Satyameva Jayate movie review: John Abraham's film is for the masses, not the classes

There are certain aspects that mark the differences between a good cinema and an entertaining film. Satyameva Jayate falls under the second category as it succeeds to entertain but lacks the cinematic and directorial brilliance that is required to make a movie classy.

STORYLINE

Veer (John Abraham) is out on a deadly mission of eradicating the corrupt officers in Mumbai police department. With the belief that such cops do not deserve to wear the khaki, Veer starts burning all the corrupt cops alive one after another. PS: He always carries a matchstick box for this purpose.

Unable to contain the murders, most trusted and reliable officer DCP Shivansh (Manoj Bajpayee) is given the charge to track down the killer. Here onwards starts the cat and mouse chase. The reason behind Veer taking up law in his own hands is connected to his past.

PERFORMANCES

John Abraham is always good as an action hero. His huge well-built physique makes him an ideal man to go shirtless on screen and pull off stunts that are almost impossible to do in real life by a normal man. After lifting a bike in Force and a car in Force 2 (which was reportedly not a photography trick), John is seen performing some more stunts in Satyameva Jayate that will give fans an adrenaline rush.

In this film, you will see him throwing men like toys, breaking apart a car door with his bare hands, splitting a big tire with just muscle power and many other stunts. Nonetheless, the action sequences are really entertaining and somehow suits his body as well. Talking about acting, John has improved a lot in his craft. Unlike earlier, when he used to have more or less the same expression for every scene, he is now able to pull off emotional scenes quite well enough.

Manoj Bajpayee is an actor who does not need to prove his acting mettle. However, Satyameva Jayate fails to utilise his talent as this film is mainly about action and thrill, without much scope for his acting. However, he portrays his character as a loyal police officer really well.

Debutant Aisha Sharma, playing the character of Veer's girlfriend Shikha, is decent, considering it is her first film. Amruta Khanvilkar as Shivansh's wife Sarita has very little to do in the film. Unlike in Raazi, she hardly has any screen presence in Satyameva Jayate to make an impact.

POSITIVES

Satyameva Jayate is filled with high-octane action sequences. Although the fights do not appear to be realistic, it entertains, and somehow looks convincing on John. There are a couple of thrilling moments, where the antagonist almost falls into the trap of the cops. There is also a big interesting twist just before the interval. There are limited songs in the movie, and those are good to listen.

NEGATIVES

Satyameva Jayate has too many clichéd moments. In fact, the entire treatment of the film appears to be too outdated and makes you feel like watching a movie from the 90s era. The director completely misses out on logic in certain scenes. For instance, the antagonist tortures and kills a bad cop inside the latter's house as he keeps screaming and shouting in pain, but not a single person from the locality hears anything. There are a number of such silly loopholes.

VERDICT

Satyameva Jayate is one such film that is entertaining but not impressive. The movie is loaded with high-voltage action and drama but lacks the new-age cinematic experience. In a nutshell, this movie is for the masses, but not for the classes.