Film Review 'A Flying Jatt': A superhero for the environment

A Flying Jatt is clumsily made but redeems its lack of finesse with the innocence of Tiger Shroff, writes Deepa Gauri.

A Flying Jatt Directed by Remo D'Souza Starring: Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez, Kay Kay Menon, Nathan Jones Now playing at theatres in the UAE Rating: 2/5

A superhero named after a community of agriculturalists is certainly new for cinema. Wonder if A Flying Jatt was set in Tamil Nadu, would it have been a called A Flying Chettiar or A Flying Iyer?
Well, with that fodder for thought, let us get behind what choreographer-turned-director Remo D'Souza alias Ramesh Gopi Nair has to offer through his fourth film.
A Flying Jatt is unabashedly Bollywood. Two, it is squarely meant for children - and has smattering of content that could hook adults. Three, here the superhero is a 'green champion' who fights for the environment.
But the factor that really works is the childish innocence of Tiger Shroff. As the Flying Jatt, he is not the superhero self-assured of his powers. Instead, he comes across more down-to-earth and real.
In what are the better parts of the film, we see how the Flying Jatt practices the tricks of being a superhero; he even crash lands into a jeep as he tries to 'protect the world' at the instigation of his mum and brother.  He is also made to buy gourds for his mum, who rebukes him sternly: "Don't superheroes eat?"
It reminds of a Jason Bourne novel where the command officer, bothered by the lack of response from Bourne, is told that even spies need to use the loo.
The effort to demystify superheroes - from deciding on the costume to getting into blunders - is the best part of A Flying Jatt. Add to it the child-like innocence of Tiger. It is obvious he can't act, but it is impossible to hold a grudge against him.
Tiger's lack of histrionic superpowers indeed saves the movie to a large extent because we are unsure if this is one spoof of a superhero flick or a real one.
The boy's self-consciousness, sincere grace (such as exchanging pleasantries with a driver who is stupefied to see the Flying Jatt waiting for the traffic signal to turn green) and remarkable dancing/stunt abilities give enough reason to be engrossed at times.
But it is all built on a very predictable, clichéd, we-know-what-comes next premise. The only difference is that the nemesis of the Flying Jatt, named Raka (played by power lifting champion Nathan Jones) gains power from environmental waste.
And what are they fighting for? Well, Aman wants to save a plot of land, guarded with life by his mother (Amrita Singh), while Raka is the henchman for the bad businessman Malhotra (Kay Kay Menon).
We also have Jacqueline Fernandez as the customary love interest - doing what such heroines do - squeal in delight, be ecstatic at the sight of the superhero, and act like silly girls in general.
Remo does not tamper with formula and delivers a film that is one-dimensional. The special effects are at times outstanding for an Indian film budget and sometimes tacky.  Performance-wise, Amrita Singh is good while Kay Kay Menon, a terrific actor, does not give us any creeps as the villain.
A Flying Jatt won't come across as compelling; it has its share of lag. But for its honesty to laugh at the superhero phenomenon and to bring in Indianness, it could still be a one-time watch.