Screw Dheela Announcement: Another mind-numbing action flick starring Tiger Shroff no one asked for

On his 50th birthday, Dharma Productions honcho Karan Johar announced that for the first time in his illustrious career spanning decades, the filmmaker will direct an action film which will go on the floors in April 2023. Johar has often been criticised by many critics and audiences for making fluffy films that pander to the diaspora and lack depth. Johar, too, has gone on record and spoken at length about how he plans to continue making typical Hindi masala potboilers because he grew up watching that kind of cinema. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Hindi masala potboilers and big-event commercials films, but they must have some substance, no? Of course, not every film is a Masaan or a Swades but not every commercial film must be a Kalank or Student of the Year which doesn’t have a strong plot. Ensemble casts and grand, opulent sets can only take your film so far. When KJo announced that he is planning a masala action film, the reactions were mixed. There was, of course, some wishful thinking that the masala film might just work - if KJo doesn’t go the Rohit Shetty-way and have cars flying around violating the laws of Physics. However, seeing the film’s curtain raiser-cum-announcement, it became apparent that the action venture is another mind-numbing action flick no one asks for.

Tiger Shroff And His Back Flips

If there is one actor whose range is extremely limited - perhaps, even more than Varun Dhawan who plays the role of a man-child in every film, it is Tiger Shroff. We get it - Tiger has an amazing physique, chiseled jawline and washboard abs - all of which he managed to get owing to his intense workouts in the gym and deserves appreciation for the same. But what about acting? His abs and swollen pecs cannot compensate for lack of expressions and poor acting skills, can they? In almost every film of Tiger, be it Heropanti 2, Baaghi or War - he is seen doing backflips and what appears to be mixed martial arts - all of which was fun to watch for the first couple of releases. However, seven films down the line, Tiger Shroff is still doing the same back flips that he did in his first film with a little variation. There is, of course, nothing wrong with being an action star. But shouldn’t actors try and experiment every now and then? If something worked 8 years ago, why keep using the same formula again and again? Shouldn’t actors, heck even producers like KJo reinvent every now and then? Why shouldn’t the Pan India audience ditch Bollywood and simply watch South films if they are being served the same back flips and martial arts in every action film?

Why Is Bollywood Scared To Experiment?

The formula-based churning of one mind-numbingly violent action film one after another shows just how scared Bollywood actors and producers are to take calculated risks and experiment with their films and content. They just want to take the roads that have already been trodden and work on genres which are tried and tested and give guaranteed returns. This, of course, is one of the many reasons why South cinema is eating up Bollywood’s theaters and screens and significantly hampering their business. And why shouldn’t it? Bollywood, year after year, has underestimated the intelligence and the intellectual capabilities of the audience. With the advent of OTT, the Indian audience is now well-read, well-informed and knows what kind of content they’d like to watch. As a result, no amount of backflips, mixed martial arts will help our action heroes - the likes of Tiger, Varun and others. All of them lack depth and frankly the acting prowess that is expected from them.

Screw Dheela Will Make Your Screws Loose

After watching the two minute, 59 second film announcement of Screw Dheela, one cannot help but wonder if Karan Johar’s or Tiger Shroff’s ‘screws’ were loose. Of course, the theatrical release of the film is almost a year away and it would be too early to judge how Johar’s directorial venture will fare. But from the trailer, it is apparent that the showrunners plan to take the same old route of tried and tested Tiger Shroff action films and serve nothing new in the name of content. In the beginning of the trailer, the villain, who has held Akhilesh Mishra (Tiger Shroff) hostage, punches him violently. Tiger happily takes his punches until he sees that a female (assumed to be Tiger’s love interest in the film) is shot dead. That, of course, makes all his humility and politeness disappear as he punches down the men who kept him hostage. The trailer ends with Tiger giving a blank look to the camera, which, I assume, is meant to look menacing but looks far from that.

The trailer, of course, shows how men would not defend themselves and would happily take punches from the villain till the love of their life is killed, in which case, all hell will break loose. I don’t know about you, but this smells of toxic masculinity and in a way, enforces the sexist stereotype about an angry young overprotective man trying to protect the woman in his life. Not only does it set unhealthy standards for men, it also justifies being overprotective in a relationship - a toxic trait that should only be condemned and not be endorsed.

Screw Dheela’s trailer already looks problematic and seems to fall back into the same old tropes of the action films that we have seen countless times before in the Rohit Shetty cop universe. It is high time Bollywood stars start experimenting with new genres and come with innovative films, unless, of course, they wish to lose all their business to Rajamouli’s brand of films - the RRRs, the KGFs and others. Screw Dheela will hit the theaters in 2023. Here’s hoping that the film doesn’t make our screws go dheela.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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