Anirudh Iyer’s directorial debut delves into celebrity culture and the fickle side of fame. Most famous personalities are vulnerable to public backlash and media trials, and this works as the central theme of this 132-minute action-packed drama. On the face of it, ‘An Action Hero’ is a simple revenge story, but the screenplay transforms it into a twisted tale of a superstar, who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. It is a juicy plot, and Iyer, who has co-written the film with Neeraj Yadav, maintains a steady grip on the narrative for the most part.
The film features Ayushmann Khurrana in a never-before-seen avatar. In contrast to his previous socially-relevant dramas, here, he plays Maanav, a buffed-up Bollywood action hero who wears his stardom on his sleeve. Soon, Maanav loses track of reality, especially when the antagonist, Bhoora Solanki (Jaideep Ahlawat), the Municipal Councillor of Mandothi village (Haryana), blames the star for his brother’s mysterious death. As a result, they indulge in a cat-and-mouse game. Will the on-screen action hero be able to hold his own when hardcore action unfolds in his real life?
Anirudh Iyer deserves to be lauded for the acuity and candor with which he trains the spotlight on movies, television news channels, consumers of mass entertainment and the making and unmaking of heroes and villains in “the new India”. The director couches many a pointed statement about the times that we live in and about the people that we collectively are in entertaining capsules that help the punches land with precision, power and palatability.
The assertion of power goes all the way up the pecking order and the eventual winner is not the one with the most strength and derring-do but the one who is the wiliest of the lot. An Action Hero is no ordinary mass entertainer. With his tongue firmly in cheek, Anirudh Iyer has crafted a smart film that harnesses familiar components to craft a piece of fresh and pertinent genre cinema that transcends the boundaries of the form.
At the outset, we catch Maanav shooting the climax of a movie in which the hero is out to avenge his brother. He muffs up the scene because he is unable to achieve the level of anger that he needs in order to pull it off. A delayed car delivery riles him enough and he plunges back into the scene, headlong and full-steam.
Coming to the performances, Ayushmann Khurrana is charming and just as usual has a great screen presence but when it comes to his action prowess, it is earnest at best. There are obvious rough spots for him, almost seeming too stiff. Coming to the brilliant Jaideep Ahlawat, the man tries his absolute level best to do with whatever is given to him and he delivers. But there isn’t much for him to do and it seems more like a rehash of his earlier characters.
The first project for Anirudh Iyer turns out to be a celebration of the Hindi cinema he has grown up on & wants everyone to feel that with him. Things are not picture-perfect as the second act loses its grip but let’s not give him much flak for giving an entertainer at the neediest times to Bollywood.
Sunny M.R. with boasting films like Dum Maaro Dum, Agent Vinod, Players, and Baahubali: The Beginning as a Music Programmer brings all the learnings from his body of work to create an exhilarating BGM for this one. Trying to maintain the balance between the swag of 80s masala films with the electronic obsession of today’s music, I’d say Sunny explores a decent middle ground. The soundtrack’s weak point is its attempt to recreate/remake/adapt the classics like Aap Jaisa Koi, and Jehda Nasha & apart from these, the other 2 songs (Ghere, Asli Action Chalu) are used extremely well to portray the lead character’s state of mind. Both these songs could also have a good repeat value as they immediately took me back to the good old days of Johnny Gaddaar, Dum Maaro Dum’s soundtrack.
One aspect where the film went a bit overboard, though I’m not complaining, is the way it showed TRP-hungry news channels and TV anchors with their high-pitched voices calling out Bollywood. The use of popular hashtag #BoycottBollywood comes across as a clever way to take a subtle jibe at the current scenario in the entertainment industry. One of the anchors so seamlessly mimicking a popular voice on news channels who sort of started his own battle with Bollywood, triggering genuine laughs.
Talking of laughter, don’t miss the pleasantly surprising cameo by an OG action hero, which is hilarious and so spontaneous. And of course, special dance sequences by Malaika Arora and Nora Fatehi that may not add much to the story but definitely up the glam quotient.
