A Flying Jatt review: Crash lands after a decent takeoff

Rating: 1.5/5 

Before the release of Remo D’Souza’s A Flying Jatt, there were speculations about the film becoming the next Krrish (franchise). But its 151 minutes of content brings back memories of Ra.One and that certainly isn’t good news. From being a pleasant joyride for children, it ends up as a preachy religious affair inducing unintentional laughter.

The story takes place in a fictional town surrounded by a lake. Aman (Tiger Shroff) works as a Karate teacher in a school. His unheroic personality makes him struggle at his job. He secretly loves his childhood friend, Kirti (Jacqueline Fernandez). His mother (Amrita Singh) is his complete opposite. An utterly religious lady, she is tough and ready to rough up anyone who creates mischief. Along with the other town folk, she worships a banyan tree that apparently has the power to fulfil noble wishes. 

Across the lake, Malhotra (Kay Kay Menon) runs an industry worth multi-millions. To run his business further smoothly, he decides to build a bridge across the lake, for which the town needs to be demolished, including the sacred tree. Aman’s mother won’t allow the tree or town to be destroyed, come what may. So, Malhotra brings Raka (Nathan Jones), a beastly man, to deal with the situation.

The basic storyline is silly and rooted in blind-faith. Plus, the manner in which Aman derives supernatural powers is right out of Ekta Kapoor’s ‘religious’ serials (she is the producer here). However, once he acquires the powers, the film goes onto a pleasant track with a number of amusing sequences for kids, which might even bring a smile on the faces of grownups. So, in a way, you tend to somewhat forgive the fallacies. 

In a typical good-versus-evil superhero film, if the battle lines are drawn before the interval point, one only has to wait for the climax. This delay can be made entertaining or, at least, interesting but that certainly doesn’t happen with A Flying Jatt. The road to the climax is filled with unnecessary songs and forced humour. The promotion of Sikh religion and preachy Swachch Bharat kind of messages don’t help either. But what actually kills the film is the end, which, to put it simply, is unimaginably absurd. The only positivity is that you at least leave the hall in splits. 

In today’s day and age, it is imperative for such superhero flicks to at least come as close as possible to those made in Hollywood. But in this case, the VFX is simply average. Other technicalities rise up to the above average level. The songs act more as a hindrance to the narration. There is nothing much to write about them, except for a mention of ‘Beat Pe Booty.’ 

Coming to the performances,  Shroff is the only one who scores well. He is impressive, both as a superhero and the simpleton. Hollywood actor Jones (from Mad Max: Fury Road), who makes his debut, fits the character of Raka. But almost through his entire screen time he is seen scowling and screaming, which becomes irritating after a point of time. The idea of him getting superpowers through pollution adds to the unintentional hilarity. 

The less said about Fernandez the better. Being a fantastic performer as he is, Menon shows some promise, but ends up being too awkward in the scheme of things. Singh’s character suffers from being too preachy. She hams her way through the film.

Overall, A Flying Jatt crash lands after flying somewhat decently. The film might manage an initial pull at the box-office in the first long weekend. 

Director: Remo D’Souza
Producers: Balaji Telefilms
Writers: Remo D’Souza, Aakash Kaushik and Madhur Sharma
Cast: Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nathan Jones, Amrita Singh, Kay Kay Menon
Music: Sachin-Jigar
Genre: Sci-fi 
Runtime: 151 minutes