Rashtra Kavach OM review: Aditya Roy Kapur-starrer is instantly forgettable

When it comes to action, fights and stunts, two names that instantly come to our mind from the current crop of Hindi film actors are Tiger Shroff and Vidyut Jammwal. They have created a fan base just for their physical skills, irrespective of the content of their films.

With the release of Rashtra Kavach OM, we can say that Aditya Roy Kapur doesn't lag far behind. This is the first time that the actor has played an out-and-out action-oriented character. Whether it’s hand-to-hand combat, pumping bullets or pulling off acrobatic stunts, Kapoor overcomes the challenges that come with playing such characters.  

Rashtra Kavach OM opens with Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer Om (Kapur) jumping from a plane onto a ship in order to finish off the baddies. His seniors, played by Ashutosh Rana and Prakash Raj, are closely monitoring the mission. Despite putting on a brave show, Om ends up taking a bullet to the brain and gets thrown into the sea. 

A bed-ridden Om is then seen in a safe house a few months later. He is taken care of by Dr Kavya (Sanjana Sanghi), a RAW colleague. Once when she is away, Om starts seeing disturbing visuals of himself as a kid trapped in a flaming house with his father (Jackie Shroff) and others.

He is then attacked by a group of gunmen. Kavya somehow rescues Om. But she is shocked when he claims that he is not Om but Rishi. Who exactly is he? 

Unfortunately, apart from Kapur’s performance and some impressive action scenes, nothing works in the favour of the film. 

The mystery surrounding the protagonist’s identity does stoke interest since you are eager to know whether he is mentally ill or has a lookalike. But this puzzle is solved at one point in a jiffy and you realize that the film is just another hero-versus-villain saga. 

Rashtra Kavach OM leaves some questions unanswered. For example, we don’t know how he was rescued and brought to the safe house after being shot and thrown into the sea. Chances are that you won’t think about these issues much because, after the initial mystery, the film just becomes an unintentionally hilarious ride. 

It doesn’t take you long to realize that the makers have just included elements that are mandatory in an action thriller without having a strong or even a decent storyline in place. The film throws up various twists with characters changing sides regularly. In the end, you just don’t care who is on who’s side. 

There have been instances in the past where real RAW officers have criticized the intelligence agency’s portrayal even in some well-made Hindi films. One really wonders how they would react to its depiction here. 

The RAW team here is more like a dysfunctional family where secrets are hidden and people conduct themselves in a melodramatic manner. They celebrate their triumphs by visiting a club where Elnaaz Norouzi performs a dance number. The best (or the worst) part is that these officers barely need a reason to utter “Jai Bhavani” as a war cry every now and then. 

Ashutosh Rana is the only one, apart from Kapur, to deliver a satisfactory performance. The rest of the cast is negatively affected by the content. Prakash Raj regularly switches over to his character Jaykant Shikre from Singham (2011). This makes us forget at times that he is a senior RAW officer. Sanjana Sanghi just goes through the motions and lacks appeal. Jackie Shroff and the rest of the actors are, at best, average.