Review: ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’—An Indie Action Gem

Behind every mind-blowing story, there are some terrible decisions—a quote from “The Men Who Feel No Pain” (“Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota”). The only terrible decision in this movie is ending it in 134 minutes. If you love those ‘60s Marvel comics and those ‘70s and ‘80s Bruce lee and kung-fu movies, you have come to a right plac (even if you are not a fan of that era, don’t worry…this wild and wacky action movie with spoofy humor is not something you should be missing). This is the first Indian production ever to play in the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) genre-friendly Midnight Madness section. It won the ‘Audience Award’ with a hall packed and a standing ovation.

Surya has a dreaming fantasy while narrating his own story. He was brought up by his conservative father and eccentric grandfather (Mahesh Manjrekar). He has a VHS collocation of the ‘70s and ‘80s action and martial arts movies, which drives Surya’s interest to become one of those characters. As he grows up the interest remains the same in his own head. He is an action superhero who is going to kill world crime. The only catch is he has to keep sipping water as his kryptonite is dehydration.

Returning to Mumbai, Surya accidentally runs into his childhood role model the “100 men fight” fame one-legged martial arts star he always idolized, Karate Mani (Gulshan Devaiah), along with a kickass tough girl who turns out to be his long-lost childhood love Supri (Radhika Madan).

As the story evolves, we get introduce to a sleazy, cliché psychotic villain with troops of trained men—none other but master Mani’s own brother Jimmy (also played by Gulshan Devaiah). When Jimmy snatches off a sentimental necklace from Mani, it turns in to exciting as it slips into a different groove and becomes a narrative focused on Surya’s fan-boy tie to Mani, and his efforts to help his hero deal with Jimmy and his troops.

Abhimanyu Dassani and Gulshan Devaiah in “Mard Ko Nahi Hota” (RSVP, 2018).

Writer and director Vasant Bala have done excellent writing to bring his fertile imagination into a new engaging story. He has kept a razor-sharp script with a decent amount of suspense by keeping viewers’ amazement of the central and sub-character potentiality. In this movie, he has also broken the stereotypes of showcasing only strong men strong, where you will see women (Supri) are shown as brawny and courageous as Surya. Speaking of directing, Bala did a phenomenal work as a director, where we see great old school action touches;—he proves his mastery of close-ups and slow-motion combat throughout the film.

The movie is filled with a catchy, upbeat, high-tempo jam soundtrack of zingy pop tunes in multiple styles. Cinematographer Jay Patel gives the film a lucid comic-book visual with bright colors, and kinetic camera moves, from a crash, zooms, to striking airy shots that project upwards from a Mumbai rooftop into outer space. Stunt director Eric Jacobus and Dennis Ruel have nails with marvelous action choreography.

“Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota” is filled with great nostalgic moments of the classic VHS era. The movie gives a great tribute to that time. This movie will stay with you for its characters and the surrounded humor with action. This is the movie where each and every cast member has done delightful work. The scene which gave me the ROFL moment is a long fight sequence where gun gets demanded from an old man, and instead of providing the gun, he asks to follow the process of filling the form to take the gun.

To that end, “Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota” is a vigorous, captivate, and tranquil movie. The film will entertain you and throw you into Surya’s zany world of punches, kicks, chicks, and flicks.

This movie is highly recommended, especially if you have not seen it. I bet you will love to re-watch it again and again. You can find this movie on Netflix.