Ruslaan‘s basic storyline is promising. Director Karan L Butani has handled the action and slick bit neatly. The suspense in the end is unpredictable while Ketan Sodha‘s background score is catchy. But the film suffers big time due to the script. Often, we see heroes breaking rules for a larger cause, and getting into a spot. We recently witnessed it in Fighter. In Ruslaan, however, the character doesn’t use his brains. One can easily guess that he’s walking into a trap laid by the villain and yet Ruslaan doesn’t even hesitate to move ahead. Due to such scenes, one never sees the hero in awe and doesn’t root for him much. On top of it, Aayush Sharma fails to make an impact, though he has worked hard. Someone like Varun Dhawan or Kartik Aaryan would have suited this role more. Sushrii Shreya Mishraa, on the other hand, is apt and has a fine screen presence. Jagapathi Babu is dependable. Vidya Malwade looks stunning and does very well. Eiji Mihara (General Woo) and Sangay Tsheltrim (Lee) are a bit over the top. Raashul Tandon (Tabla) is okay. You feel bad for him as he gets into trouble big time due to Ruslaan. Aparna Beniwal (Saba) and Jaswinder Gardner (Ruslaan’s mother) are fair. Zaheer Iqbal (Raheel) looks stylish but is hardly there. Suniel Shetty is massy. All in all, Ruslaan fails to make an impact.
My rating – ** out of 5!