This past year was all about comebacks, particularly the 1980s kind – denim on denim, exotic prints, the odd jumpsuit, and even Amrita Singh (in 2 States) – so it isn’t surprising that Bollywood dished out an action-flick inspired by Main Khiladi Tu Anari but packaged in an Omkara bottle.

Tevar is a full-on late 1980s/early 1990s desi film moulded in a post-Y2K-plus-15 wrapper. Yet, given its retro-inspired tevars, it would be safe to assume that comebacks are best relegated to the realm of fashion.

Arjun Kapoor tackles a role we’ve seen before in Ishqzaade and Gunday as does Sonakshi Sinha, though her (pretty) presence never really culminates in a performance.

The story is a re-re-remake. The soundtrack is stuck in retro-land just like the overall composition of the film. The action sequences are clumsy and defy not only the laws of reality, but also those of gravity. There is such a thing as Newton’s Third Law of Motion that states every action has an equal but opposite reaction, which is exactly the response one has to Tevar: equal but opposite.

A remake of the 2003 Telugu film Okkadu, Tevar is a decade too late in the making. Based in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh (UP) – India’s most populous state and home to the Hindi-speaking belt – the story follows Ghanshyam aka Pintoo (Arjun Kapoor), as a directionless young man, and Radhika (Sonakshi Sinha), his soon to be ladylove.

Eager to prove his mardaani at the drop of a hat, Pintoo rescues damsels in distress or wins Kabbadi matches defying those very laws of motion! Add to this mix Gajendra (Manoj Bajpai), the local Bahubali who acts on the orders of the Minister of State for Home Affairs, and you have the central premise of Tevar – a love story!

Amit Sharma’s directorial debut makes quick work of setting up the three major plotlines and bringing them to somewhat chilling intersections. For instance, Gajendra and his goons know they exert a sense of power over Mathura, in India.

Pintoo too is a Salman-Khan-fan-cum-Superman on the loose in Agra. Both the leading men are gun toting, violent, abusive, and brash. Herein comes the beautiful Radhika to spice and change things, but as human nature dictates, Gajendra wants Radhika like he would want a toy whereas Pintoo just happens to fall truly, madly, and deeply in love.

Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in a scene from 'Tevar'. – Photo credit: hindustantimes.com

Complicating matters is the blossoming of Pintoo and Radhika’s relationship because ladylove is on her way to the land of opportunity – USA – to escape the life of forced compliance she is doomed to, if she stays at home.

What follows is a run, hide, and chase narrative with more action, violence, and bloodshed. After sitting through three useless songs ('Mein Hoon Superman', 'Radha Nachegi', and 'Let’s Celebrate'), a couple of action sequences, and lacking narrative, it’s difficult to concentrate on what happens next when all you can hope for is the end – or as the French say: c’est fini.

Alas, the film continues for another hour rehashing much of the same material.

Remakes are difficult to make, especially when the original material is in itself flawed. Boney Kapoor tries to package Arjun as a latter-day Anil Kapoor with all the natkhat kanhaiya vibes.

Sonakshi replaces the very beautiful Sridevi. As for Manoj Bajpai, although a fine actor, he can never really replace the downright evil Amrish Puri or the sleazy Shakti Kapoor.

Coming back to comebacks, Tevar is a modern day homage to the likes of Ram Lakhan, Tezaab, and Inteqam. This might make it viable to a certain audience, namely the rural roadside-Romeo and his ilk, but demographic and socio-economic changes have ushered a new way of viewing films. These changes might not necessarily welcome a beating or a run-and-chase down memory lane.

Manoj Bajpai as Gajendra in 'Tevar'. – Photo credit: apnatimepass.com

Raj Babbar and Deepti Naval were a pleasure to watch on-screen after a long hiatus despite little screen time. Manoj Bajpai’s performance in a role that easily borders on cliché is worth mentioning, perhaps, he’s the only one that ties this entire film together.

Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha leave room for improvement and they make do with the script they’ve been given. There isn’t much meat to Radhika’s role and that’s not Sonakshi’s fault other than signing on the dotted line. Arjun Kapoor should really reconsider another gunda-mawali role lest he becomes typecast so early in his career, but then again, 'angry young man' (aka Amitabh Bachchan) comes to mind and look how that ended, so maybe he is on to something.

None of the Sajid-Wajid’s tracks make an impact; in fact, 'Radha Nachegi' is in bad taste, as is 'Let’s Celebrate', which immediately follows a death and many tears. See what I meant by equal but opposite reactions?

The location and cinematography are well done, but after a spate of films in recent years that have showcased UP’s hinterland (and rather well at that) the charm has worn off.

Finally, given the nature of the script, Amit Sharma’s debut brings to mind the tagline from Tezaab: “a violent love story”.

Tevar is more hype than substance, best avoided or saved for a rainy day with nothing better do.

Overall rating: 1.5/5

Randip Bakshi is a Vancouver-based graduate student, avid film buff, and occasional blogger. He can be found musing on popular culture @filmijourneys.