Ghayal Once Again movie review: Nonsense; but action-packed, thrilling and idealistic nonsense

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Ratings: 3 stars (out of 5)

• A sequel to Rajkumar Santoshi\'s Ghayal, 26 years later
• Ajay Mehra (Deol) inhabits new plots, new villains and old conflicts
• Deol\'s second directorial venture after Dillagi (1999)

So often, I've opened a newspaper and felt rage. Blatant barrages of suffering and scams and sadness are splashed across front pages. Worse, some of it is true. Like many, I turn over to the last page to seek some happy sports news. So many of us go to bed with fantasies of wonton vigilantism and all-conquering messiahs of justice. You want to make things right, but you don't know how. The simplest way is to dream.

Filmmakers, however, have the power to channel this fury differently. They concoct up heroes and villains and derive satisfaction from their fictitious battles. Their films often radiate the nation's mood, its language and suppressed emotions - even if they don't intend to.

This is where Sunny Deol's famous Dhai Kilo He Haath become living, breathing wish-fulfillment weapons. They get the job done, and they make you happy. Even today, I'd rather see him hulk-smash the living daylights out of perverse ministers than watch oversmart secret agents hunt down terrorists across the globe.

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The only problem he - and other old-school heroes - will face is evolution. The advent of technology. The digitalisation of madness.

A wronged Ajay Mehra could escape from prison in 1990 and avenge his brother's death with dialoguebaazi and heavy hands. But Balwant Rai (Amrish Puri) didn't have a broadband connection. 2016 is a different beast. Deol must feel like Sylvester Stallone coming out of cryogenic sleep in Demolition Man.

Also read: Sunny Deol explains why it took him 25 years to make Ghayal Once Again

But Ghayal Once Again isn't simply Ghayal all over again. Amidst its goofy modernisations of lawlessness, there's an embattled Ajay Mehra - who is now more Batman than Salman. He isn't mentally all there, but then which traumatized action hero ever is?

Photo: IANS

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When he screams for the blood of evil industrialist Raj Bansal (Narendra Jha), he is either given pills to pop or slapped repeatedly by his pretty shrink (Soha Ali Khan). By day, he runs a therapeutic truth-conquering publication called Satyakaam. But by night, his suave underground organisation (surveillance, hackers, the works) captures the frauds that will make the next day's news.

The film revolves around four righteous college kids and an orange hard-drive, which contains footage of Bansal's bratty son (Abhilash Kumar) murdering Mehra's old friend and ex-DCP (Om Puri).

Unlike its predecessor, this one isn't a black-and-white battle of brawns versus power. There's a lot going on. Bansal isn't an all-out baddie; he has his own family saga going on. He regrets how his wife (Tisca Chopra) and he have raised their boy.

He spends the entire film battling the ultimate face of conscience - a sanskaari mother - while trying to cover up the "accident" from a hideous tower overlooking the Bandra-Worli Sea-link. If this doesn't already sound eerily familiar, a Reliance Store also serves as a plot point.

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Deol, the director, gets innovative with his flashbacks. He respects his own limitations as an ageing machine, and only takes the legend of Ghayal (and Mehra) forward, not the universe. If things begin to go the do-gooding 'Jai Ho' way, he distracts with some seriously pulsating chase sequences.

There's an exciting pre-interval 30-minute chase across the city that culminates in a mall, and another that goes from a traffic jam into the local trains. Not to mention an absurd climax that involves a rather flexible helicopter and three ear-splitting trademark slaps. If nothing, this relentless commitment to the bizarre is laudable.

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All through, a very immersive Dark-Knight-ish background score keeps things moving even when they're not. There's obviously a fair sprinkle of tackiness; you wish for better young actors and softer caricatures, but perhaps some movies are destined to be loud.

Maybe homegrown vigilantes shouldn't really bother with formalities at all. To hell with the media, cops, governments and the general concept of civilization. But then again, not all of them can scream "Sach-jhoot gaya bhaad mein!" and tap into our most careless fantasies of swift justice.

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I quite enjoyed the Deolisms, and it isn't only the nostalgia speaking. Perhaps it's the unapologetic clumsiness or grand wishes of a genuine Action-Hero franchise. Or perhaps because it finally proves that even rubbish can be engaging and enjoyable.