Fateh Review: Sonu Sood’s Bloody Attempt At Direction Is Explosive And Impressive

Last Updated:January 10, 2025, 16:05 IST

Fateh Review: Sonu Sood’s Fateh is a decent watch but needs more polished writing.

Fateh Review: Sonu Sood impresses in directorial debut.

Fateh Review: After much anticipation, Sonu Sood’s Fateh is now in theatres. The film also marks his directorial debut and is a visual treat for devotees of the actor’s real-life ‘messiah’ avatar.

Fateh follows the life of Fateh Singh, a former agent turned dairy farm supervisor, who ventures to rescue a young girl after she falls prey to an online loan fraud. In his rescue attempt, he discovers a cybercrime racket run by Raza (Naseeruddin Shah) and Satya Prakash (Vijay Raaz). To entangle this world of web, Fateh enlists the help of ethical hacker Khushi (Jacqueline Fernandez).

Fateh’s two-pronged mission to save the girl and take down the racket is a messy tale of blood and gore, resting ably on the shoulders of Sonu Sood and the action choreographers. The actor-turned-killing machine bludgeons bad guys to death, gouges out their eyeballs with tongs and uses their dead bodies as coat hangers. As a first-time director, Sood has not only hacked the art of filmmaking but also his enemies’ bodies. But not once will you question his ability because of Sood’s stellar action skills.

While one may be tempted to compare Fateh to John Wick and Animal, not every fighter in a suit has to be Keanu Reeves and not every killer in a lobby has to be Ranbir Kapoor. What sets the film apart is Sood’s conviction and the story’s intent. Interestingly, Sonu Sood’s real-life charisma also lends to the believability of the film.

However, while Sonu Sood has mastered action, his vulnerability on-screen needs practice. Sood lacks an emotional depth in his performance. Although Fateh is a fine attempt at direction, the writing could have been better. Sans the exaggerated action scenes, Fateh doesn’t offer much. The characters’ back stories aren’t too explored and as such, actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Vijay Raaz feel wasted in the film. Jacqueline Fernandez offers nothing new and has no chemistry with Sonu Sood.

Despite the clever metaphors and subtle attempts at humour, the story’s inconsistencies are glaringly obvious once the blood dries up. But the film is not too bogged down by this mess and manages to keep one hooked till the end. Fateh makes for a decent watch, and fans of the action genre will have an explosive time in the theatres.