A Gentleman: Slick & thrilling popcorn film

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Darshan Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Kushal Punjabi, Hussain Dalal, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur

Rated: 6/10

A swishy pacemaker, this romantic spy thriller on a Miami to Mumbai junket pans out on the broad shoulders of Sidharth Malhotra and the gyrating sexiness of Jacqueline Fernandez. Add to that the slick dressing up of the scenes by directors Raj & DK and you have a film that keeps you and your popcorn brainlessly and aimlessly but sufficiently engaged.

Malhotra plays a good guy and a bad guy, all at the same time, playing out both portions in equal measure. As an IT programmer with a big firm, a big house, a big dream and a big amount of loneliness, he is both sundar andsusheel but too right to be husband material for the fun-loving Jacqueline he is rooting for.

As the bad guy, but actually not a bad guy, he is a crack killing machine who can do pretty much everything that the good one can’t even think of — break into high-security buildings, get sensitive information for his boss, jump off buildings, swing in the air which looks like stratosphere from down below, kill with a qualm and walk away from all the action when he feels he has done enough of desh seva.

Jacqueline, on the other hand, is the perfect arm candy she is meant to be and does well as a lovely, frothy, sexy being in micro shorts and even smaller grey cells — the usual that directors want in what they feel makes for a modern day slick men-in-action kind of thriller where the girl needs to be there as a talking pillow, nothing else.

Malhotra at the helm gives the film its cool dude touch and plays to the gallery with his looks, abs and tattooed bodyline skills. The dost episodes are cool as are the Gujju parents, the unscrupulous villain and the rest of the ensemble. Suniel Shetty as the colonel boss is wasted though.

A film for the young and restless generation — an alluring Jacqueline for the boys and the good looking Sidharth for the girls, not to mention the engaging filmography by Raj & DK which added to the eye candy. 

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 27 August 2017