Believe it or not!

Jasmine Singh

Okay, if you have been missing Sunny Deol for long, here is your chance to meet someone who can step into his shoes on the Punjabi turf- Deep Sidhu. The successful lawyer in real life turns a jogi or better still Ramta Jogi on reel, with his debut Punjabi film Ramta Jogi. But when we say, stepping into Sunny Deol’s shoes, minus the dancing, we mean lavishly distributing his dhai kilo ka haath ka swaad everywhere. Well, Deep Sidhu does the same, which is why he has the makings of a good action hero.

Directed by Guddu Dhanoa, Ramta Jogi is a love story, of a girl, studying in twelfth grade (minus the fear of board exams), and a boy who is a mechanic, and of course they elope. Ramtga Jogi doesn’t come with an out-of-the-world storyline, in fact, it takes one back and forth to the times of Bollywood film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, only that the Aamir Khan and Juhi starrer had more drama, in the right sense.

The first few minutes of the film go in a ‘not required’ voice ‘hovering’ minus the face of the actors. Thanks to the director who reveals the plot of the story, pretty earlier, which comes as a relief! The film will give you ample chances where you will ask yourself- should I believe it or not, just like the TV show Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, where viewers use their own discretion to believe a certain story or not.

The film, which flows in an expected manner, catches some pace in the second half with loads of ‘believe it or not’ moments. Like, there’s a scene (which by the way has been constructed to evoke romance), where the director pans the camera on the butt of the actor (Deep Sidhu) positing himself on a scooty. Later, the ‘all in love’ actress (Ronica Singh) feels the seat. Ultimate romance, believe it or not. The film has an unlikely end to it, which can be appreciated for once.

Ramta Jogi stars Deep Sidhu, Ronica Singh, Rahul Dev, Zaffar Dhillon, Gireesh Sehdev and Anil Grover. Deep, the lanky dishum-dishum actor needs to work a lot on his dialogue delivery. He is good as an action man, minus the dialogues. He needs to bring some expressions on his face, the way he gets it in his fists. Ronica Singh can pass off as a twelfth grade student, commendable! As for Rahul Dev, he can be more villainous. And for god sake, he is shown as a man who is a big name in the city; please give him some decent office to sit. A dilapidated haveli…come on, there are other options as well. So what he is a con man, even Godfather (Marlon Brando) had an office! The music of the film is just about okay. Zaffar Dhillon looks good; Anil Grover does justice to the role. The only thing to watch out in the film could be the end, so you can come in late and take a chance - believe it or not!