Action thriller that is low on attraction

A fearless police officer is feted with a gallantry award for busting a drug mafia. He and his pregnant wife are on their way back home. The palpable tension on the rainy road is reminiscent of a zillion movies. And like zillion times we have seen before, they meet with an accident. Twenty-five years later, his son rises to finish what the father started. Deja vu… alas, 25 saal baad bhi, we are still making the same kind of movies.

Siddhant Chaturvedi, who impressed with his acting chops in ‘Gully Boy’ and later in Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Gehraiyaan’, is cast in an action avatar. In the titular part of ‘Yudhra’, he gets to do what we have already seen our superstars doing umpteen number of times: bashing up an army of goondas, shake a leg, moving around shirtless and yes, the angry young man can romance too. He has anger issues and that he is slightly unhinged is obvious from his childhood years. We see him picking fights with his class fellows; as they torture lizards, he saves these relatives of dinosaurs. If his fascination for the reptile creatures is bizarre, so is his complicated relationship with his adoptive father Karthik Rathore (Gajraj Rao). As an adult, he races full-throttle on Mumbai roads.

From a wayward youth to a police cadet to an undercover agent, every single incident in Yudhra’s life is an excuse to whip up action, action and some more action. Indeed, to criticise an action thriller for its relentless stream of action sounds like an oxymoron. And let’s give the association of action director Nick Powell of ‘Gladiator’ fame with the film (he has designed the climax choreography) his due. Action is sleek and often out of the rule book. Only, in the absence of a strong script (writer Shridhar Raghavan), it ends up as just a montage of high-octane action.

For the first half an hour or so, the film moves at a fast pace, but soon circles around the familiar play of events. The storyline oscillates between the obvious and deadening predictable plot points… Who will turn out to be the Brutus here is a no-brainer either. Of course, villains still have enough heft. Raj Arjun as drug-lord Firoz builds up repugnance. Raghav Juyal of ‘Kill’ fame gets an interesting and flashy twist to the vileness of his character. As the outlandish Rafiqe, it’s not just his diamond nose-pin and bright yellow coordinated suits which sparkle, the actor in him shines too.

But, ‘Yudhra’ is essentially designed as a one-man show. So, Raghav is easily expendable to make way for the hero, even as Raghav grooves to ‘Hat ja baaju aane de hawa…’ Veterans Ram Kapoor and Gajraj Rao have key cameos. But, what can the gifted actors do to propel a film where only action is designed to sweep you off your feet. Nothing takes you by surprise, nor is it intriguingly engaging. Unless you think a female doctor, Nikhat (Malavika Mohanan), suddenly developing a killer instinct and moves is cause enough for awe and wonder. Thank god, she is more than a romantic filler.

The chemistry between the lead actors (Siddhant and the lovely Malavika) does not scorch the screen, nor warms the cockles of your heart. Siddhant proves his mettle in the stylised action pieces and gets a few exciting dialogues (by Farhan Akhtar and Akshat Ghildial, taking a cue from the Mahabharata).

Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy never becomes the high point, precisely because songs are not warranted in the action scheme of things.

Coming from the stable of Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment, the production values are top-notch. We get to see Shanghai, Portugal and more. But, as we have seen time and again, a film runs itself to the goalpost only on a good storyline or exceptional treatment of an old story retold. Averaging out on both fronts, ‘Yudhra’ can only run out of steam. Strictly for action junkies.