A Flying Jatt

Bollywood has witnessed superhero films in the form of KRRISH, RA. ONE and a handful of others. This week's release is A FLYING JATT, which stars Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nathan Jones. Will A FLYING JATT pass the 'Box-Office' test with 'flying colours' or simply 'land' with a thud, lets analyze. 

Balaji Motion Pictures' A FLYING JATT is essentially of the origin and inception of a reluctant superhero, who is afraid of heights. The film starts off with the introduction of the filthy rich and extremely money-minded Malhotra (Kay Kay Menon) and his expansion plans for his construction company. Amidst his plans of expansion, Mrs. Kartar Singh aka Bebe (Amrita Singh) acts as a barrier as it's her (late) husband's land that Malhotra wants to usurp for his project. Even when Malhotra offers double the value of the land to Bebe, she just does not budge to his offer, as she reasons that Malhotra's companies are the root cause of pollution in the city. That's when Malhotra summons the deadly and towering Rakka (Nathan Jones) so that he could throw Bebe and the other residents out of the 'Kartar Singh Colony', which is also home to an extremely pious and wish fulfilling tree. When Rakka is just about to cut down the tree, opposition comes in the form of Aman (Tiger Shroff), a normal martial arts teacher in a school. Just as when Rakka is about to chop the tree, a certain miracle takes place and, while Aman is blessed with superlative superpowers, Rakka on the other hand, gets the evil powers. Rakka's powers become deadlier whenever he inhales the polluted air. Seeing Aman with superpowers, his mother nicknames him as 'Flying Jatt', after his late father. What happens after that are a series of fights between Flying Jatt and Rakka, rescue missions galore and many such events. Amidst all this, there also exists Aman's unspoken love for Kirti (Jacqueline Fernandez), who is unaware of the fact that everyone's angel saviour 'Flying Jatt' is Aman himself. Does Aman ever muster the courage to confess his love to Kirti, does Kirti ever get to know that Aman and Flying Jatt are one and the same, does the Flying Jatt manage to beat Rakka's... is what forms the rest of the story. 

The fight between good and bad, noble versus immoral, virtuous versus corrupt has been depicted in film after film. And if the fight between two extremes is portrayed in the most convincing manner, the viewer is bound to carry the film home and most importantly, return to watch the on screen clash again. In the case of A FLYING JATT, the film has a weak screenplay (Tushar Hiranandani, Remo D'Souza), which acts as a major spoilsport that runs across the film, which has a fragile storyline. While the film's story has the genesis of good versus evil, the theme has been 'Indianised' and localised with a Punjabi tadka, so as to cater and appeal to the Indian sensibilities. Even though the film does offer entertainment in tangible proportion, there are places where the film starts looking lost. Scenes like fighting in the space in the climax is bizarre. And Remo adding a corny quote of himself while the movie is still running is laughable. Despite the fact that the film's dialogues (Aakash Kaushik) do not qualify to be exceptional or extraordinary, they manage to be in tune with the flow of the film. The film's story is relatable and the religious sentiments have been captured and portrayed in a clever manner. 

Director Remo D'Souza, whose last film ABCD 2 proved to be a Box-Office winner, does a decent job with A FLYING JATT, but the tacky VFX and weak screenplay overpowers the film's 'direction' (quite literally!). Despite Remo D'Souza's past laurels, one really wonders as to how he zeroed down and agreed upon the film's illogical climax. While the drama in the film's first half is pretty interesting, humorous and gripping, the film's second half loses track, and turns too preachy regarding environment and religion. 

There are some not to be missed scenes in the film, which includes Tiger Shroff doing a Sunny Leone, Amrita Singh coaching Tiger Shroff to behave like a superhero, Flying Jatt's first rescue sequence (though its lifted from the Hollywood blockbuster X MEN: DAYS OF THE FUTURE PAST), the introduction scene of Rakka and also his transformation into evil during the interval. 

As for the performances, with a title like A FLYING JATT, the film definitely belongs to Tiger Shroff. The film is all about the antics of Tiger Shroff, whose martial skills are in full display in the film. Tiger Shroff, remains sincere and true to his character, even though this film may not qualify as his career best. The role of a man with superpowers needs a robust personality to match and Tiger Shroff scores full marks in this department. Jacqueline Fernandez, on the other hand, does not do anything exceptional, besides looking pretty and providing the glam quotient to the film. The sad part about Jacqueline Fernandez's role in the film is that, despite being the film's heroine, her role is smaller in length as compared to even Amrita Singh and Gaurav Pandey. Gaurav does an extremely decent and convincing job as Tiger Shroff's brother. The wrestler turned actor Nathan Jones makes his debut in Bollywood with A FLYING JATT. Rakka, his character in the film, rides entirely on his towering personality and his muscle power. In the bargain, Nathan Jones does manage to instill fear in the minds of the audiences, which was expected of his character. Amrita Singh as the typical Punjabi mother delivers a decent performance and is extremely lovable in her character. Kay Kay Menon, on the other hand, does a decent job in the negative role. Shraddha Kapoor's cameo is effective. The rest of the actors do their bit in taking the film forward. 

Besides the chartbuster track 'Beat Pe Booty, the film's music (Sachin-Jigar) is just about passable and has limited scope in the film. On the other hand, the film's background score (Sachin-Jigar) is impressive and enhances the film's narrative very effectively. With the film's choreography resting on the shoulders of the talented Remo D'Souza, it's no wonder that the film's choreography is bang on and extremely impressive. 

While the film's cinematographer Vijay Kumar Arora lands up doing a shoddy job, the film's editing (Nitin FCP) comes across as pretty average. Even the film's production value and VFX look tacky, which is quite a letdown in a superhero film. 

On the whole, A FLYING JATT has the ingredients that make an interesting superhero film. A section of the audience might find the film's proceedings to be corny; however, the mass audiences and kids might take a liking for the film. At the Box-Office, the film has the potential to fly, though, not to great heights. The extended weekend will help the film reap dividends at the Box-Office.