2 weeks Ago By Sanyukta Thakare
uJewel Thief directed by Kookie Gulati, Robbie Grewal explores the story of a heist with both partners trying to one up each other. However, the thief best known for his skills ends up winning the loot and the girl. Led by Jaideep as the bad boy and Saif Ali Khan as the good hearted thief, the film doesn't have anything new to offer, in terms of comedy, music, direction or story line.
The story takes itself too seriously, border lining Dhoom, Sikander and Race franchises. The film beings with Rajan Aulakh's introduction as the bad boy who is rich, acquires art, paintings and occasionally likes to dabble into painting himself, with the blood of his enemies. We never find out much about what he does, but his illegal accounts are ceased by Interpol and to get the money back to his clients he needs to find a new way.
His way is none other then getting in touch with a well known Jewel Thief, Rehan Roy played by Saif Ali Khan. By blackmailing his family, Rajan finds a way to get in touch with Rehan in Budapest. Meanwhile, Rehan is already on the run from police and decides to fool them into bring him back to India.
On meeting Rajan and hearing his demands, Rehan decides to help his family and steal the diamond 'Red Sun'. However, we don't get to see much of the stealing or planning, as for most of the runtime, the characters are just narrating their plans as if they are still discussing and imagining it. With Kunal Kapoor's Vikram Patel on his tail, Rehan fails to steal the diamond.
But soon reveals that it was his plan all alone. SEE ALSO: Ne Zha 2 Review; Chinese Animated Film Brings Real 3D Back To Big Screens A post shared by Netflix India (@netflix_in) There aren't much twists in the film, or the thrill of a heist as the plot remains predictable. Especially with the characters narrating every bit of information.
The direction and the cinematography does not add anything new to the film, but the weird zooms and color palate makes the film look tacky. There are many scenes in the film that don't add substance or context to the plot of characters, and the dialogues take away from any seriousness of the story. While Saif is known for his carefree performances and often for comic timing, the script does not work in his favour.
Jaideep gives his best to be the evil villain of the film. We have seen the menacing aura of his performances in other movies and shows, but the film fails him with the unnecessary tattoos and colourful, texture heavy wardrobe. For most of the run time, the female lead's name hasn't even been mentioned, and when she is involved in the heist, it isn't even a women specific job that she has been asked to do.
The few good moments that do come in the film are with Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Jayant Roy, aka Rehan's father. SEE ALSO: Andor Season 2 Review: Star Wars Series Fills The Gaps With More Hard Hitting Stories A post shared by Netflix India (@netflix_in) Overall, the film is missable and doesn't offer much for its genre or the performances of the actors. Cover artwork by Patrick Gawande/Mashable India.
