Satyameva Jayate Movie Review

Satyameva Jayate Story: Veer (John Abraham) takes on the mission of killing corrupt cops in the Mumbai police force. Haunted by ghastly incidents from his past, he turns into a vigilante and Veer has his own mysterious plan of action. Meanwhile, honest and intelligent inspector Shivansh (Manoj Bajpayee) is given the arduous task of tracking down the cop killer.

Satyameva Jayate Review: Movies with themes of anti-corruption and misuse of power are relevant to our times, now more than ever before. ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (SMJ) is an action thriller that works on the simple premise of an angry man, fighting corruption with raging passion and violence. While the setup is pertinent, the execution is far from ideal. This masala entertainer has a huge hangover of the staple cinema that used to draw crowds during ’70s and ’80s. But the thundering background score (the Sanskrit chanting used to heighten the drama in several scenes), unrelenting drama and over-the-top action, make this movie feel a little too jaded.

The film starts off with Veer (John Abraham) burning a cop alive. It sets the tone for the rest of the film, which over a course of 2 hours and 20 minutes, does not deviate from the set path. Veer miraculously shows up every time a cop is committing a crime in various suburbs of the city. There is a twist in the story at mid-point, but even after the arrival of this unforeseen development, the screenplay stays focussed on the crusade against corrupt cops and setting them to flames. The narrative never changes gears from the cliched good versus evil scenario, while also doling out lessons on patriotism. The heavy-duty dialogues are written to play to the gallery, but more often than not they’re over employed and end up losing their intended impact. The rivalry between Manoj Bajpayee and John Abraham’s characters had a lot of scope, but the writing fails to explore it in a credible manner.

The performances are a lot better than director Milap Zaveri’s vision. John Abraham leads the charge in ‘SMJ’. While he’s tearing up tyres and beating the bad guys to a pulp, he infuses the angry young man role with passion and energy. Manoj Bajpayee as is in top form. His ace act as the fiercely determined and honest cop adds credibility to the film. Debutante, Aisha Sharma, has a confident screen presence, with a little more work on diction, she could do much better.

‘SMJ’ desperately tries very hard to sell the age-old idea of revenge and righteousness. But the big booming treatment is a little too hard to accept and digest. With John in the film, one can expect good action, but it’s gruesome and a little too bloody at times. Truth be told, the story is relevant in today’s times, but too many cliches in the story and the style of storytelling will make you want to cop out of this one.