Rocky Handsome is a scene to scene rework of its Korean inspiration. By logic, that should translate into a decent story. But the reason it does not, is bad dialogue. Some of the lines on offer in Rocky Handsome are so clunky and random, you'd think Manoj Kumar's Clerk or Mithun Chakraborty's Gunda were classics. Sadly, even the so-bad-it's-good moniker doesn't quite apply to Rocky Handsome. The premise deals with a reclusive fellow named Kabir (John Abraham) and his fight with gangsters and organ gangs and drug trafficking gangs, because of a young girl named Naomi. Naomi's mother gets embroiled in the drug trade and the mafia kidnap the mother and daughter to get back stuff that was stolen from them. Kabir gets involved because Naomi is his only friend. Also he has massive guilt about not being nice to her when it mattered. There are a few unexpected twists and turns that are supposed to shock you. You're being taken into a dark world where human bodies, organs and life itself is just a product. Kidnapped children are tools of ease for gangsters. But the treatment for such a dark subject is grossly inconsistent. Nishikant Kamat and his writing team try to sneak in humour and pun, when it's not needed, at all. That's something the original film did well. It kept a grim tone. It made things serious to a point where character intensity and emotions became an uneasy experience. But there's no such feeling of gloom in Rocky Handsome because it tries to be too cool, too gritty, too smart all at the same time.
Part of the blame goes to performances that should've been dialled down, but are tuned up instead. The bad guys are behaving like psychos trying to convince you that they're evil. Cops are behaving like men on testosterone. The entire acting effort in Rocky Handsome seems like a desperate effort to be theatrical and shocking. The only person who passes muster is John Abraham, playing the stone cold hero devoid of expressions. And to an extent, Sharad Kelkar, who refrains from being a tough cop and stands out from the crowd.
Style and stunts play a big role in action movies. But you can't discount other aspects of filmmaking just to make an action film that looks sexy. The biggest mistake Rocky Handsome makes is to give it's lead character an emotional and patriotic back story. It just turns him into another caricature and it never quite justifies his appetite for killing. John Abraham's training in martial arts is evident in the scenes featuring him in hand-to-hand combat. There the effort is 100 per cent. But rest of the way, this is one rocky film trying a little too hard to be handsome.
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