Jaat Movie Review: Sunny Deol serves the usual in loud, ludicrous actioner

After going international and battling Pakistan for the second time in Gadar 2 (2023), Sunny Deol is back, and he will leave no stone unturned (although this time handpumps are safe) to go truly pan-India. In Jaat, helmed by Gopichand Malineni, the protagonist has an army background and he fights shoulder to shoulder with a team of female cops. It is essentially Sunny’s version of Jawan (2023). It is also his version of a North-South unifying film, where a Jaat brings down an Andhra Pradesh criminal’s empire over a fallen idli. I kid you not. But since it is Andhra, biryani would have been a better choice.

Directed by: Gopichand Malineni

Written by: Gopichand Malineni, Srinivas Gavireddy and Kundan Pandey

Starring: Sunny Deol, Randeep Hooda, Viineet Kumar Siingh and Regina Cassandra

Like in the film, before we get on the hero, let’s introduce the villain. Randeep Hooda plays Ranatunga, a Sri Lankan immigrant turned local gangster, whose name is enunciated by each character with fear and also a slight admiration for the makers to have come up with such a catchy moniker. Ranatunga bosses over a patch of villages in AP and he is as bad as a baddie can be. He beheads those who oppose him, he takes over lands of innocent villagers to quench corporate greed, female cops who enter his house will have their clothes torn off, hell, he even prays to Ravana. If you thought the Ramayana parallels will end here, you get the introduction of Sunny’s Jaat (first of many) in a song full with masses wearing saffron, kids in Hanuman costumes and images of Lord Ram towering behind. It all seems unnecessary, forcefully fitted in only to serve an agenda.

The sequence of events in Jaat is absurdly random. After the previously mentioned idli falls on the floor, Sunny requests a rowdy, the perpetrator of this heinous crime, to apologise. He laughs him off. So, Sunny batters him with his dhai kilo ka haath (2.5 kg hand). Thor’s hammer has nothing on this guy. Rowdy tells him he has the backing of a certain local goon called Rama Reddy. So Sunny proceeds to beat him up too. When he also doesn’t apologise, it leads Jaat to ultimately reach the kingpin Ranatunga. We also get a special number, featuring Urvashi Rautela, whose lyrics translate to “I will give my heart to you, if you say sorry to me.” By this time, I needed a formal apology.

But it was not like Jaat was completely devoid of promise. It had all elements of a mass-entertainer: themes of social justice, a popular actor in his second-innings, a formidable antagonist, even an Upendra Limaye cameo, just that all of it was oddly assembled to make a threadbare plot. The action sequences felt dated and became even more unimaginative when you could sense that the hero will ultimately emerge victorious. Every combat scene was in so much slow-mo that it slowed the screenplay. Sunny Deol beats up goons with a ceiling fan and I didn’t even bat an eye. Moreover, Jaat wants to cover everything. There is women empowerment, religious imagery, community pride, nationalism, you name it. The film seemed desperate to forge a connection with or to rouse its audience. There were unnecessary and innumerable gory scenes which served no purpose except for desensitizing its viewers.

Jaat adds to the list of mass-misfires Hindi film industry seems to be churning out every other week. These conveyor-belt products lack any personality or conviction. Films can either be biryanis or idlis, made with passion and precision. It’s a warning bell when they are being reduced to fast food, assembled with indifference. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.