Synopsis – Gaurav is on a mission to settle down. He is in the process of trying to charm Kavya into creating life with him and getting married. However, Kavya dreads the thought of taking the plunge and settling down. Her only wish is that her “sundar susheel” gentleman lives life to the full, with a little more risk and excitement. However, things take an interesting twist when an assignment takes Gaurav to Mumbai.

My Take – Despite financial success alluding them, filmmaker duo Raj and DK have found themselves quite a fan base with the urban audience (like myself). I remember walking out of the Saif Ali Khan starrer Happy Ending (a commercial disaster), pleasantly surprised by the smart writing, unexpectedly funny sequences, zany dialogues and the cool music, a trend clearly set from their earlier films like Go Goa Gone, Shor in the City & 99. It’s obvious the duo are clearly influenced by action-comedies and black humor from the American school of filmmaking, particularly by the likes of Matthew Vaughn, Guy Ritchie, and, to some extent, even the Coen Brothers. With this film, the duo promises to deliver a high octane, action filled thriller with a tinge of comedy with a double scoop of Sidharth Malhotra. While, the film looks cool, feels cool, has a lot of sarcastic one-liners, boasts of some stylish stunts, and offers some good popcorn entertainment, you do feel though that filmmakers of their caliber could have pushed the envelope further to give Hindi cinema its first-ever action-comedy filled to the brim with black humor they have almost perfected at, alas only if the lazy writing could have been taken into account.

The story follows Gaurav (Sidharth Malhotra), a quintessential good looking aspiring sales executive of a multi-national corporation, living in Miami, United States. Gaurav is the quintessential metrosexual who can cook, own a minivan & has recently bought a new house. Despite being clay-model of an idealistic boyfriend, his longtime crush, colleague & good friend Kavya (Jacqueline Fernandez) doesn’t see the dependable & safe Gaurav as the man of her dreams. Elsewhere, there is Rishi (Sidharth Malhotra) who works for the National Security Council’s Unit X, which is engaged in all manner of clandestine missions, headed by the Colonel (Suniel Shetty). However, beneath his tough exterior covered with numerous tattoos and his killing spree in tuxedos and leather jackets, there lies a heart of gold that yearns to live an ordinary life, which consists of a stable nine-to-five job and a family of his own. Unable to get rid of the Colonel from looking over him, Rishi escapes with a hardware which contains information that could put Unit X’ reputation and credibility in danger. Mistaking Gaurav for Rishi, who was down in Mumbai to close a business deal, Colonel sends in his right hand Yaqub (Darshan Kumaar) & a team of highly trained assassins to take him down & retrieve the hardware. Director duo Raj-DK’s latest outing has all the ingredients of a slick action thriller. and bring their signature snark to a film that also wants to fit into Bond-Bourne territory by way of True Lies. The directors and dialogue writer Sumit Batheja aim for a combination of punches and punchlines, giggles and bullets, running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. Sadly, it isn’t mixed in the correct proportions and is further let down by some lazy writing. The agent who tries to break away and is hunted down by his former boss, the ditzy girlfriend who is the last to know, the dorky friend who embraces his violent side, the final mission to end it all, the meet-the-parents scene when bodies are strewn across the backyard – the film is unable to overcome its derivative cool and come up with new ways of reimagining the action comedy. The writers take their own sweet time in establishing their characters in the first half which does more harm than good. The film begins lethargically, but picks up the pace after the first 20-30 minutes, post which the entertainment is quite brisk and the narrative keeps you engaged between the simple lifestyle of Gaurav and the adventurous one of Rishi. The action builds impressively and there are two to three marquee stunts, particularly the one just prior to the interval and another one before the climax that will enliven action junkies. In the second half, the film loses steam and begins to drag a bit. Soon, bullets are being spraying recklessly, Rishi and Kavya’s life is at stake but, you are more concerned about the splendid Pottery Barn furniture that’s just been reduced to smithereens. The film is exactly that, pretty to look at, but highly fragile when deconstructed! While it feels like they gave up on their conceit too soon, it also feels like that was never the point. It’s just a pivot to go from one set piece to another. Think Mission Impossible without the sophistication, which is far better than stuffing the film with senseless information, plot details and snazzy gadgets or 90s screen savers as software.

Thankfully, there is no unwanted sob stories in the plot. But the film’s main problem is in its predictability. You know the twist from the first scene and obviously, everyone can gauge the ending from the film’s trailer. The ending seems abrupt and out of place too. Like the Bond and Bourne films, directors Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru (Raj and DK) open their film in Mumbai, zip to Miami, Bangkok, Goa, back to Mumbai and return to Miami. The directors meticulously tick off all the tropes of an action comedy, hitting their stride only by mid-point and serving up their brand of comedy blended with action in the second half. Comic interludes are provided by Gaurav’s best friend named Dixit (Hussain Dalal) – the name itself being an obvious set up for associated gags and the Miami-based Gujarati operative, Jignesh (Amit Mistry) who activates the ‘desi store mafia group’ on WhatsApp to track down missing persons. The banter between the actors is constantly laced with wit and sarcasm, and some dialogues and comic moments, leaves you constantly guffawing. Technically, The film has been given the canvas of a big actioner which is visible on screen as the film looks huge in scale keeping in mind the medium budget. The cinematography is top notch as the Miami and Mumbai scenes are shot with a lot of élan. The editing is quite nifty. The background score suits the nature of the film. The film also boasts of solid songs which should not have been revealed in the trailers. Sachin-Jigar’s music works well with the narrative style and Fernandez is impressive with her pole dancing during ‘Chandralekha’. I wished only that a longer rendition of earworm ‘Bandook Meri Laila’ had been worked in somehow. The story itself was weaved together in a very 90s-like fashion where all elements of entertainment are put together – comedy, romance, action – with each of these doing their bit in keeping you engaged. But, as a whole it loses steam. Interestingly again, a film full of any of these elements wouldn’t have worked together either. They were entertaining in that dosage only. Anything more and it would drag. That points to the inherent weakness of not being able to convert an interesting-sounding core idea into a full-fledged feature length film. If any of these departments were strong by themselves, one wouldn’t need the other elements as fillers. And even so, for a film that wants to showcase its action and masala, the film does relatively well with its attempt at story. Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez together make a very easy-on-the-eye pair and their chemistry is one of the film’s strengths. Fernandez plays a refreshing character who is torn between a guy who she’s close to but doesn’t really see a future with and the fact that that same guy is every girl’s dream. Unfortunately, her character isn’t give much scope apart from that until right at the end and even then, she gets token involvement in one action scene which doesn’t even amount to much. Malhotra plays both Gaurav and Rishi well, showing his own versatility as the simple hard-working guy and also the rough and slick Rishi. He carries both the action and comedy portions off with ease as well as the stunts, most of which he’s performed himself. Darshan Kumaar steps into the villain’s role and is absolutely brilliant in it. There’s no doubting his talents and it’s a delight to see him grace the screen in this way. Suniel Shetty returns to the big screen in a villain’s role too but he’s not seen quite as much as Kumaar which is a pity. Nonetheless, Shetty’s new look and return to the antagonist’s role after the highly successful film ‘Main Hoon Na’ (2004) was welcome and gave the film a different dimension. Writer Hussain Dalal is also plausible in his role as Gaurav’s friend, known as his surname Dixit. On the whole, ‘A Gentleman’ is a mildly entertaining action comedy letdown by its flawed script.

Directed – Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru

Starring – Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Darshan Kumar

Rated – PG15

Run Time – 133 minutes