Action Jackson Review

There are some films that entertain you, some that engage you and some that make you want to pull every strand of hair from your head. Prabhu Deva’s Action Jackson doesn’t just belong to the last category, it’s a film that shouldn’t be watched. The only thought that constantly comes to your mind while watching Action Jackson is, why would an actor as talented and experienced as Ajay Devgn waste his time and career over a film as regressive as this?

Story: There are two Ajay Devgn’s in Action Jackson. Vishy is a street-smart roadside romeo, who lives a carefree life. The other is Action Jackson (AJ), who is in Bangkok, and works for a don. The Don’s sister Marina (Manasvi) falls in love with AJ, because he saves her life. But AJ is in love with Anusha (Yami Gautam). Unable to bear the feeling of rejection, Marina and her brother critically injure Anusha.

AJ gets her to Mumbai for treatment. Meanwhile, AJ meets Vishy, who is in love with Khushi (Sonakshi Sinha). AJ sends Vishy to Bangkok as his replacement, along with his sidekick (Kunal Roy Kapoor). What happens next? Will the don find out that it’s not AJ but Vishy? Does Marina finally get AJ to fall for her?

Review: How could a film like Action Jackson with strong sexual overtones be passed by the censor board with U/A certificate? The film starts with a scene where the film’s leading lady (Sonakshi) feels that it’s lucky for her if she gets a chance to check out Vishy’s male organ, and through the course of the film, she gets desperate just for a glimpse of him changing clothes. A title like ‘Action Jerkson’ would have probably worked better for the film!

Seriously, every scene, every song, every dialogue in Action Jackson makes you cringe. Even the lip-sync is off. The background music too has to be the worst of all time. You have to hear it to believe it. Sounds like “Vishiii”, “babyyy” “yooooo” are played in the background.

Prabhu Deva has directed films like ‘Wanted’ and ‘Rowdy Rathore’, both were wholesome entertainers, but both were scene-to-scene remakes too. How can a director take credit for a film where every scene is lifted? Action Jackson could probably be his first half-original film to date and he proves to be one of the worst directors in the industry. Someone who shouldn’t be allowed to make films.

The production values are downmarket. The least you could expect from a Prabhu Deva film are a few good action scenes, Action Jackson disappoints on that front too.

Coming to the performances, we wonder what the actors were thinking when they signed the film. Ajay Devgn is a complete misfit and looked uncomfortable right from the first scene of the film. You tend to miss the Ajay of old, films like Bhagat Singh, Zakhm, Gangajal, Raajneeti and many more. Sultan Mirza in Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. Ditto for Sonakshi Sinha. She was incredible in Lootera, but has restricted herself to masala films. Yami Gautam is completely wasted. Manasvi Mamagai loses her skirt on a regular basis and for some reason screams “you’re my gangster baby”. Wearing bikinis and moving around in the skimpiest of clothes she yells from rooftops “I’m hot AJ” and he in return says ”touch me not”. Between “I’m hot” and “touch me not” lies the entire plot of Action Jackson.

Manasvi’s brother has to be the worst villain of all time. He has a weird goat-eye and appears on screen with a loud weird-sounding scream (straight from a 80’s c-grade film) and threatens AJ, who in return thrashes each of the goons – they fly to every corner of the screen wearing orange suits! Kunaal Roy Kapur also gets beaten up in every frame.

To sum things up, Action Jackson is the worst film of the year and possibly the worst of all time. A film that would make the likes of ‘Humshakals’, ‘Himmatwala’ and ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’ look like classics. Extremely regressive cinema at its worst. Don’t even think of watching this!

At the box office, Action Jackson has taken a shockingly poor start at multiplexes. At places, the occupancy was less than 20%. Given the costs of the film, Action Jackson will go on to be one of the biggest disasters of all time.

Rating: Zero stars.

Positives

• None, actually. But Ajay Devgn looks super-fit.

Negatives

• Prabhu Deva’s direction.
• Performances by the entire cast.
• Poorly choreographed action sequences.
• Terrible music and choreography.
• Dialogues that make you cringe.
• Irritating background music and songs.