Rocky Handsome Review: A ripped John Abraham and slick action in a soulless film

Action, boredom and repetition – this sums up the John Abraham-starrer directed by Nishikant Kamat, who also features as an actor in the film. A remake of the 2010 South Korean thriller - The Man from Nowhere, Rocky Handsome delivers nothing that adds value to the retelling.

It is the story of Kabir Ahlawat (John Abraham), who runs a pawn shop in Goa and a seven-year-old girl Nayomi (Divya Chalwad) living in his neighbourhood. The two share a special bond and find solace in each other’s company, owing to their respective unbalanced lives.

Nayomi is an ignored child whose mother Anna (Nathalia Kaur) is a bar dancer/sex-worker and a drug addict. On the other hand, John Abraham has a troubled past, a predictable one, which you should better discover while watching the flick.  

Action kicks off when Anna and Nayomi are kidnapped by the drug mafia over a drug theft. John Abraham embarks on a murderous rampage and butchers everyone who comes in the way. He has two sides Rocky (code name), and Handsome (which everyone calls him), which you get to know in the interval.

The crime story is filmed in Goa which is portrayed as being infested with drug dealers and ruthless gangsters, child traffickers and not the salubrious land of fun and froth that Bollywood shows. The plot has many colourful baddies – drug mafia Maantu, his aides - two brothers Kevin Pereira (Nishikant Kamat) – and Luke Ferreira (Teddy Maurya) – one with a ponytail, who also run an organ trafficking racket.

Every time the baddies and John meet on screen, there is a blast and an overdose of relentless bloodshed. Action does the talking for Abraham, who has merely recited dialogues during the entire course.

Amid the nerve chilling action and dark scenes, child artist Diya is the sunshine in disguise. She brightens the mood every time she appears on screen. But unfortunately, the weak narration, predictable twists and turns and action driving the movie, the plot never really connects to you.

John Abraham, playing Kabir for the third time, is back with a bang and, not to forget, with double the punch. His chiseled body and mind blowing action sequences (martial arts Aikido and Hapkido) are a royal delight for all his fans as well as hardcore action buffs.

Director Nishikant Kamat as Kevin has done a decent job as the main villain of the movie. The scene where he doesn’t blink an eye while repeatedly punched by Maantu is worth the applause. Though, in course of polishing his acting skills, the movie lost its direction.

Rest of the cast is average. Shurti Haasan’s work was just to change 10 dresses in a song and romance John for two minutes. Nora Fatehi fills in for the skin show and repetitive moves in the only dance number – Rock The Party. Nathalia Kaur is sizzling as a bar dancer. Teddy Maurya overdoes the acting part and ends up looking a joker than anything else. Sharad Kelkar, as Mumbai ATC cop, impresses in crucial supporting role. Suhasini Mulay has just two scenes and her character of ‘child lifter’ doesn’t have any depth.

Cinematographer Shanker Raman has done a wonderful job in filming all the merciless and breathtaking action sequences, which bring you to the edge of your seats. There are two-three rain sequences in the movie which have looked classy. Editing by Aarif Shaikh is also done expertly.

Music is one of the positive points of the movie. Situational songs and good lyrics make it soothing for your ears amid too much of Bang Boom.

This tale of a surly protagonist who takes on an entire army of gangsters to rescue a kidnapped seven-year-old girl is over-dependent on graphic violence for effect. The film is literally more body than soul. Its focus is entirely on Abraham’s chiseled muscular frame.

Rock Handsome, with nothing new to offer, is strictly for the John Abraham fans who will enjoy his rock solid body and never-seen-before action. There is less or no scope for people looking for anything else. Action is the soul of the movie but the movie has no soul.

The movie runs for just 126 minutes but seems stretched and you wait for it to end soon. Thankfully, it does.