John’s super soldier offers a welcome break from chest-thumping nationalism

ATTACK

John Abraham, Rakul Preet Singh, Jacqueline Fernandez Lakshya Raj

Whenever there’s John Abraham fighting it out on the big screen, you don’t see anything beyond his flexing muscles and beefed-up chest. And his latest outing, Attack, gives you numerous opportunities to fawn over his good looks and chiselled physique.

Attack is the story of a soldier Arjun Shergill (Abraham), who suffers a terrible loss in a terrorist attack and is paralysed neck-down. Meanwhile, Dr Saba (Rakul Preet Singh) has been working on a futuristic technology that can enable a paralysed person to stand up on their feet, and Arjun is deemed that right science bunny to undergo trial for India’s first ever super soldier program. Just when he successfully goes through the experiment, Parliament comes under siege and he is expected to save the city in the nick of time from a chemical bomb explosion. Can he make the impossible, possible?

For those who’ve often complained about Bollywood’s lack of original scripts and innovation, Attack, to some extent, can give you an adrenaline rush for its novel idea (seen many times in Hollywood by now but still a fresh prospect for Bollywood). Director Lakshya Raj Anand, who has co-written the story with Sumit Batheja and Vishal Kapoor, has tried too hard to make this sci-fi action thriller break the clutter, and hence, the film both impresses and falters in parts. The film is crisply edited to limit the runtime to less than two hours and doesn’t lose pace even once. With a gripping narrative and edge-of-the-seat moments, it doesn’t digress into needless subplots or song and dance sequences.

Clearly divided into two halves — before and after the transformation of Abraham into the super soldier — Attack shows a soldier’s duty to serve his nation with this new-age modern technologies. Thankfully, it never enters the territory of chestthumping nationalism with heavyweight dialogues.

The well-crafted and beautifully shot action sequences are a visual treat. While humour is the last thing you’d expect in this narrative, I loved how the director has laced the story with elements of it (no spoilers!).

Abraham looks seamless in his action hero avatar. This genre, for obvious reasons, comes naturally to him. He blends vulnerability with strength with ease and his physical prep, too, is visible throughout the film. Though, I felt the transition could have been a little more realistic. The way his character suddenly beefs up after having been in a wheelchair for long is a bit much to digest.

While Singh delivers a convincing act and looks confident on-screen, Lakshya doesn’t even attempt to bring depth to Saba’s character. Jacqueline Fernandez, too, in an extended cameo brings glam to the screen. Her short and abrupt role in this film is reminiscent of her other recent release, Bachchhan Paandey.

The cast also includes some fine actors such as Ratna Pathak Shah (as Arjun’s mother) and Rajit Kapoor (as the home minister) but they’ve been barely given any room to perform. Kapoor gets to plant some punch lines but that’s about it.

To wrap up, Attack is your high-on-action sci-fi flick which is slick and savvy. Watch it for Abraham being at his best after a long time and don’t care too much about the unrealistic world it takes you to.

Monika Rawal Kurkeja