When he is not killing corrupt police officers in Satyameva Jayate, Veer (John Abraham) rescues puppies from dustbins and takes them to a pet house. During one visit, he is reacquainted with a feisty Shikha (Aisha Sharma), who, despite her unconvincing appearance, is an actual vet. She takes her stethoscope, checks out the puppy and then with a straight face, tells Veer that she can ease the puppy's pain, but it won't help much. And then she takes out a lethal injection. The next thing we know is Veer has already dug a grave for the pup. Let me remind you that the above scene has nothing to do with the main plot (that is, apart from showing that our leading lady is a secret psycho who kills animals without asking a second opinion). That's how seriously absurd Milap Zaveri's Satyameva Jayate is for you!

So yeah, here is the plot - John Abraham's Veer has been brutally killing corrupt and cruel police personnel, specifically by burning them alive. The investigating officer, Shivansh Rathod (Manoj Bajpayee), is appointed to catch the culprit. However, Veer has left no clue about his identification and is always one step ahead of the police. The whole movie is a cat-n-mouse game, where the cat represents movie police at its most clueless and the mouse likes to flex his biceps every now and then.

I don't know how intentional it is, but everything about Satyameva Jayate feels very reminiscent to those masala Hindi films of the '80s and '90s (or even the dubbed Telugu movies that pop up on our television every now and then). The kinds where the hero goes on a one-man army against the baddies of the society just because he had a sad, dark past. If you love to watch such movies, then perhaps, the protagonist's vendetta and some of the bombastic dialogues in Satyameva Jayate might appeal to you.

The best thing I liked and appreciated about Satyameva Jayate was a killer twist near the interval. On the hindsight, there was no leadup to it but it does jolt you. But the impact of the twist wasn't enough to compensate for the mediocrity that came before and after the scene.

Like I mentioned before, the plot of Satyameva Jayate is nothing we haven't seen before. So when you are using the same kind of plot, try attempting something different. Like how the Tamil film Anniyan (Aparichit in Hindi) had the idea of having a vigilante with multiple personalities. It provided a very refreshing layer to the plot.

No such luck with Satyameva Jayate, though. Except for that interval twist, things fall into a predictable pattern. We even know who Veer's final target will be, much before the cops in the movie deduce. Milap Zaveri uses melodrama to establish sympathy for the hero's motivations but it fails to trigger any emotions in the viewer. Or maybe I was too cynical a viewer for this kind of film.

If that wasn't enough, the plot is filled with enough ludicrous moments that make even serious scenes unintentionally hilarious. Shivansh finds out that the killer is murdering cops in places in Mumbai whose first letter matched the order of the letters in 'Satyamev Jayate'. It would have been a smart moment for the cop, if he hadn't just deduced the pattern with just three murders (like a friend said, it could also have been 'Saturday').

While we tried to guess which places could Veer target next, the writers abandon the idea completely in the second half. Even they must have thought that these gameplay kills need more brains and time, and at 141 minutes, the movie is already bloated!

It is also convenient that Veer kills people mostly in places where there are no witnesses (even at a petrol pump that gets blown up) and this is Mumbai we are talking about. If you haven't had your fill of ROFL moments, there is also a painting that the hero creepily draws of his sleeping girlfriend, that looks like a photoshopped paint job of Rose from Titanic!

Another 'clever' moment in the film is how it plays on the similarity between the Hindi word for a police station and a real place near Mumbai during a crucial scene. I am sure the writer must be patting himself on the back for coming out with this 'brilliant' homophone.

Speaking of similar words, nearly every character speaks in sentences that somehow end up in rhymes. Milap Zaveri as a writer has penned some really good dialogues for movies like Kaante and Jhankaar Beats, but here his lines are just a few notches above Gunda. I mean who talks like 'Tera naam Shivansh hai par aap Shiv ka ansh ho'? Moreover, Milap inserts every popular social media chatter, from 'soldiers standing on the border', 'achhe din', 'Chappan inch ka jigara' just to elicit claps from the audience.

Every character in the film is either one-dimensionally cruel or clueless or wanton, save for the hero who is just a mean machine with a heart.

There are also enough inconsistencies in a film that feel jerky. Like a scratch on Veer's neck kept getting bigger, only to disappear mysteriously all of a sudden. Also, have no clue why Shivansh is still given the charge of the case when numerous people get killed right under his nose!

Anyway, all these lead to a very over-dramatic, OTT finale where everyone alive and relevant to the plot hams to the hilt.

The songs are mediocre (the Dilbar track is just there to appease the front-benchers). The background score is loud and mostly filled with Shiva shlokas to emphasize the destroyer in Veer. The editing is choppy at places.

Talking about the performances, it is a John Abraham show all the way, where he gets to grimace and flex his muscles throughout. Manoj Bajpayee once again plays a lawman who can't catch the culprit. Unlike his scene-stealing turns in Special 26 and Aiyaary, he is surprisingly mechanical here and even overacts in a couple of scenes. Aisha Sharma's performance and role are nothing to talk about, except for that random puppy killing scene. Some of the actors playing secondary characters are irritating.

On a separate note that has nothing to do with how the film is, I question the relevance of Satyamev Jayate in today's times. With the frequent lynchings and mob vigilantism on the rise in our country, a movie that justifies a man taking law unto himself and killing people (even if they are corrupt) is not encouraging at all. But then that's just a humble observation; would like to hear your views on it in the comments section below.

Yay!

- Appeals to the single screens

- Mid-interval twist

- A couple of engaging sequences

Nay!

- Hammy performances

- Unintentionally hilarious narrative

- Average direction

- Loopholes galore

- OTT climax

Final Thoughts

If you love those dubbed South movies where the hero goes on vigilante mode, then Satyamev Jayate might appeal to you. Otherwise, it is a somewhat ludicrously crafted, over-dramatic fare that may not be palatable to everyone.

Rating:1.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2018 12:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).