‘Rowdy Rathore’ was supposed to be Akshay’s comeback film as an action star. Yes, the action is there and in huge dollops. But, it somehow lacks the punch of Khiladi Kumar.
‘Rowdy Rathore’ from the first frame is garishly loud. Prabhu Deva borrows heavily from the original and forgets that Akshay Kumar’s style is somewhat different. The local mafia of Devgarh, Bhaiji (Nasser) and his men believe that they have killed the righteous cop of the area, Vikram Singh Rathore, in full public view. Things take a turn tricky for them when news of Rathore being alive starts doing the rounds. Bhaiji sends his thugs to Mumbai where Rathore is said to be living with his daughter. Meanwhile Shiva, a small time conman, decides to leave his ‘profession’ for his love’s (Sonakshi) sake. Things seem rosy for the two till Rathore’s daughter mistakes Shiva as her father and starts living with him. Confusion ensues further when Devgarh goons mistake Shiva for Rathore and are hell-bent on killing him. The premise of the film may be good, but most of the scenes lack logic. The violence is gory and in some places cringe-worthy. Akshay tries, tries hard, to fit into a genre which is at the moment a formula for success. But the man gets lost in the slow pace of the film. Just when you start giving up on the film, Kumar gives you some hope with his funny antics and witty dialogues in the later part of the second half. Sonakshi fails to make any sort of mark in her second outing after a fabulous debut in ‘Dabangg’. Not her fault, considering the story gives her very little scope to do anything other than show her somewhat flabby waist and dance boisterously to the tunes of Sajid-Wajid. Prabhu Deva fails to take the film anywhere. Watch it for Akshay if you must. But don’t expect his usual antics, they are clearly not there. Ratings: Two cheers for only Akshay Kumar. He tries.
