When the promos of Sonu Sood’s directorial debut film Fateh were released, there were discussions that it was going to be the next big violent film after the likes of Kill and Marco. But frankly, this action entertainer has no setpiece that has novelty, and the story part with all those green-screen big screens featuring a Naseerudhin Shah who clearly signed this film to pay the bills is your usual righteous hero protecting his people kind of thing. By infusing action blocks we have seen in Hollywood and Bollywood into a generic action film, Fateh’s outer shell is swanky, but the inside is hollow.
Fateh Singh is this guy who runs a simple dairy farm in his village in Punjab. And it is that harmonious little village where everyone is like family to him. At one particular point, a girl named Nimrat, who was close to Fateh, goes missing, and Fateh finds out that she has some links with fake loan apps. Fateh’s efforts to find that girl and where that journey takes him are what we see in this movie.
So, in this fictional world of this movie, there is this cyber villain who orchestrates live electrocution of people. The electrocution phases are increased as the number of people watching the live stream increases. So, at one point, we see a girl in that chair, and everyone is watching it with teary eyes, including the girl’s own mother. I mean, she can’t emotionally watch it, but still, she is contributing to the number of views that can take her daughter’s life. The movie shows multiple reaction shots of people watching the live video while crying. This is how the story writer and director of the film, Sonu Sood, stages an emotional scene. Then you have ethical hackers who are trying to figure out the IP address of the villain, and everyone starts to scream different country names, and only our genius heroine could understand that it’s IP spoofing.
Till the interval of the film, there aren’t any big action blocks in the movie. A poorly executed rip-off of the Equalizer action sequence is the only one happening there. The movie approaches the intermission with this warning that we might need a break because havoc is about to happen. But even in the second half, the action is not in the driver’s seat, and a larger chunk of the screenplay is left for dialogues and drama. You have these lines like “Jaan Jaayege Toh Jaan Jaayega” uttered by someone like Naseeruddin Shah. The major action blocks feel like a paled-out version of some of the sequences we have seen in multiple films, including the very recent corridor fight in Animal. One thing I liked about the film was the smartness with which they executed a blast sequence under the Golden Gate Bridge. A CGI explosion in an extremely wide shot and showing the reflection of the blast on the hero’s car’s windshield was a really smart move to keep it on budget.
Sonu Sood gives enough emphasis to his body in the initial patches of the movie, and the character of Fateh Singh is a one-note character that definitely looks stylish. And the design of that character is such that he should look tough and unmoved rather than emotional and affected. Vijay Raaz, with his typical easygoing attitude and wearing those casual outfits, has the looks of a remorseless, graceful bad guy. Unfortunately, the writing was really poor, and the ending of that character was kind of funny. When it comes to Naseerudhin Shah, I am equally happy and sad for him. I mean, the character with those cheesy lines is an insult to his caliber, but at the same time, I am guessing he might have got a fairly good pay cheque for 5 days of shooting totally around the green screen. Jacqueline Fernandez is the hoodie-backpack hacker whose team, who has no social life, is always ready for her. With that “Do Guna Lagaan” accent, it’s really difficult to find something worth praising in her performance.
There is this Chinese character named Lee in the movie, and whenever he is shown on screen, he will have chopsticks and maggy in his hands. And the lines written around it are the only bit of comedy in the film, and then you have unintentional comedy when bad guys say lines that were supposed to be cool. Sonu Sood’s foundation for this movie is your cliched savior hero trope. And I think he thought placing a lot of sequences lifted from Hollywood films, including a wasted usage of that classic mirror shot from Contact, would make it look like a stylish movie with substance.
By infusing action blocks we have seen in Hollywood and Bollywood into a generic action film, Fateh's outer shell is swanky, but the inside is hollow.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended