In Private, I Would Rename It With A Local Adj. Review on Heropanti

‘Heropanti’ released last Friday(23rd) and much against my better senses, I caught it over the weekend in a late night show. Regret to affirm that my misgivings were vindicated. The movie is bad and Tiger just doesn't have it in him to be a macho man.  I mean, he is acrobatic, ripped, can dance well, unlike his dad who had two left feet, but, launching him in a purported action film was a mistake. While Jackie never was known for his body, so long as he retained his clothes on, he projected a macho personality.

Unfortunately, for all his muscles and 8-pack, Tiger remains effeminate and would have done justice to a love story as a chocolate hero. What works against the film, at least as far as I am concerned is the hype around the so called ‘no-cable/wire stunts’, how Tiger considered Bruce Lee as his idol, the so called ‘longest’ Parkour sequence etc… none of which could be seen in the movie.

The Parkour sequence was nothing more than glorified ‘tower running’(a form of exercise where athletes run up a long flight of stairs). Sure, in the opening reel, he did exhibit his acrobatic skills, but acrobatics and martial arts are two different ball games and passing off one as the other is criminal. The action sequences were very few and far between which put paid to the hype / tall claims.

Most of the action was shown in slow motion which doesn’t work here.  Our chi-chi(Govinda) did better round kicks in his old movies(Ilzaam et al).

Didn’t help in the high resolution close ups where his lips looked rosier than the female lead, (Kriti Sanon) who by the way looked delicious with a body to die for.  Also, naming an already effeminate looking fresher ‘Bablu’ made things worse.

Aside from the ‘Whistle baja’ song, the other songs were just about passable with a dream sequence showing the couple in a snowy location with Tiger wearing a pair of hideous, bug eyed glasses which he throws away in the opening stanza and wears again later. The fault lies not in the debutants but in the makers, director and publicity team.  I mean can you imagine a beefed up joker(some Singh) claiming in the press that Sajjid had nicknamed him ‘Sly’(After Sylvester Stallone) as he bears a passing resemblance!

If there is any, I failed to see it as through the movie, he just looked like a beefy bouncer/rural goon who badly needed a haircut… with a name like ‘Rajjo’ to boot! The worst scenes:

1. The'so called' Parkour scene where he runs up twelve flights of stairs.

2. The captives talking to Kriti(Dimpey) midriff from the bunker window.

3. Tiger getting drunk.

Watchable scenes:

1.  The opening fight scene in the gymnasium.

2.  The interruption on the stage show when the Jat smacks the comedian when he starts his act on love marriage.

3.  The voice over introduction of each of the Jat characters.

I repeat, if you want to watch a real Hindi action film, I recommend ‘Commando’ Vidyut Jamwal. That film had good acting by the villain (Ahlawat) and great action by Vidyut, yet didn't get any hype or footfalls maybe ‘coz he isn’t a star son. Sad!

Overall, the film failed to deliver on any front for me and I would rate it a single star.