Review: Vidyut Jammwal Slows Down In Khuda Haafiz

Vidyut Jammwal sheds his Commando skin and assumes the guise of an ordinary man faced with an extraordinary crisis. But, pitted against human traffickers in a fictional Arab nation, he still has to do plenty of huffing and puffing in Khuda Haafiz. In the process of drawing blood and breaking bones, he, in marked departure from past practice, has to reckon with self-doubt, confusion and blowbacks.

The action star slows down perceptibly to match the drift of the thriller written and directed by Faruk Kabir. But the film itself is far too beset with plot contrivances to be able to lend the protagonist's mission the requisite intrigue and intensity.

Interestingly, the harried protagonist implores and inquires rather than demands and asserts until at least an hour into the 134-minute film. His wife has gone missing in an alien land where dangers lurks at every turn. There is no way he can mount a rescue operation without active help on the ground from absolute strangers.