CRAKK fails to deliver the desired impact.

Crakk – Jeetegaa… Toh Jiyegaa Review {2.0/5} & Review Rating

Director: Aditya Datt

Synopsis:
CRAKK is the story of a reckless, brave man. Siddhart Dikshit aka Siddhu (Vidyut Jammwal) resides in Mumbai with his father (Rajendra Shisatkar) and mother (Shalaka Pawar). His elder brother Nihal (Ankit Mohan) died while participating in an extreme sports competition called Maidaan. Siddhu also likes to do risky stunts and his parents ask him not to indulge in it as they don’t want him to die like his elder brother. Their plea falls on deaf ears and Siddhu sends his stunt videos to the Maidaan team. The organizer of Maidaan, Dev (Arjun Rampal), likes his videos and enlists him for the next edition. Siddhu travels to Poland illegally with the help of Dev’s team. He’s taken to the facility of Maidaan where he meets the rest of the 31 players. He also bumps into an influencer, Alia (Nora Fatehi), and sparks fly between them. The next day, the games begin. Siddhu manages to emerge victorious and get to the next round. The same night, Siddhu and Alia go out to celebrate. This is when Siddhu is confronted by Patricia (Amy Jackson), an Intelligence official. She asks Siddhu to spy on Dev and whether he’s smuggling or transporting dangerous material with the money generated from Maidaan. Siddhu is forced to comply; or else, she would have deported him back to India for entering Poland without a valid visa. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Story Review:
Aditya Datt, Rehan Khan, Sarim Momin and Mohinder Pratap Singh’s story is promising. Aditya Datt, Rehan Khan, Sarim Momin and Mohinder Pratap Singh’s screenplay, however, doesn’t make the desired impact as it’s stretched, silly and also delves into subplots needlessly. Aditya Datt, Rehan Khan, Sarim Momin and Mohinder Pratap Singh’s dialogues are massy but a few one-liners are childish.

Aditya Datt’s direction is okay and it suffers as the writing is weak. On the positive, he handles the grandeur well and also the grand action set pieces. The scenes of all three races are very captivating. The intro scene is also nail-biting.

On the flipside, the film’s biggest issue is the length. At 156 minutes, it is too long for a film of this kind. Secondly, the film is not just about the competition. Between the three races, a lot happens and it is not exciting. It would also leave viewers scratching their heads. For instance, Siddhu badly wanted to be a part of Maidaan and earn the prize money. Hence, he had no solid reason to agree to help Patricia, especially after she let him go back to the facility. The intermission point is laughable. The track of Dev and his father Mark (Bijay Anand) isn’t effective, except for the scene where they have vodka. Siddhu spying in the facility of Dev without getting caught is unconvincing. The climax fight is tedious and the twist that occurs at this point leaves viewers frustrated instead of feeling wowed.

Performances:
Vidyut Jammwal is his usual self and looks quite cool in performing the death-defying stunts. Arjun Rampal puts up a fine act but gets over the top in some scenes. Nora Fatehi oozes charm and is fair. Amy Jackson is decent but her accented Hindi looks a bit forced. Ankit Mohan delivers a confident performance. Rajendra Shisatkar, Shalaka Pawar and Bijay Anand lend able support. Jamie Lever (Junaida) leaves a huge mark. Zack (Michael Owusu) is okay. Pooja Sawant and Rukmini Maitra look sizzling in the end credit song.

Music and other technical aspects:
The music is well-woven into the narrative. The title track is very catchy. ‘Jeena Haraam’ and ‘Khayal Rakhna’ are forgettable. ‘Rom Rom’ is played in the end credits and does register. But it looks out of place. Vikram Montrose’s background score enhances excitement.

Mark Hamilton’s cinematography matches international standards. Federico Cueva, Kerry Gregg, Dr. K. Ravi Verma, Cyril Raffaelli, Dawid Szatarski, Raj Shinde, Sunil Rodrigues and Vikram Dahiya’s action is the best part of the enterprise. Somya Chauhan, Gabriella Demetriades, Trushala Nayak and Anushka Tugnait’s costumes are stylish. Juhi Talmaki’s production design is functional. VFX is tacky. Sandeep Kurup’s editing is loose. The film should have been shorter by 20-30 minutes.

Conclusion:
On the whole, CRAKK fails to deliver the desired impact and is too lengthy. At the box office, the lack of buzz and competition from ARTICLE 370 is likely to impact its collections.