In every Tiger Shroff film, there’s an exchange so weird it stands out from all the regular bad writing piled up around it. In Ganapath, written and directed by Vikas Bahl, it’s just before the climatic MMA bout starts. Shroff’s opponent eyeballs him and menacingly bites off a chilli pepper. “I’m going to eat you up,” he says. Shroff’s response: “Good boy.”
It wasn’t that long ago Shroff’s legion of fans would also
eat this up. But things might be changing. Next year will be a decade since Heropanti,
during which time Shroff has been in one great film, a couple that didn't
reinvent the wheel but were good fun, and a lot of unmitigated trash. Apart
from War, there’s no indication that Shroff seeks out good films or that
he knows what one might look like. Ganapath is exactly what we’ve come
to expect from Shroff—twirly kicks, spinning kicks, a lot of dancing and silly
comedy, some kind of hidden life revelation, more pirouetting kicks. It has its
moments but the act is getting dangerously old. Tiger needs to change his
stripes.
In the post-apocalyptic world of this film, the rich live in
the futuristic Silver City. The masses are so downtrodden their tenements don’t
even have a name—it’s simply called ‘gareebon ki basti’. They’re kept
out of the city by a wall, starved, hounded by drones, and kept in a state of
fear and subjugation. At first glance, Guddu (Shroff) would appear to be one of
their oppressors. He’s a rich playboy (though his tapori-speak reveals
his humble origins) and scout for evil impresario Johnny Englishman, who
organizes MMA tournaments for the city’s wealthy patrons (the poor have their
own tournament). But since Amitabh Bachchan shows up every 15 minutes muttering
about a warrior who will lead them out of the dark, we know it’s a matter of
time before Guddu is revealed as the chosen one, Ganapath.
Playing Trinity to Shroff’s Neo is Kriti Sanon as Jassi,
complete with leather suit and motorcycle. Blind martial arts master Shiva
(Rashin Rahman) is a Morpheus of sorts, whom Guddu is told to seek out when
he’s expelled from the city for reasons as contrived as the ones he’s later
brought back for. Shiva is running a secret resistance in the mountains. Guddu
is taught to be a fighter and learn some humility—in one of these he’s
successful.
There’s some Hunger Games in this film, and a lot of Fury
Road (so much that Guddu guiltily namechecks Mad Max). The promise of civil
war is teased throughout Ganapath, but it’s difficult to care because
the film has no interest in anyone other than its lead character. None of the
slumdwellers have any agency of their own, they only suffer and wait for a
hero. Jassi is introduced as a nunchuk-weilding badass but is soon reduced to a
spectator as Guddu and the appropriately named Tabahi pound each other while
insisting “My girl”. The film just sits around and waits for Shroff to get
serious, which happens in the last 10 minutes.
Making everything much worse is the awful VFX. The backdrops
are so jarring and unrealistic that Shroff looks like a hologram in front of
them. It’s either arrogance or delusion on the part of the makers to think that
audiences today would accept bad video game graphics in a big franchise film
(it's billed as ‘part one’). It’s also annoying how little care has gone into
creating a credible world. When Shiva’s hideout is discovered, why don’t the
city militia finish them off then and there? If Jassi can easily clear the wall
on her bike, why has it been such an effective barrier?
Even Shroff seems to know he's reached the end of his
branch. “It gets tough to reinvent myself in this space,” he said in an
interview this week. When he’s in full flight, he’s still in a league of his
own in Hindi cinema (Vidyut Jammwal is a match, but in a lower rung of star).
Shroff badly needs a change, and a challenge. A simple fix might be to pit
himself against opponents of repute instead of talented, unknown stuntpersons.
Bring in Iko Uwais or Scott Adkins. Make it a real fight.
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