Rocky Handsome
    
                       
Director: Nishikant Kamat
Year:  2016
Duration: 120 minutes
Music: Sunny and Inder Bawra
Rating: 7.0
Well, I guess I will be crossing Goa off my list of places to visit any time soon. This film portrays it as an infected venereal disease of drug dealers, illegal organ theft, child prostitution and pretty much any evil under the sun. But they are supposed to have great beaches. I see that Taken has made it to Bollywood though this is an official remake of the Korean film The Man from Nowhere. I have not seen that, but my guess is that it isn't as brutal as this one nor has as many musical numbers. It might seem strange to some that in-between the crushing of heads, the slicing of throats, the axes in the head, there are a few solid musical numbers. A couple while the violence is being perpetrated.  That's Bollywood! This apparently bombed at the box office, so perhaps somethings don't cross cultural boundaries - or maybe because they dislike the Koreans. But I thought it was fairly decent - a solid entry into the Taken genre - perhaps it takes too long to get to the meat of the matter - the killing - with a long set-up - but you know it is coming, so be patient.



Rocky runs a low-end pawnshop where anything stolen, borrowed or blue can be hocked. He isn't fussy. Or well-shaven. Since he is played by John Abraham, you expect the three-day stubble. I am not sure I have even seen him clean shaven in a film.  He isn't one of my favorite Bollywood actors - almost too handsome when he arrived on the scene in Jism in 2003 after a career in modeling. He doesn't have to do much convincing acting in this other than look grim and often with his shirt off. Cheesecake for women. He has kept himself in shape. Through a series of short flashbacks and a musical number we see that he was once happily in love with a woman (Shruti Haasan - a big South Indian star), but clearly something has happened. He is morose and unfriendly to everyone around him except the little girl who lives next door. Naomi (Diya Chalwad) is a cutie with a prostitute mother who takes drugs as her afternoon tea. The mother is Nathalia Kaur who is Brazilian and has a sizzling dance number in the nightclub. Unfortunately, her heroin habit gets the better of her and she steals a large stash from the wrong people.



The bad guys in this are such scum, you would not even want to wash your floors with them. If they had awards for cretins in acting, these two brothers would be in the running. They figure out who stole it and brutally beat her. That was the easy part. They then start taking out her organs while she is still alive - at what point she died is hard for the coroner to determine. But then they take the girl too - for her corneas - young soft brown eyes. Rocky isn't that concerned about the mother, but he had a soft spot for the girl. Oh, and before his days as a pawn shop owner, he was a master assassin for the Indian government. So, you know where this is going. Merciless and thorough, he was famous for leaving no one alive. He hasn't lost any steps. The action scene in which he takes out most of Goa with a blade is quite satisfying. The top killer for the two brothers is played by Kazu Patrick Tang, who has been a stunt person in loads of films and is a great opponent here. The film is directed by Nishikant Kamat who also plays one of the brothers. There are seven songs on the album release. Two hours. These days that is less than most Western films.