Film: Rowdy Rathore

Starring: Akshay Kumar,Sonakshi Sinha,Prabhu Deva,Maryam Zakaria

Director: Prabhu Deva

Producer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali,Shabina Khan,Ronnie Screwval

Banner: SLB Films,Hari Om Entertainment Co.,Utv Motion Pic

Music: Sajid-Wajid

Rating : 3.25/5

"Rowdy Rathore" races on the premise that heroes are made by circumstances, not design. That's how the street-smart Shiva ends up in a town run by garish goons, where homes, humans and hopes are burnt in effigies mocking human rights.

It is an old-fashioned good-versus-evil comedy-action-drama with paisa-vasool written in every frame.

Prabhu Deva, who earlier directed Salman Khan's cop-on-a-rampage saga "Wanted" puts Akshay on the same page. To his credit, Akshay manages to create his own world in that Salman-space. Never letting go of that twinkle in his eye, Akshay sinks his crooked teeth into the meaty double role with the warmth, affection and relish of a dinner guest who knows all the yummy dishes on the table have been cooked only for him.

Akshay goes for the sumptuous meal with the hunger of a man who may not see tomorrow. It's high-octane performance full of warmth and fury, never over-the-top, even when all hell breaks loose.

The fights are ferocious, but never gut-churning. You can watch the bloodshed with the kids. They'd know, Uncle Akshay is going to win.

The thing about "Rowdy Rathore" is it never takes itself seriously. The cop and his double won't kow-tow to the powers-that-be. Ironically, the film grandly bows its head to the Great Bollywood Formula. The dialogues are bombastic, bordering on the corny, nevertheless fun in their intended ideological inferences.

A profound reverence for every trick in the book of filmic formulas sees the accelerated narration to its breathless finale. Even when the going gets gory, there is a tongue-in-cheek humour in the violence.

It's not the arrogant aggression of Salman in "Dabangg" or "Wanted". In "Rowdy Rathore", Akshay creates a new language of heroic aggression. He is goofy, wonky, clumsy and oafish. He has no respect for the rules of the office. But his character loves doing what he does, because a man has got to do what he has to do, and really someone has to do the dirty job of cleaning up the mess we've created.

Metal rods from rickety machines are wrenched out and used to teach the anti-socials a lesson. The 'ouch' is never unwelcome. Akshay creates a 'no wince' situation.

Whether its wooing a Patna girl (Sonakshi Sinha) all over Mumbai streets and right into a wedding venue, or in the second half, taking on the vile villainy of a self-appointed lord of diabolism named Baapji (Nasser), who is so uncouth, unwashed and unmannered that he is downright funny in his obscene rowdyism.

The generous splash of colour and music (Sajid-Wajid at their peppy pinnacle) pitches the film at a massy level without toppling over into a revolting rowdyism.