'Rocky Handsome' review: A threadbare plot & lack of effective storytelling

Rating: ** 1/2

Cast: John Abraham, Diya Chalwad, Shruti Haasan, Nishikant Kamat

Director: Nishikant Kamat

Genre: Action

Rocky Handsome, set in Goa, has a non-linear narrative that intrigues at first. But once the film's protagonist Rocky (Abraham) encounters an eight-year-old girl who is his neighbour (Chalwad), things go downhill. Their rapport, which forms the film's core, seems meaningless and forced.

The director spends far too much time on Abraham's ripped physique and expertise at combat scenes. However, that can't make up for the lack of effective storytelling. The plot, however threadbare it is, revolves around Rocky's violent crusade to protect his young friend, who has been kidnapped by gangsters.

Barring Rocky's past, nothing evokes sympathy for the lead characters or even disdain for the villains. Sidebar: every bad guy in the film appears to be needlessly psychotic.

Kamat's decision to play the mafia ganglord Kevin Pereira is a casting misfire. You miss the presence of a strong antagonist, who can stand up to Rocky's superhuman invincibility.

There are some fast-paced fist and knife fights but the movie (remade from a Korean thriller) is a hot mess on all other counts. It goes for a ‘styleover-substance' aesthetic. But the stylistic elements are pedestrian at best. Shruti Haasan appears in a walk-on part, where the only requirement is looking pretty. At least Abraham tries his utmost to inject some spark into his ruthless killing machine of a character. But the subpar execution takes him down, too, in the end.


Also read: 'Rocky Handsome' review: More body than soul