It’s been more than 7 years, since we saw Akshay Kumar in an out-an-out action film. Known as the ‘Khiladi of Bollywood’ for his popular Khiladi films in the 90s, Akki returns to what he does best – bash the baddies on screen. In Rowdy Rathore, directed by Prabhu Deva who last directed Wanted, Akshay has a double-role. He plays Siva (the smart thief) and Vikram Rathore (the IPS officer).

The film is produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and has music composed by Sajid-Wajid.

Story: Rowdy Rathore is about Siva, a thief who falls in love with Priya (Sonakshi Sinha). It’s love at first sight, as he promises her to give up all his bad deeds to lead a good life together. Just then enters a 6 year old Neha, who calls Siva her father. Out of nowhere, people start attacking him and Siva becomes the target of a gang. Why do they want to kill him? Who is Neha? Watch Rowdy Rathore to find out!

Rowdy Rathore Movie Review

Before we get into the negatives, let’s look at the positive aspects of the film and who the target audience are..

• Rowdy Rathore is a film for the masses. If you’ve seen Dabangg or Singham, Rowdy Rathore is similar but with an added twist.
• The action only begins to unfold in the second half, as Akshay Kumar proves why he’s called the Khiladi. There is a lot that goes into making an action scene look convincing, apart from the action choreographer who plays a major role, the actors need to get their body language right. That’s exactly where Akshay shines. He’s brilliant in the action sequences, with comic timing that is unmatched in the industry.
• The sequences that involve Akshay Kumar and the young child artist, touches your heart.
• The dialogues will work big time with the single-screen audience. “Joh main bolta hoon, woh main karta hoon. Joh main nahi bolta, woh main definitely karta hook”, “Don’t angry me” and “Rathore.. Rowdy Rathore”. There are several such one-liners or punch dialogues, which are one of the biggest attractions for the masses.
• There are several special appearances and most of them in the Chinta Ta Chitta Chitta song. Kareena Kapoor looks beautiful and does a couple of moves from Criminal and Chammak Challo (both form Ra One). South superstar Vijay and director Prabhu Deva too make small appearances in the same song. Mumaith Khan and Maryam Zakaria (who was last seen in the Agent Vinod mujra) are part of the post-interval item song. Maryam looks very pretty.

What we didn’t particularly like

• The first half! The love angle between Akshay and Sonakshi doesn’t work, as the film takes forever to get to the point. To add to the woes, there are 3 songs which are forced into the narrative. Why do we need so many songs in hindi films, like seriously??
• Sonakshi Sinha is wasted. She has absolutely NOTHING to do, expect dance to 4 odd songs and hug the hero. Her only noteworthy scene is just before the climax, where she verbally abuses the villain.
• Rowdy Rathore is not for everyone. The urban audience may not like the excess of action (a bit of blood and gore included). Also, it’s all about entertainment here, so not much in the film for those looking for sense or logic.

Performances: Akshay Kumar towers above the other actors, director and the script! He makes even the most mediocre of scenes, entertaining. We’ve already spoken enough about Sonakshi, she should seriously look into doing roles that gives her scope to perform. Nassar, who plays the negative role, is brilliant. The other supporting actors are all good.

To sum up, if you’ve watched and enjoyed films like Dabangg, Singham and Wanted, you’ll like Rowdy Rathore. At the box-office, the film has already opened to a mind-boggling response at single screens and it should continue to do well there. But it’s at the multiplexes where Rowdy Rathore could falter after the initial weekend.

Do post your Rowdy Rathore reviews in the comments section below and stay tuned for all the updates box-office related updates.

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