Akshay Kumar starrer Ram Setu left several stones unturned

I never had a doubt when it came to Akshay Kumar being a bankable name at the box office. But even the staunchest of Akki fans will vouch for the fact that it’s not been a great year for our Khiladi. Having delivered movies that didn’t do his career trajectory any justice such as Bachchan Pandey, Samrat Prithviraj, Raksha Bandhan, and Cuttputlli—the silver lining perhaps for each one of us is that Ram Setu, his latest, is the best of the lot. And that’s not because the film is a cinematic wonder, but because his performance managed to stand out in the pool of otherwise missable ones.  

That said, the film and its story go down the convenient route on every possible occasion. To begin with, its theme involves the atheist having to prove that God doesn’t exist instead of a believer having to establish the presence of a higher power. You can be on either side of the fence, but this movie pushes a certain perspective without being subtle about it at all.  

Furthermore, parts of the movie show the Nargol beach of Umargam and Daman beaches being passed off as Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka, which doesn’t seem convincing at all. What we’re seeing before our eyes is an Indian version of National Treasure that lacks authentic flavour. The characters of Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha could have been developed in a more wholesome manner.

What doesn’t fail to impress is the VFX of the movie, which is spectacularly done. A deep dive into the ocean never felt any better. But there’s only so much that the makers could have conveyed with visual effects. The story sadly fails to do the talking.

Akshay Kumar seems to be in an experimental phase, as he has been trying his hand at various genres this year. However, unfortunately, each one of them has failed to hit the bulls-eye. Having set such high standards with his previous movies, Ram Setu left several stones unturned. We can only hope for better days.