Bhaag Johnny Review

Star Cast: Kunal Kemmu, Zoa Morani, Mandana Karimi, Vikram Bhatt, Elli Avram

Janardan Arora aka Johnny (Kunal Kemmu) is a Casanova who is happy with his life until his boss, Ramona Bakshi (Manasi Scott) forces him to become a contract killer for her, in exchange of not reporting his illegal insider trading activities. Ramona sends him off for three days to Pattaya to kill Tanya (Zoa Morani).

Not prepared to turn a murderer, Johnny’s story gets a supernatural twist as he meets a genie. Ahem! Difficult to digest but yes, director Vikram Bhatt is his spirit guide and he gives Johnny a choice of leading two lives to tackle the situation. One in which he kills Tanya and the second one where he flees saving her life.

What will happen in the end? Which life will Johnny choose? Why is Tanya’s murder important for Ramona? This is what the film culminates further into.

Script Analysis

After watching the first half of the film itself, we are left saying ‘Bhaag’ to ourselves from the theaters. Till the time, the story was revolving around a simple blackmail and murder mystery genre, I was under the impression that it was just another bad thriller but what’s with the ‘genie’ twist?

There is a  scene where the ‘genie’ sends Johnny to a lonely desert when he says ‘leave me alone’ to prove him that he is actually a genie. In that scene, Johnny retorts ‘What the f*ck’ and I was like, that’s exactly my reaction to where this story is going. The characters are written so badly that you could laugh at their conversations.

Iranian Model Mandana Kari make her debut in the film and her character of an embassy interpreter is pathetic. No detailing at all. The life lessons that this thriller tries to convey through its ‘good vs evil’ act is boring. The climax of this tiring three day tirade of Johnny’s life is even more yawn-inducing.

The love angle that is forcibly added is also not impressive in any way. Towards the end there is a dialogue that Johnny cracks ‘Olympics mein bhaaga hota toh gold medal milta’. Well, I would say give me a medal for ruining my Friday morning start with this film.

Star Performance

Kunal Kemmu is actually a decent actor but always seems to find the worst of the scripts. His talent is getting wasted with these films and well, it’s disappointing.

Zoa Morani has learnt nothing after her debut Always Kabhi Kabhi. She is still quite stiff with her body language and her dialogue delivery is extremely weak.

Manasi Scott as Ramona Bakshi does nothing other than wearing corporate suits and strutting around like a hot mean boss.

Mandana Kari hardly has a role. Her character is introduced in the second half and of course she gets a bikini scene in the film without a necessity. There is nothing impressive about her debut.

Straight out of Meeruthiya Gangsters, Mukul Dev essays the role of Pathan, another shoddy character of a cop.

Director Vikram Bhatt plays a genie (LOL). He is dressed in a black overcoat and flashes a know-it-all smile all the time as he gives ‘gyaan’ on life. His first appearance in the film is your WTF moment!

Music, Direction

This Shivam Nair directorial is a head-ache to watch. We are not excited to watch one complete story of Johnny and he gives us two. The songs are placed horribly in the film, especially ‘Iss Qadar Pyaar Hai’ which pops up from literally no where and even ends abruptly. Background score is another big problem in this film. Since Johnny is on the run, there is this constant heavy guitaring that follows him everywhere and then suddenly his moments with Tanya get a romantic, light music score. It is a terrible blend and we bet the director thought it was a necessity to show his distinct lives. Just when you think the film has reached its climax, well it doesn’t. There are ample of ‘Bhaag audience Bhaag’ moments that this film gives. The action in the film is quite average too and the editing effects used in it are very clearly visible.

The music of the film is popular and the club number ‘Daddy Mummy’ is fun to hear on a loud decibel thanks to its music. If only, a decent soundtrack was well-placed in the film.

Verdict

Bhaag Johnny is not your film for the week unless you want to watch a film that stars Vikram Bhatt as a genie. I am going with a 1.5/5 for this crass thriller that never ups its pace.