Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Yaami Gautam, Manasvi Mamgai
Director: Prabhudeva
Watching Action Jackson can be a challenging proposition. This film changes personality like a person suffering from dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder). The first half plays out like an unscripted comedy while the second half sees a sudden transformation into stylized action territory. It’s as if director Prabhudheva wanted to make two distinct movies with the same cast. When he couldn’t make up which genre to go with he put the two together to make an ambiguous mix-genre movie that’s too inconsistent to garner any appreciation.
The story starts off with Vishy (Ajay Devgn) who’s basically a textbook South Indian movie hero kind of character. Tough guy with a golden heart. Who will beat up anyone for the right price, but will always have the time and inclination to dish out justice. When Khushi (Sonakshi Sinha) runs into Vishy she accidentally sees him without his pants (and underwear) on. Believe it or not, this incident brings this otherwise out of luck girl some good luck. She decides to humour the situation further and that’s when they fall in love. While this superstitious love story is unfolding, we’re introduced to the bad guys. There’s Xavier (Anand Raj) who is India’s biggest don operating from Bangkok. His trusted man in command is a big bulky body builder who’d give Khali a run for his money. There’s Xavier’s psychotic sister Marina (Manasvi Mamgai) who’s totally smitten with Ajay Devgn’s character. And you even have the novelty of Puru Raajkumar playing a corrupt cop. The bad guys all want a piece of Devgn’s character. And as the film progresses you’re introduced to Yami Gautam’s role and the bearing she has on the life of Action Jackson.
If that sounds like it’s all over the place, it is. Action Jackson, the movie, tries to be too many things all at once. It’s drawing too many similarities with Pradhudheva’s previous films like Wanted, Rowdy Rathore and R… Rajkumar. The entire first half is like a series of gags picked up from various South Indian movies as well as Hindi comedies and stitched together. And just when you think you’re possibly watching a cheap rip-off of a Sajid Khan film, the film changes its entire perspective in the second half. It goes from being a brainless comedy to being a Kill Bill spin off with high-flying katana inspired action. It’s a 360 degree turn in treatment too. The mood swings from the gaudy and gawky pastel coloured tapori Mumbai theme to a slick, leather, swords and martial arts kind of Hollywood production. And suddenly Sonakshi’s character just disappears for the longest time. The portions with Manasvi Mamgai, Anand Raj, Kunal Roy Kapur (who plays the comedian and Devgn’s best friend), Yami Gautam and Ajay Devgn are exhilarating. They certainly have the right kind of irreverence. But then, the director’s and writers’ efforts to stitch together the two contrasting plotlines just messes things up.
It all boils down to Prabhudheva’s inability to make his mind up. On one hand he had a great concept for an action film. It was slick, edgy filled with equal part quirk and action. But it was a big risk because Indian audiences had never seen something like that before. Manasvi’s character of Marina for example is a certified megalomaniac who treats men like sexual objects. If only they’d explored that side of the story further. We’d have had our very own version of pulp fiction. But Prabhudheva chooses the much safer, been-there-done-that comedy approach. He employs loud, South-movie, potboiler humour, random item songs, dance numbers and tries to create an audience friendly masala entertainer. But the combination backfires.
So you have Ajay Devgn looking caught-up in an awkward situation. On one hand he’s playing a crass street thug and on the other he’s an intense and witty action man. It’s a contrast that just doesn’t work. Devgn looks totally out of place dancing to Prabhudheva’s tunes. Acting like a tapori with Sonakshi Sinha doesn’t work either. But when he dons the suits, jackets, glasses, leather and wields the katana, he looks like a true-blue action jackson. Sonakshi is totally wasted in an inappropriate role. Even so, she displays some great dancing skills but on the performance side, there’s very little she can do. Same goes for Kunal Roy Kapur and Yami Gautam who are both wasted in insignificant and ill-conceived characters. When the movie does change gears, it benefits the two antagonists the most. Anand Raj as the menacing crime lord is just superb. His jagged face and piercing style make him a great villain. Debutante Manasvi Mamgai shows good promise. She’s beautiful and she’s got screen presence. But she needs to do something about her accentuated twang. Even Himesh Reshammiya’s ’90s inspired music isn’t all that bad. It has its moments. As does the action choreography and the great camera work in the second half.
Despite all its technical merits, the one most prominent feature of Action Jackson is its incoherence. Most of the film just doesn’t make any sense. There are patches of brilliance. But none of that can save this goulash conceived from inconsistency and indecision. Prabhudheva is capable of much better.
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