A TURBULENT RIDE
A FLYING JATT Director: Remo D’Souza Actors: Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez, Amrita Singh Rating:
How do you recognise a desi superhero? He’s the guy whose costume is stitched by his mom. And at some point, he flies to the local sabzi mandi because mom needs lauki. These were my two favourite moments in A Flying Jatt, in which director and co-writer Remo D’Souza presents what is probably the world’s first Sikh superhero in cinema.
It’s a terrific idea and who better to play the superhero and his bebe than Tiger Shroff and Amrita Singh. He combines an astonishing agility with a guileless demeanour and is entirely convincing as an invincible do-gooder who saves the world. And she has a defined strength of character, which sadly too few filmmakers have put to good use.
A Flying Jatt could have been a fun entertainer with mum as the moral centre. Instead, it is just exhausting. A desi superhero who listens to his mom is a cute idea. It’s the weak plot and absurdly outdated villain that let the film down.
Some of the blame can be placed on the oversized shoulders of WWE wrestler Nathan Jones, who plays the baddie Raka. Raka, as the name suggests, is an oldschool villain (remember the days when all the villains were called Raka and Teja?). Like those guys, he keeps laughing maniacally. He also spends so much time grunting and growling before he actually attacks that I wondered why his opponents didn’t just run away.
Raka is powered by pollution, so the more we pollute, the stronger he gets. Yes, A Flying Jatt is also an eco-fable.
The film ends with a quote: “Everything has an alternative. Except Mother Earth.” Who said this? Remo. Be wary of directors who quote themselves. It suggests a singularly unique hubris. Which is also perhaps what allows Remo to borrow liberally from Hollywood franchises like X-Men and Spiderman.
The first half of A Flying Jatt has moments of fun — I loved that despite being a superhero he has a fear of heights, so he flies very close to the ground. But post-interval, laughter takes a back seat. The film trips on the feeble love story between the Jatt and Kirti, a giggling schoolteacher, played by Jacqueline Fernandez.