After three continuous movies with GV Prakash Kumar, Sam Anton’s latest film “Gurkha” has Yogi Babu playing the title role. The movie is a sarcastic rip-off from Die-hard (part 1) and another film with similar story line (Mall Cop) …..I know what you must be wondering!! Don’t worry, this is just a funny take on Die Hard with tons of sarcastic and spoof on famous actors and several films released recently, sprinkled in between. Unbelievably, the film is still entertaining in parts, thanks to the short and crisp narration and some good laughter.
Yogi Babu (Bahadur Babu) is the grandson of a migrant Gurkha, who settles down in North Chennai many years back. His grandfather sacrifices his life as a Gurkha, which is told in a small but interesting flashback. Babu wanted to become a policeman but …(Yogi Babu as a cop? Well, I will not be surprised if he gets one role very soon) ends up as a security guard in a mall. Meanwhile a gang hatches a plot to capture a high ranked American Embassy official - Margarat (Elyssa) as hostage inside the mall along with several others. How Babu and his accomplices (a dog and another security guard played by Charlie) save them is narrated in the second half.
Yogi Babu already had some films released recently as hero but none of them worked for him. It takes time for you to accept him as the lead in the film, but after a point especially towards the interval you feel convinced he was the right choice. Ignore the heroics which has been forced into the film. Otherwise, Yogi Babu delivers what is expected from him and does make you laugh at several occasions.
Most of the other actors are loud and overact which could have been avoided to make the film more natural. Why can’t we have a comedy film with just the lead doing the comedy, why should everyone attempt comedy?
What works in the favour of the film largely is the spoof and how it’s used in most of the scenes and dialogues effectively. Right from Suryavamsam, Shakthiman serial, Saravana Stores owner (South Indian Shahrukh Khan) till Mersal, Vivegam none is spared.... even the Sivakumar selfie incident was used in one scene. Some of the tactics used by Babu to save the hostages in the second half (though illogical) was interesting. There is no scope for technical aspects in a film of this genre but then the cinematography and editing was decent. Background score was okay and the couple of songs (which was actually not required) were also watchable.
Overall, Gurkha can surprise you if you are a fan of Yogi Babu and looking for a time pass entertainer without any logic. Others may find it hard to sit through.
Rating – 2.5/5
