Sonu Sood’s Fateh: How this film’s action and money lessons are a mixed bag

Sonu Sood came into the social spotlight during the pandemic. His selfless act of helping hundreds of migrant workers return home during the lockdown by organizing buses and food. He became somewhat of a local hero when he organized safe passage for people where the government was faltering.

The trailer of his film Fateh is so good that the black suit (except that he is wearing a white shirt) made you expect an Indian John Wick-esque action film. Unfortunately, the film strangely falls short of expectations.

Fateh Singh, a man who works as a manager on a dairy farm in Moga, a small town in Punjab, is a good thing if you live alone, but the neighbor Nimrat adores him. Nimrat has inadvertently become part of an instant loan scam and introduced the scheme to several city dwellers. Obviously everyone, including her, is losing their savings and racking up enormous debt. She heads to Delhi to set things right with the help of an ethical hacker Jackie. Fateh goes looking for her when Nimrat doesn’t come back.

Meanwhile, the loan scammers make money by live streaming the deaths of the ethical hackers. Fateh single-handedly kills all the villains (including great actors – Vijay Raaz, Dibyendu Banerjee and Naseeruddin Shah – who gave us their worst performances) and their endless swarm of henchmen. There are some funny lines of dialogue, but these are overshadowed by slowly sanctimonious advice as the film tries to set up the story. Even though Sonu Sood hits his stride quickly during the action scenes, they are too few and feel unoriginal.

What money lessons does this movie offer investors, besides curing their insomnia?

How realistic is the promise of easy loans?

The film tells how simple people in Moga, Punjab, fall for an instant loan where money goes straight into their bank accounts. They end up losing all their savings and one young man even commits suicide after the scammers threaten him to pay them more money.

Your bank will tell you that loans are easy to get: ‘We give you loans on the phone!’ or ‘As our valued customer, the loan paperwork is cut in half!’

They’re not wrong. Most loans through a good financial institution will be legitimate and easier than trying to get your child into a fancy school. But even the well-educated do not read the fine print and forget that sometimes it can be impossible to pay interest on the long-term loan that seems too good to be true. Everyone has heard how students in the US still owe money to the government even in their forties.

Most of us have taken out loans to purchase our home, car, business or even family weddings. It helps if you do your research. Find out which loans are most helpful for your needs and your ability to repay.

Government warnings that you shouldn’t fall for text messages informing you about winning a car, money and sharing your bank account numbers with senders are often overlooked. People still fall for emails and text messages from friends who want you to transfer a small amount of money to their account because their ‘wallet has been stolen’. It only takes one phone call to the friend (who lost their phone, which is why the scammers found their contact list) to confirm their need.

Reading the fine print of loan documents is a task. But it’s better to be smart about where you sign before accepting the loan. No matter how familiar the bank is.

Don’t spread yourself too thin

The intention of the film is good, I think as I delete another text message from an unknown number warning me that my bank accounts will be closed by the Reserve Bank within two hours unless I call the number provided. But the setup of the story takes up more than half of the 130-minute running time. Sonu Sood also plays the title role of the straight-faced hero, whether he is drinking tea or killing hundreds of bad guys. Even John Wick gives us a break from his smoldering presence when characters like the Bowery King, Winston, and Charon appear on screen. Most of the time, formidable actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz and Dibyendu Bannerjee seem to do their own thing and fail to create any fear while hampering their villainous roles. Naseeruddin Shah’s joy at the jailing of Krish’s father, a scientist, was so nice to watch. But here? He looks more bored than interested in stealing money from stupid, simple people. Vijay Raaz has starred in major and minor roles since Monsoon Wedding. Dibyendu Banerjee stole the movie in Rocket Boys, but here…

Perhaps the film would have done better if there had been a director who could handle these heavyweights. Maybe Fateh Singh would push some more emotions. Maybe silly sidekick villains wouldn’t eat noodles if they threatened a man in his house only to be stabbed by them.

As an active investor, you know that you should entrust your hard-earned money to your team: your money manager and his advice. Even if your money manager tells you that a particular mutual fund or stock is good for your portfolio, you need to do your homework because the ultimate decision is yours. You must trust them to do the necessary paperwork and other routine follow-ups while you monitor progress.

A movie is a collaborative effort, and its success depends on every little part working perfectly with all the other parts to create magic on screen. Why does your villain claim he likes coffee and cookies but eats crumbs? Why is his food choice of momos even relevant to the story? When you’re so close to the story, you don’t see any irrelevant bits. Even Guru Dutt collaborated with Abrar Alvi to tell his stories on screen. Trust your team. Don’t try to be everything.

Bollywood and its fascination with decapitated and mutilated bodies is now becoming tedious to watch. Maybe all this killing is to distract us from the fact that a team of hackers is operating out of a van by the river without any power source. Maybe this movie is a conspiracy to stop us from consuming ketchup. Perhaps the filmmakers should offer the audience tea and/or pills for headaches (just like the hero in the film does to all his victims) when watching the slowest action movie.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveler and founder of Caferati – an online writers’ forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic and teaches advertising, films and communications. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.