At the end of August I ventured out with my husband and mother in law to see the almost family-oriented movie A Flying Jatt. Although I normally enjoy watching a Hindi film without subtitles, as I consider it extra language practice, I had reservations about this film based on the earlier release of Baaghi.
Both films star Tiger Schroff, and both films are rooted in martial arts. Contrived and mishmashed plot aside, Baaghi also featured some heavy-duty cultural appropriation, in stating that Kung Fu originated in India (despite neither country existing at the time), as well as racist quips.
A Flying Jatt positioned itself as a family superhero movie rather than an action/thriller, so I had some hope for it.
Like many Indian films, I found the plot to be composed of tid-bits from other movies. The opening mirrors Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle: The main villain Mr. Mahlotra/The Axe Gang attempts to intimidate a residential society and are defeated by the strong-willed landlady, while the main protagonist Aman/Sing is useless.
In this film, you will find the scene of Quick Silver replacing items in hyper speed in X-Men: Days of Futures Past. You will also find background music directly pulled from Spiderman and Shaolin Soccer, along with nods to The Matrix and Superman.
The general summary is as follows: Mr. Mahlotra wants to build a highway over a lake to save costs for his company, however the landlady of the apartments across from his factory to sell the land, in part because of a sacred tree. Mr. Mahlotra then hires the violent Raka to cut down the tree, but Aman (Tiger Schroff), a resident and timid martial arts teacher, attempts to stop him. The nearly-fatal battle ends in a draw, with Raka being thrown over the lake to the factory and Aman gaining superhuman powers.
The comical scenes in the film are enjoyable, and the pacing could have been improved if the romance angle was cut entirely and the battles were shortened. The songs also get in the way, especially the awkward romantic number between Tiger Schroff and Jacqueline Fernandez during their first kiss, which was highly sexualized and seemed out of place for the genre. Pacing, however, seems to be a general problem in recent films. Rustom and Wazir also dragged on after about an hour into the films.
Overall, the film wasn't a complete disaster, and was certainly better than Baaghi. I'm not sure I would recommend it, unless, of course, you would like to try and find all of the scenes and sounds used from other films.
Both films star Tiger Schroff, and both films are rooted in martial arts. Contrived and mishmashed plot aside, Baaghi also featured some heavy-duty cultural appropriation, in stating that Kung Fu originated in India (despite neither country existing at the time), as well as racist quips.
A Flying Jatt positioned itself as a family superhero movie rather than an action/thriller, so I had some hope for it.
In this film, you will find the scene of Quick Silver replacing items in hyper speed in X-Men: Days of Futures Past. You will also find background music directly pulled from Spiderman and Shaolin Soccer, along with nods to The Matrix and Superman.
The general summary is as follows: Mr. Mahlotra wants to build a highway over a lake to save costs for his company, however the landlady of the apartments across from his factory to sell the land, in part because of a sacred tree. Mr. Mahlotra then hires the violent Raka to cut down the tree, but Aman (Tiger Schroff), a resident and timid martial arts teacher, attempts to stop him. The nearly-fatal battle ends in a draw, with Raka being thrown over the lake to the factory and Aman gaining superhuman powers.
The comical scenes in the film are enjoyable, and the pacing could have been improved if the romance angle was cut entirely and the battles were shortened. The songs also get in the way, especially the awkward romantic number between Tiger Schroff and Jacqueline Fernandez during their first kiss, which was highly sexualized and seemed out of place for the genre. Pacing, however, seems to be a general problem in recent films. Rustom and Wazir also dragged on after about an hour into the films.
Overall, the film wasn't a complete disaster, and was certainly better than Baaghi. I'm not sure I would recommend it, unless, of course, you would like to try and find all of the scenes and sounds used from other films.
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