Coming out of Abhishek Sharma’s Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, one can’t help but wonder if John Abraham ever gets tired of playing John Abraham in all his films.
It’s impossible to ignore those dumbbell-like biceps, those stiff facial muscles and that physicality which overpowers any character he plays. Whether it is wielding a knife in Rocky Handsome, mourning the Rajiv Gandhi-assassination in curtain-like hair (but the same physique, mind you!), or as a tie-wearing IAS officer – can the audience see anything beyond John Abraham himself? In spite of all the sincerity and good intentions. This problem continues to plague the actor, even in his latest film.
Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, as the name suggests, is based on the fascinating story behind India’s first nuclear tests. And even though the film tries to be a fact-based retelling, time and again, the film seems to go into mechanical mode. Like shortly after John Abraham’s Ashwat Raina tastes his first failure during proposals for nuclear tests – the film underlines it with a song called Sapna Jo Tha Mera, Kho Hi Gaya. And just in case someone had missed out on what the film was trying to make its audience feel, the song is sung by Arijit Singh. Predictably soon, when Ashwat is recalled for national duties, we see a string of John Abraham visuals strategising with a notepad in his hand in the picturesque locations of Mussoorie.
On paper, this should have been material for a riveting spy film. Thanks to the stylistic choices of the film’s director, the sand castle never gets built. Director Sharma (of Tere Bin Laden fame) forces in banal humour during tense moments, unnecessarily and without any craft. For instance there is a pointless subplot about a suspecting wife seeing her husband with a female colleague. Like during the film’s climax, the secret operation has passcodes like Yeh Ishq Nahi Aasan, Bas Itna Samajh Lijiye, something our city-bred protagonist struggles to recall. Much hilarious, wow! It is almost like Sharma is intent on making a thriller and its parody version side-by-side.
It feels like a parody all the more, in the way it treats its American characters. Like when a CIA operative is made to say, ‘I love teekha…’ with a plate of chaat in his hand. Cut to him coming out of a toilet with a bottle of Digene. There’s another character shown using a stress ball resembling a globe – suggesting he’s the ‘cocky American’ who likes to believe the whole duniya is in his mutthi. As some would call it, borderline xenophobia. It’s a lost opportunity because the CIA spy could have been a fascinating antagonist (a la Bourne Identity’s Clive Owen) in a much better film.
Most of the actors in Parmanu, seem to be acting on a different pitch than the film. While the film intends to be a rooted thriller, reliable actors like Anuja Sathe, Boman Irani and Yogendra Tikku seem to be loud and show-y in scenes, which require them to do much less. Only Vikas Kumar (of Powder fame) seems to be the one in form, but he (unfortunately) has little to do in the film.
Parmanu is the kind of the film where a character is asked to ‘clean the slate’ before a new chapter in the film unravels and everyone collective grins at the brilliance of the pun. It’s also a film that uses ‘Inter-mission’ instead of ‘Interval’ and pats itself on the back.
It’s impossible to hide your disappointment while coming out of Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, because it *should have* been a MUCH BETTER film. John Abraham might pride himself for backing ‘intellectual’ projects, but he also needs to have the vision to keep himself out of certain films. If good intentions alone could translate into great films, Rajkumar Hirani would be the greatest director on this planet.
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