Watch TrailerGanapath Movie Review: Director Vikas Bahl’s Ganapath: A Hero is Born, set in a dystopian world, is a fascinating piece of work whose vivid imagery will leave you awed. Moreover, its action sequences along with VFX will surely redefine how Hindi cinema makes dystopia films. Well, sorry to disappoint you folks, but this was just a dream as the film put me to sleep in the first half.
By the time the interval blocks play out in Ganapath, you start to wonder how wrong can a director go while making a film. It only gets worse with lazy writing, terrible execution and absurd characters. After seeing the movie, you begin to feel sorry for Tiger Shroff, who plays the lead protagonist along with Kriti Sanon. Shroff has never shied away from admitting that action and dance are his forte and would continue doing films of that genre, but he continues to get such terrible scripts that never allow him to flex his acting muscles.
The film begins with a voiceover of Dalapati (Amitabh Bachchan) who describes the aftermath of a war that caused widespread destruction over the world and left few locations for humanity to survive. Rich, powerful, and greedy individuals capitalised on this unfortunate situation by constructing an opulent, highly technology location for themselves naming it Silver City. Poor individuals, on the other hand, are forced into a location with only the bare needs for survival. The overlords of Silver City oppress the masses and humanity is on the verge of collapse, but a few brave hearts are preparing themselves for war. These warriors are living with a hope for a fight for equality and justice, led by their leader, Ganapath. But where is Ganapath? Does he know his true calling? Will he become the symbol of hope?
Tiger as Guddu aka Ganapath is smashing anything and everything that can be destroyed or shredded, including men, vehicles, buildings, and of course, his shirt. He performs some devastating stunts including triple flip kicks jumping from buildings and walking on air. But in between him destroying buildings and taking on the enemy, my ability to suspend disbelief failed, and believe me when I say that Hindi cinema has done a good job of preparing me for this.
If the film proves anything, it is that if you make a movie with an apology of a screenplay and hope a star will save you, it is a surefire recipe for a cinematic disaster. The patience of the audience is constantly being tested. With complete disdain for coherence and clarity, it meanders off in a variety of useless ways and switches back and forth between periods. The story tries to be overwhelmingly larger than life, but in the process, it loses logic and becomes preposterous.
To a large extent, Tiger tries to rescue the film. He exudes a magnetic presence on the screen. The actor doesn’t fall short when it comes to his ripping muscles chiseled figure, six-pack abs, or star appeal. No matter how forced the dance numbers are in the tale, he looks particularly terrific while performing high-octane, gravity-defying action and grooving to them. He does, however, appear a little strange and unconvincing in a couple of tear-jerking and emotionally charged situations.
The testosterone-fired film is also feminist in its way. Just like all those men in muscles, Kriti as Jassi is badass. Her marksmanship is better than Guddu, she can find her way in any difficult situation and she can sure kick ass. She throws herself so completely into the role that, while we never lose sight of the fact that we’re watching Kriti Sanon. I can’t think of any actor more deserving of their pulpy action franchise than her.
Amitabh Bachchan as usual is in top form. But the rest of the cast including Gauhar Khan and Elli AvRam get a raw deal and surely are wasted.
There is ample acrobatics on display, slo-mo shots, deafening explosions, and lethal punches in the film. But none of it can rise beyond a weak script that doesn’t go for the kill. Ganapath is a mashup that is constructed from a mountain of absurdities that keeps growing with each passing minute so much so that even Tiger and Kriti cannot salvage the situation. Even if you are a diehard Tiger fan, I would suggest giving this one a miss and watching any of his previous films on OTT.
