Action genre was always considered to be one of the safest bets at the box office before the new millennium. And probably the last action hero who successfully ventured into Bollywood purely relying on his power packed action sequences and well built body structure was Suniel Shetty, proving himself with his BALWAN released in 1992. Now working on the same game plan, Vidyut Jammwal & director Dilip Ghosh come up with a similar kind of project after more than two decades, which solely focuses on its amazing action stunts and chase sequences to please the audience. And in that process they mostly win the battle filling up the void felt in this particular genre by the Hindi cinema's action lovers from long.
Post his debut in a negative character in FORCE (2011), COMMANDO can also be considered as a re-launch pad for Vidyut with a clear focus on his fresh positive image makeover in the industry. As far as the plot is concerned, the film revolves around the same ages old saga of the clash between the good & evil, so there is nothing path breaking in that particular section frankly. But despite of being completely predictable in its story progression, COMMANDO still features some exclusive technical merits which force you to take a strong notice of the collective attempt made by its entire team.
First of all its all about being a high-voltage action extravaganza with many jaw dropping, pulsating and never seen before (in Hindi films) kind of stunts performed by Vidyut without the use of any body double, cables or safety measures (as stated in a text slide shown before the beginning of the film in bold letters). Though for the fans of East Asian action films, this might be still lacking behind but that surely doesn't allow you to ignore the unbelievable kind of efforts put in by the lead hero, who must have gone through an extreme level of training and workshops to achieve the excellence witnessed on the screen. To be honest, Vidyut doesn't act in the film in literal terms but manages to grab your complete attention from his first fight sequence itself and then goes on to serve more in the later reels convincingly. Undoubtedly an act of mettle which should put all the so called 'Big Action Heroes' of the present to shame, since they have got that title purely because of the technology and gimmicks used to shoot their impressive fight sequences in a false manner.
Second, comes the enjoyable soundtrack of the film which doesn't let you complain, even when the songs are all placed abruptly, hindering the racy pace of the movie without any basic requirement. There is a fine bhangra song featuring the one and only Daler Mehndi with the words "Lena Dena", an upbeat catchy beat number saying "Lutt Jaawan" played in the end credits, a peppy item number and an extremely well shot, beautifully composed and brilliantly rendered love song, "Saawan Bairi" which needs to be seen on the bigger screen only to feel its right impact generated by all those shots canned in slow motion.
As the third merit of the film comes its DOP (Sejal Shah) who undeniably can be stated as its second lead working behind the screen silently. Here the camera not only captures all the breathtaking action scenes magnificently but it also cans the jungle backdrop and the chase sequences with the much needed energy & beauty together. The background score pumps up the overall impact effectively but also turns out to be quite interfering in few scenes which could have been avoided.
So with the above mentioned three merits, COMMANDO is a fine watch before intermission taking the action in Hindi cinema to a different level altogether. However in the second half, it has few visible directorial flaws like the way, girl suddenly changes her clothes while wandering in the jungle and the uneven sequence of hanging a replacement body in the middle of the town with some jumping cuts. Yet the action keeps covering its weaker points repeatedly resulting in a mostly likable film in the end especially for the viewers who love to watch such incredible stunts performed on the screen in a compelling mode.
Performing as the film's female lead Pooja Chopra looks good on the screen talking too much as per his written character. She tries her best to deliver a bubbly act but is not able to come up with something extraordinary or special. On the other hand, Jaideep Ahlawat proves to be a fine actor once again (after GANGS OF WASSEYPUR) in a commanding performance of a standard bad man of Hindi films wearing some horrifying, abnormal white eye lenses. And in that get up he truly gives a tough fight to Vidyut, speaking in a typical Punjabi lingo & cracking jokes, providing the much needed relief too in an otherwise tense film. Darshan Jariwal is OK playing the army officer and the rest of the cast just serves the purpose as required.
In all, as a film COMMANDO is nothing more than an average action packed Hindi project where the hero beats them all with a purpose. But here the difference is the way he beats them all showcasing some terrific self performed stunts which deserve to be seen not only by the viewers but also by the other 'Big Names' of the industry as their new action lessons. And taking a cue from this, I really wish someone finds the vision of making a legendary action Hindi film soon taking Vidyut Jammwal in the lead which would give him the fair returns, he is genuinely worthy of.
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