Sunny Deol is back with Ghayal Once Again the sequel to the ionic blockbuster Ghayal which released almost 26 years back. Ghayal is what we can term as a landmark film in the Hindi film industry,it gave birth to India's original action hero, it won accolades and audiences hearts all over. The film left a lasting hard hitting impression on all its viewers, it's a film which is considered a cult classic, I can still remember all the riveting dialogues from the original. So Ghayal Once Again carries a lot of baggage, it's got huge except actions to live up to, but honestly the moviegoers today, and especially the youth probably don't remember the former because it's been so many years since it release ( many people my age have probably not seen the film), so the makers get a fresh slate of sorts. And honestly myself and most audience members (I presume)most likely entered the theaters to see the original action hero of India Sunny Paji go crazy, and reck havoc like he usually does,it's been years since a proper Sunny Deol film has released, and me being a fan of the original HeMan wanted to see him kick ass on screen, and scream some riveting dialogues. Unlike most Bollywood sequels which are made to cash on the formers glory, and are not actually directly linked to the former in story, Ghayal Once Again is. Ghayal Once Again picks up were the film left off,Ajay Mehra is released from jail after he has served his sentence of murdering Balwant Rai, here rather than seeing the same Ajay Mehra we saw in Ghayal, we see a similar Ajay who still fights injustice, but he is not the same person after going to jail and after facing so much emotional turmoil. Therefore this film can be termed as an "Emotional" Ghayal story of sorts, which is good at times because Ajay's character like others in the film have a lot of emotional depth, the film talks about relevant society issues, and because Sunny Deol's kick ass action scenes give you a reason to clap and whistle. However over melodramatic scenes and a outdated story play spoil sport at times but more on that later.
Story wise Ajay runs an investigative newspaper that seeks truth not business. Which is why four college kids strive to handover a murder footage to him, accidentally recorded by them. However, it's not as easy as it sounds since influential people are involved. He has to bring down India's most powerful shrewd businessman Bansal who has all the power at his feet.
Acting wise Sunny Deol is the film and he owns the screen whenever he unleashes his wrath. The screen misses him when the story deviates for him, it's an absolute pleasure to see Sunny Deol kick ass on screen still, and when he yells "I will destroy Bansal's Empire",one gets goosebumps. I wish there were more scenes like this. And even though the train and helicopter sequences had below average vfx, they were still great action sequences to watch Sunny Paji do the impossible,because the viewers except that from the Indian Chuck Norris. All four newcomers were okay, but they were very amateurish at times. Soha Ali Khan was wasted in a minor role, and when she was crying it looked too fake. Sanjay Jha was a mediocre Villain, he wasn't menacing enough.
Ghayal Once Again works essentially because of Sunny Deol, and his great action scenes. He eats up the screen like wish to water. He acts, and emotes amazingly. His character depth is great, he is a one man show/army. He makes the film a hard hitting action drama.Watch out for the mall, train, and climax helicopter action scenes which are the highlight of the film, were Sunny kick ass. Sunny Deol also succeeds as a director in giving his villain ( and some other characters) a lot of character depth. Unlike most films were the villain kills people senselessly,here we see him actually thinking about the repercussions. It was a nice touch. Dan Bradley the Hollywood action director needs to applauded for coming up with some good action scenes in Ghayal Once Again. Sunny even makes sure his film talks about issues relevant society issues like women equality which is a burning issue in India today, the whole Satyakam newspaper angle was also nice(but needed to be elaborated more) . However Ghayal Once Again's story in totality even though it was gripping for the most part and talked about 2016 relevant issues, it's still outdated. It's seems like any other Sunny Deol film story from the 90s, it has serious case of Deja Vu. Ghayal Once Again also is sometimes highly melodramatic and as a Sunny Deol fan it was almost cringe worthy to see Ajay Mehra cry when he was faced with any problem, what happened to the hot headed Ajay, he couldn't have been completely lost no, I mean character depth is great, but at what cost. The whole Ajay Mehra daughter angle is a perfect example of a scene/subplot being way too melodramatic. The films VFX needed more work, and at times especially in the climax it looked tacky. However a lot of people, like me came to see a Sunny Deol fest don't care about the story, etc, those viewers won't be disappointed for the most part, the film is pasia vasool.
Overall even though I excepted more from Ghayal Once Again, it was still a satisfying to watch one of my favorite action hero's pull a Die Hard on screen, Sunny's action scenes make the film a one time watch for all masala film lovers. The film is a struggle between being a realistic film , and a over the top mass entertainer. But don't get tricked by the films trailer, it's a mass entertainer.