It is physically painful to sit through a film that had as much potential as Rocky Handsome but fails to realize it. For action junkies, John Abraham returns with a bang and packs a punch heavier than ever before. But the most disappointing thing about the film is that it lacks soul. You can give full marks to the stunt pieces, that are nothing short of spectacular, but it has no story whatsoever to back it. And to top it all, there is far too much gore than any ordinary person can handle. Director Nishikant Kamat should run a statutory warning with this - Not for the feeble hearted. There is a line that is used to describe its protagonist, played by John, in the film...'Ek baar kuch log iski training dekhne gaye aur shock se faint ho gaye...' We came pretty close to it. But the experience of sitting through something so depleted of soul, was just plain exhausting. After a while, you want the drama to pace up, story to speed up and actors to step up and just ACT!
The first half of the film will remind you of Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum. The plot is on the same lines, but it lacks a similar kind of depth. The slick action thriller it set out to be doesn't quite condense. The drug mafioso, the bratty cop, a drug addict all remain constant. The only bright thing in this is the young Diya Chalwad. She makes up for a lot that isn't going right for the film. But eventually, both she and the extremely earnest John Abraham is pulled down by the average script. The narrative and its characters are familiar, the twists predictable and the climax is known. In such a case, even the best action can make a movie feel drab. Even at its humble 126 minutes, the film is far too stretched.
