Rowdy Rathore: Screams Cliché

Movie: Rowdy Rathore

Director: Prabhudeva

Rating: **1/2

Prabhudeva is an intelligent director according to me. I call him intelligent not because of his avant-garde style of filmmaking but simply because of the fact that he smartly and silently remakes successful regional films in Hindi and strikes gold in the process. However, this time his experiment seem to have only resulted in presenting a clichéd story of vengeance with appropriate dose of humor. A remake of Telugu blockbuster ‘Vikramarkudu’, ‘Rowdy Rathore’ fails to do justice to the original.

Rowdy Rathore, a crook who is extremely fond of acts of daredevilry falls head over heels for Neeraja and presumes life is going the way he always wanted until he receives the shock of his life. A small girl claiming to be his daughter comes barging into his life. Upon investigating, he finds out that the girl is actually the daughter of his doppelganger IPS Vikram Singh Rathore who is currently hiding in Hyderabad from Chambal dacoits. Recuperating from recent fatal attacks, Vikram Singh dies in the presence of Rowdy Rathore. Saddened by the death, Rathore swears to avenge the killers of Vikram and never make his daughter shed a tear.

Following the sutra that he administered in ‘Wanted’, Prabhudeva merely reproduces the film in Hindi. Had you watched the original version of the film, you’d vouch for me when I say Salman Khan would’ve been a better pick than Akshay. The reason Akshay seemed artificial to me is because he desperately tried to imitate the actor from the original version of the film.

Akshay definitely poured all his years of experience in two roles that are poles apart however I still feel he could’ve done better. A little push and encouraging words from the director would’ve done the magic. Nevertheless, if you’re an Akshay fan, please remember that you’re not even close to be disappointed. Sonakshi perfectly reprised the role originally essayed by Anushka.

Tamil actor Vijay’s cameo makes no sense to me because people from other states won’t even recognize him. But, if Prabhu had casted Vijay hoping to have a special connect with audience in Tamil Nadu then the idea makes sense.

Neither does Rowdy Rathore boast of a great storyline nor breathtaking performances however it certainly does know how to entertain one and all. With electrifying dialogues that’d leave you deafened by the whistles in the theatre or stunts that undoubtedly deserves special mention, the film leaves you wanting for more entertainment. If you fall in the category of audience who’d silently watch films for the sake of entertainment, you would refrain from complaining and walk out the theatre with a smile on your face.