Film: Crakk - Jeetegaa Toh Jiyegaa!

Cast: Arjun Rampal, Vidyut Jammwal, Nora Fatehi, Amy Jackson, Ankit Mohan

Director: Aditya Datt

Rating: 3.5 Moons

Vidyut Jammwal has established himself as one of Bollywood’s top action stars. His fans love him for trying something out-of-the-box every time. Taking his commitment to providing entertainment through action forward, Vidyut brings to the audience Crakk - Jeetegaa Toh Jiyegaa. He produces it under his banner, Action Hero Films. Directed by Aditya Datt, the actioner releases today.

This is the story of Nihal (Ankit Mohan) and his younger brother Siddharth (Vidyut Jammwal). Nihal is into extreme underground sports. His competition is Dev (Arjun Rampal). In a fatal accident during a competition, Nihal loses his life and the prime suspect is Dev. Siddharth steps up to seek revenge. He enters the 'maidaan' to win a competition, but his life is at risk. 

It is a no-brainer that Aditya relies heavily on making fans crush hard over Vidyut and Arjun, the studs of Crakk. There are long pieces of extreme action and chases. The stunt choreography is brilliant and it's unique too. The protagonist and antagonist have aggressive face-offs. That's when the fans of this genre will cheer. Aditya gets the intent of making Crakk right. With a familial core in place, the love angle is kept to the bare minimum. 

As Crakk progresses, the plot gets lost and all that remains is the illogical placement of scenes and humourous dialogues. Anything done in excess can ruin the mood, that's what happens with this actioner. An overdose of action, fights and bloodshed can be disgusting to watch for over two-and-a-half hours. It gets painful. People are dying at regular intervals; one sequence involves a bunch of hyenas chasing the competitors and killing those who are not at par with their speed. The brutality gets monotonous and boring. 

Vidyut and Arjun shine in the action portions but when it comes to acting, it seems overdone. While the latter does a decent job, the former forces himself with a typical Mumbaiya accent. It doesn't come naturally and effortlessly to him. Beyond performing stunts brilliantly, there's nothing offered by Vidyut and Arjun. 

Nora Fatehi looks stunning and dances like a dream. It's restricted to that. She struggles with her dialogue delivery and appears nervous most of the time. When Vidyut takes over, the actress, sadly, gets left behind in the background. The situation with Amy Jackson isn't different either. She looks intense but that's not enough to play a cop. Her dialogues aren't clear due to the language barrier. Her character is unnecessary after a point. 

Crakk is an out-and-out film for Vidyut Jammwal fans. If you're in for his brand of cinema, this is the right weekend watch. On the whole, the actioner lacks the soul, strength and body to carry the weight of good content. PeepingMoon.com gives this film 3.5 Moons for the action choreography only.