Rating – ***1/2 (3.5/5)
Yudhra
Cast: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Malavika Mohanan, Raghav Juyal, Ram Kapoor, Gajaraj Rao, Raj Arjun & more
Directed by: Ravi Udyawar
An action extravaganza doesn’t just work anymore unless there’s substance to it, or you have a leading man’s aura and charm taking over enough to ignore the shortcomings, if any. Excel Entertainment’s latest film, Yudhra mostly belongs to the former category, as it tries hard to not just be another actioner for the viewers to not be bothered about.
The tropes are all there. There’s a child who is necessarily out for revenge for his mother and father, who were killed in an ‘accident’ when he wasn’t even born. Two friends-like guardians who raise the kid, a love story that goes through hoops of perplexing developments, and a token bad guy who has his own agendas – a commercial masala potboiler’ recipe is set. Yudhra, though mostly relies on sleek action, consistent background score and actors trying to give their best. It mostly succeeds in doing that owing to the aforementioned action pieces that get gruesome and gory at a few instances.
The twists and turns, albeit predictable, mostly land owing to the placing of them and when they come into the screenplay. It is a tricky but helpful situation for Yudhra where the shocking moments aren’t shocking but because they don’t come at a point when you anticipated and perhaps at a time when you didn’t – it works.
Siddhant Chaturvedi is as earnest as a young actor can be. His tall and towering presence makes up for a surprisingly skinny posture and when he is being an unhinged madman during the action bits, you buy it. Chaturvedi is able to somehow balance the over-the-top nature of the film while never becoming annoying expertly. The man surely has a screen presence to admire and one can see why a big-budget actioner is mounted on his shoulders.
On the other hand, Malavika Mohanan is earnest as well and while falters on a few occasions, her chemistry with Chaturvedi, and the little glimpses of action that we see her doing are a treat.
Ram Kapoor and Gajraj Rao are as reliable as you came to expect them to be but once again, in a surprisingly shorter role, Raghav Juyal makes an impact. The amazing thing is despite being a bad guy here again after his acclaimed performance in KILL, you can easily differentiate the two bad guys. His flamboyance, antics, and knack for comedy help elevate Yudhra in several sequences when the tempo drops.
Writer Sridhar Raghavan and director Ravi Udyawar aren’t especially able to cohesively bring the entire story together and the indulgence with more and more and more action pieces takes over the gravitas, which could and should have been the highlight. The songs are entirely forgettable and in fact, just hinder your viewing experience but it was still a treat to see Juyal dance in a song after a long time.
Yudhra’s ambition is applaudable and one might not quite fathom it but for the makers to back a project like this on new faces is also appreciable. Owing to the visibly obvious efforts and honesty that the director, the leading actors and the technicians are able to infuse the film with – even the most illogical scenes land and make sense because the suspension of disbelief is activated and you buy the sheer madness that ensues on the screen.
Yudhra might not be a perfect big-budget actioner that you are anticipate but it is able to satiate your craving to see something that transports you into a world of glamour, gloss and relentless action.