There have been many sports films which have been made in Bollywood, but those were biopics and proper sports drama. Crakk is the first full-fledged sports action film ever made in Bollywood. Crakk sets the bar very high for Bollywood in terms of action, but turns out to be a crapp in terms of other aspects.
Crakk tells the story of Siddhu (Vidyut Jammwal), a slum dweller in Mumbai who embarks into ‘Maidaan’, an underground survival sports competition headed by Dev (Arjun Rampal), to unravel the truth about his lost brother.
Crakk is 156 minutes long film, but only 40 to 45 minutes are watchable, while the rest of the part is just unbearable. Crakk includes 3 major action sequences or 3 major activity scenes (Race 1, Race 2 and Challenger’s Race) which are the main highlights of this film. Apart from these action packed sequences, Crakk is a total crapp.
Talking about the action, Crakk tries to showcase action which has never been performed before in Bollywood. The action sequences are picturized on a next level and are truly pathbreaking. Vidyut Jammwal is a complete beast in all those action sequences. All those action stunts performed by Vidyut give a great pleasure to your eyes. Vidyut attempts the majority of the high octane action stunts without any body double, which makes the action more realistic.
Apart from action sequences, the camerawork of Crakk is something to watch out for. The framework is beautiful in the majority of the scenes. The camerawork is done on such a level, that not a single scene looks fake or over the top. The camerawork gives you a vibe of watching a Hollywood film.
Crakk is shot on some of the very beautiful locations in Europe. The entire Maidaan is shot at a very beautiful place. The locations shown in the three major action sequences look very good on the big screen.
Crakk fails in each and every department apart from action and cinematography. The direction is watchable only in those action sequences, and the credit goes to Vidyut as well as action director. Aditya Datt has directed half a dozen of films and only Table No. 21 turned out to be a great film, whereas the remaining all the films have disappointed in terms of quality.
Crakk has such a legendary casting unit which includes actors like Vidyu Jammwal, Ajrun Rampal, Nora Fatehi and Amy Jackson. Vidyut is a great action star, but when it comes to acting he fails big time. Vidyut’s swag, physique, stunts, attitude and personality will win you over. Arjun Rampal has done a lot of negative characters in the past, but they looked convincing due to the good script. Arjun Rampal is the only actor in Crakk who hardly tries to act. He doesn’t look as deadly as a villain like he was in Om Shanti Om and Ra.One, but he turns out to be a decent one. Nora Fatehi should only focus on dancing and should never act in her life. She gets a good screen time in Crakk and that is what the worst part is. Nora can kill you with her looks and can even kill you for real with her acting. Whenever she delivers a dialogue it gives you a headache. Amy Jackson who cannot even speak English properly has been given Hindi dialogues. Her Hindi is something which will make you scratch your heads. The makers decided to give the audience an experience of a lifetime which they will never ever forget by bringing 2 legendary actresses like Nora and Amy in a single film. Bijay Anand is somewhat watchable. Jamie Lever is very irritating with her foolish punchlines. The remaining cast is poor and fails to leave a mark.
The writing of Crakk is pathetic. The writing has old clichés which we have been watching for many years. The writing fails that thrill and engagement. The screenplay is boring and dull in many places. The story fails to hold any interest. The first 40 minutes of the film are engaging and increase your expectations for the film, but then comes a heavy dose of melodrama which spoils all the fun.
Crakk may remind you of Sanjay Dutt and Imran Khan’s film Luck which was released in 2009. Vidyut tried to bring something new and raised the bar very high in terms of action. One cannot rely completely on action. If not great, even a decent storyline would have made Crakk a watchable affair.
Overall Crakk should be avoided to save yourself from a torture. If Khatron Ke Khiladi would have been made into a film with unnecessary melodrama and non-sense storyline, the result would have been Crakk. One planning to watch this film, should wait for its OTT release and should only concentrate on those 3 major action sequences and should skip the remaining parts which won’t do any harm. Skip it.
Rating – 2/5*
