Sunny Deol made a phenomenal comeback with Anil Sharma’s Gadar 2 in 2023. The film’s acceptance and box office run was such that nobody expected. Naturally, following this, there was a keen anticipation for his next. It has been a long wait as his next actioner Jaat with Gopichand Malineni has taken almost two years. But the wait has been worth.

Jaat starts off in 2009 when Ranatunga (Randeep Hooda), his brother Somulu (Viineet Kumar Siingh) and others are working as labourers in Sri Lanka for the Sri Lankan army. Once while digging a ground, Ranatunga comes across hidden bars of gold. He decides that they should steal the gold and flee from the place. They succeed in doing so by killing a number of Sri Lankan army personnel.

Ranatunga and others arrive in Andhra Pradesh through the sea route and settle in a village after bribing the cops. Slowly, he becomes a ruthless don and starts spreading his empire.

In the present day, Ranatunga’s men kill a large number of people in the most gruesome manner in a village. Inspector Vijaya Lakshmi (Saiyami Kher) and other female cops visit Ranatunga’s place to arrest him. However, they get trapped. Just then, a stranger (Sunny Deol) by chance enters the village and slowly comes across Ranatunga and his atrocities.

Jaat is based on a typical good vs evil theme but the film isn’t narrated and presented in a clichéd way. Normally in such stories, the hero, mostly a man in a uniform, is given the task to either arrest or eliminate the villain. But here, Sunny’s character unintentionally enters the village and, most importantly, wants an apology for a small incident. Coming to the latter, the whole ‘Sorry bol’ episode is hilarious masterstroke. It also gives rise to exciting confrontational and action sequences. The action isn’t like the typical dubbed south films we see on TV. The fights over here are quite creatively shot.

Jaat goes onto another level once Sunny’s character comes to know the demonic nature of Ranatunga’s character. However, then comes a time when the narrative becomes a bit slow and dragging with entertainment taking a backseat. But thankfully, a couple of sequences later in the second half, including the climax when a major revelation happens, make up for it.

Jaat is a typical Sunny Deol entertainer with a few meta references too both in the dialogues and fight sequences. Hence, those who aren’t his fans or don’t like such type of masala entertainers are bound to be disappointed. But notwithstanding this, the level of violence and gore could have been lessened. This wouldn’t have reduced the overall impact of the villain. Although one can’t expect logic in such genre of films, there are a lot of creative liberties taken.

Sunny Deol makes a late entry but the film completely rests on his shoulders and he delivers consistently. It’s a pleasure and a wonder to see him carry out such fight sequences despite being close to 70. He also scores in the dialogues, especially whenever he narrates the ‘idli’ incident. Randeep Hooda also shines as the villain and you love to hate him.

Saiyami Kher gives an honest act as a cop. Regena Cassandrra is a revelation in a ruthless role. Viineet Kumar Siingh displays his talent yet again. Upendra Limaye takes away all the claps and whistles in his cameo, just like he did in Animal. Jagapathi Babu and Ramya Krishnan are decent in their supporting roles.

Overall: Jaat is a paisa vasool entertainer if you are a fan of action masala entertainers, especially the ones starring Sunny Deol. At the box office, the film will score more in the interiors than in the metros as it’s an ideal single screen film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Gopichand Malineni

Producers: Mythri Movie Makers, People Media Factory and Zee Studios

Writers: Saurabh Gupta and Gopichand Malineni

Cast: Sunny Deol, Randeep Hooda, Saiyami Kher, Regena Cassandrra, Viineet Kumar Siingh

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