A wasted opportunity

Rustom
Hindi (U/A) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Ileana D’Cruz, Esha Gupta, Arjan
Bajwa
Director: Tinu Suresh Desai

It’s raining. Ileana D’Cruz sprains her ankle and her newfound friend Arjan Bajwa promptly carries her to his bedroom. Ileana’s husband (naval commander Akshay Kumar) is away on a London mission, against her wishes. So, how about hurting the hubby by committing adultery right now! Soon, sparks fly off wet clothes.

This is just one instance where Rustom — based on the infamous K M Nanavati case that scandalised the nation in late 50s — justifies each of its wrong with a silly reason. So, Ileana sleeps with Arjan Bajwa, not because she is plain attracted to the stud, but because she wants to punish her husband.

 Anyway, Akshay Kumar rewards her by pumping three bullets into her lover’s chest, triggering a courtroom drama and a series of salacious tabloid reports that once had the country hooked to a patriot-or-murderer puzzle. The Nanavati case, no doubt, is good fodder for Bollywood. But Rustom’s execution makes it a tame thriller.

Here, all the efforts are channelled into trumpeting the integrity of a man in uniform.In the process, tonnes of righteousness is dumped on the decorated naval officer, who also gets to expose some defence deal kickbacks. As the plot thickens, the women take pride in parading their lip colour. Ileana (all shades of pink) wears a forever guilty look while Esha Gupta (as the paramour’s sister) plays the quintessential evil woman — red pout, cleavage, cigarettes and a short temper to match. The many superficial layers of Rustom in fact lay bare its lack of tact. Akshay gives a fine performance as a man of spine, but the movie fails to rise.