Dark,
disturbing
and
full
of
gore,
Fateh
is
gung-ho
in
its
efforts
to
make
this
stylised
action
yarn
as
brutal
as
possible,
observes
Mayur
Sanap.
Post
Animal,
there’s
a
shift
in
Bollywood
action
movies
as
seen
from
a
gleeful
ambition
in
making
the
violence
look
sexy
on
screen.
In
Sonu
Sood’s
directorial
debut
Fateh,
violence
is
not
just
the
driving
force
behind
the
action,
it
forms
the
entire
personality
of
the
film.
Dark,
disturbing
and
full
of
gore,
Fateh
is
gung-ho
in
its
efforts
to
make
this
stylised
action
yarn
as
brutal
as
possible.
But
if
you
strip
all
that
away,
Sood’s
action
romp
is
a
pretty
basic
genre
film.
Sonu
Sood
plays
Fateh,
a
man
of
mysterious
origin,
who
believes
he
has
put
his
violent
past
behind
him.
He
dedicates
himself
to
creating
a
quiet
new
life
as
a
dairy
farm
supervisor
in
Punjab’s
Moga,
the
place
Sood
actually
hails
from.
When
a
village
girl
Nimrat
(Shivjyoti
Rajput)
is
abducted
by
cybercrime
mobsters,
Fateh
realises
many
of
his
villagers
have
fallen
prey
to
cyber
cons
by
signing
up
for
fraudulent
loan
schemes.
Disturbed
by
the
grim
happenings
around
him,
Fateh
emerges
as
an
avenging
angel,
who
goes
against
the
corrupt
system
that
exploits
the
helpless.
From
the
first
frame,
we
know
this
is
a
star
vehicle
for
Sood
that
puts
his
brooding
machismo
and
mean
action
avatar
to
the
front.
But
there’s
nothing
unique
about
this
character
design,
which
takes
heavy
cues
from
the
likes
of
The
Equalizer,
Wrath
of
Man
and
John
Wick.
Sood
and
his
writing
partner
Ankur
Pajni
craft
a
conspiracy
thriller
about
technology
perils,
so
we
have
words
Data
Breach,
Cyber
Attack
and
DeepFake
thrown
at
us
every
now
and
then,
but
pretty
much
all
of
it
feels
lame
due
to
a
pedestrian
script.
What
keeps
the
momentum
going
is
the
sleek
action.
Sood
shows
great
flair
in
the
staging
of
action
set
pieces
with
an
interesting
mix
of
grim
tone
and
offhanded
humour
that
makes
for
some
genuinely
crowd-pleasing
moments.
There’s
groovy
style
to
the
action
choreography
that
Lee
Whittaker
has
designed
and
Director
Of
Photography
Vincenzo
Condorelli’s
stylish
shots
make
these
scenes
hit
hard
and
heavy.
‘Usse
jaan
jaoge
to
jaan
jaayegi
(you
will
be
dead
if
you
get
to
know
him)‘,
a
character
warns
another
one
which
makes
Fateh
feel
more
like
a
Terminator-like
figure
than
an
actual
human
being.
Sood
wears
the
badassery
of
his
character
to
great
style
and
effect.
He
does
spout
a
few
quippy
lines
and
packs
a
punch
in
a
well-rehearsed
dance
of
violence
and
chaos.
Sadly,
the
focus
is
solely
on
Sood’s
brawny
hero
which
relegates
other
characters
to
one-note,
including
Naseeruddin
Shah
and
Vijay
Raaz
who
come
across
as
villain
no
1,
villain
no
2
due
to
nothing
significant
to
do.
Jacqueliene
Fernandez
plays
the
most
random
character
of
a
glasses-sporting
computer
geek,
an
‘ethical
hacker’
who
‘hates
guns
and
violence’
only
to
turn
into
a
doe-eyed
love
interest
who
serves
no
purpose
whatsoever.
Fateh,
for
all
its
worth,
is
a
standard
fare.
But
the
brutal
ways
it
finds
to
redeem
itself
makes
it
much
more
interesting
than
it
deserves
to
be.
And
that’s
a
big
win.
Fateh
Review
Rediff
Rating:
