As a writer, Milap Milan Zaveri’s name has primarily been associated with comedies like ‘Masti’, ‘Kya Super Kool Hain Hum’ and ‘Great Grand Masti’. He has also tapped in other genres like action and thriller with films like ‘Shootout At Wadala’ and ‘Ek Villain’. He has two films to his credit as a director, namely, ‘Jaane Kahaan Se Aayi Hai’ and ‘Mastizaade’. Though both those films were comedies, they were vastly different from each other. He also directed the short film ‘Raakh’ which was a pretty dark thriller. Perhaps, the accolades that came his way post the release of ‘Raakh’ inspired him to make a feature which would be set in a similar space.
A series of murders of police officers in Mumbai shakes up the police department. The killer is a man named Veer (John Abraham) is on a mission to track every corrupt police officer in town and burn him alive. DCP Shivansh Rathore, a cop known for being extremely diligent and incorruptible, is given the responsibility to track this killer. Veer drops a clue to Shivansh before he embarks upon the task of killing a policeman. Despite Shivansh’s repeated attempts to foil his plan, he gets away after knocking off an unscrupulous cop.
One always laments over the fact that an industry, which more often than not relies on standard templates and tried-and-tested formulas, does not make masala films as well as they do in Telugu or Tamil cinema. Most of the films which claim to be hardcore, commercial entertainers often rest on a thin plotline. The trailer of ‘Satyameva Jayate’ was indicative of the film being a 90s styled actioner. While one always looks forward to watching a well-made and entertaining masala film, resorting to clichés and familiar plot devices will only make a film look like a replica of other films that have been made in this genre.
‘Satyameva Jayate’ has several goose-bump inducing moments which, despite their predictability, get you thoroughly interested in the proceedings on the screen. I have not seen any of the two films he has directed in the past, but Milap executes certain sequence rather craftily. It is largely his writing that weighs the film down. The first three murders happen in Santacruz, Andheri and Thane and that makes Shivansh come to the conclusion that the killer is choosing the locations according to the letters of the word ‘Satyameva Jayate’. What is bizzare is the fact that he comes to this conclusion happens without any substantial evidence or clue. When Veer tells Shivansh on phone that “thane mein ghuske maarunga”, he is actually dropping a cryptic message. The ‘thane’ in his statement does not refer to a police station, instead it implies the name of a suburb in Mumbai. Such absurdities should have been chuffed away in the script much before the film went on the floors.
John Abraham does not flex his facial muscles as easily as he flexes his biceps. His strong screen presence and ease at doing action camouflages his largely inexpressive face. Manoj Bajpayee is left to do all the heavy-lifting as an actor and though he gets an uni-dimensional character to play, he leaves a strong mark as always. Aisha Sharma is easy on the eyes but gets very limited scope to perform. Amruta Khanvilkar, who delivered a fine performance in ‘Raazi’ earlier this year, ddoes not get much scope either. Manish Chaudhari gets some good scenes to show his mettle as an actor.
Milap does a fairly good job as a director but falter as a writer. He comes up with his trademark dialogues filled with rhyming phrases. While some of them are fun to listen to, a few make you cringe. He certainly had memories of the action films of the yore while writing the screenplay as several plot points in the film will remind the audience of the same. The romantic track between Veer and Shikha seem to be forced in the narrative. Thankfully, they had the good sense to delete one of the songs from the second half in the final cut. As stated earlier, the film is replete with several engaging moments but it fails to be the wholesome entertainer it had the potential to be.