav never lets up in the number of twists and turns it brings in during the chaotic journey of our two lead protagonists, with the excellent action choreography and stunts adding mass to the witty zingers and one-liners that form part of the cat and mouse chase. The storytelling and direction are so on-point that even the placement of an item number serves to move the narrative forward convincingly and without the tension and fun element dissipating. Ahlwat and Khurranna consistently one-up each other during their combination sequences, serving to elevate both their performances.

After a string of pedestrian mainstream misadventures and template remakes, Bollywood has really turned a corner in 2022 with wholly original entertainers like "Darlings", "Monica O My Darling", "Bhediya" and now "An Action Hero". One hopes that the top film industry in India finally understands audience exhaustion with constant remakes and films that tread the beaten path and invests more time and energy towards fresher and more disruptive scripts and storylines. Trust Ayushmann to lead the way in this direction-" An Action Hero" is a surefire must-watch in theatres!

The movie is meta and treats a serious element in a humorous way. The villain is hell bent to kill our action hero for revenge. The screenplay is meta and it starts with the hero unable to get angry. He even says the audience want -"an angry young man". And, the ending was just spot on.

The reasons for the screenplay sequence look filmsy and unbelievable. It gets boring at places and you have no idea where this movie is heading to. Though we have a great ending, it did not save the day for this picture.

The music score is too good and rap portions keep you engaged. But it could have been better!!

Very good performance from Ayushmann. The movie is a fun watch consisting of quirks and lesser theatrical elements. The subtle consistency with the realism and the story lines makes it much more interesting as we proceed further into the film.

Ayushmann drifted from what he does usually and this was something that he provided packing a strong punch.

The involvement of side characters was on point as well.

Well directed film with quality cinematography capturing the essence of the script to the next level.

A perfect portrayal of you are your work, put up in Netflix allowing mass exposure leading to a far more reach and engagement.

Few quirks here and there were off putting and the story was a bit less interesting than it was supposed to be.

Kind of unique in approach even if it had many cliche moments, An Action Hero is that seldomly seen movie in Bollywood that blends action with satirical humour which fits right into the premise of the movie.

While the narrative was quick paced, it was the act of Ayushmaan and Jaideep that kept the movie interesting along with a 'somewhat predictable' yet surprising twist towards the end. The direction by debutant Anirudh Iyer was very good and using a mix of rap, remixed retro Hindi movie songs with non-stop prattle of television news anchors as a key narrative device, An Action Hero provides a trenchant commentary that lays bare the ills of a TRP-driven electronic news media. The two principal performers lend the movie some of the power and energy that it requires to keep firing on all cylinders. The rest is provided by the strong screenplay and direction.

My Rating : 7/10.

Ayushman Khurrana delivers what he promises! Dont know why this movie not worked on the Box Office. Had the film came from South Industry, people would have made it a huge Block Buster

+ves : The plot of the film is really unique and fresh. Acting performances is really good. Ayushman really looked like an action hero. Jaideep Ahlawat really steals the show with his performance as usual. Music is average. BGM was good. Dialogues were brilliantly written especially that comic punches between serious scenes. Dark Humour was used brilliantly.

-ves : Screenplay was a bit off. It could have been much better & crisp especially in the first half. Action scenes could have been much better.

To conclude, its a good movie with some unique storyline. You should definitely give it a try. It wont disappoint you.