Sonu Sood came into the social limelight during the pandemic. His selfless act of helping hundreds of migrant workers get back home during the lockdown by organising buses and food. He became somewhat of a local hero as he organised safe passage for people where the administration faltered.

The trailer of his film Fateh is so good, you anticipated an Indian John Wick type of an action flick because of the black suit (except he wears a white shirt). The film alas falls curiously short of expectations.

Fateh Singh, a man who works as a manager at a dairy farm in Moga, a small town in Punjab is your do gooder who lives alone but the neighbourhood gal Nimrat adores him. Nimrat has inadvertently become a part of an instant loan scam and has introduced the scheme to several townsfolk. Obviously everyone including her loses their savings and accrue a huge debt. She leaves for Delhi to set things right with the help of an ethical hacker Jackie. Fateh sets out to seek her when Nimrat fails to come back.

Meanwhile, the loan scammers are making money by live-streaming the death of the ethical hackers. Fateh single handedly kills all the villains (that includes awesome actors – Vijay Raaz, Dibyendu Banerjee and Naseeruddin Shah – who have offered us their worst performances) and their unending swarm of minions. There are some funny lines of dialogue, but overshadowed by slow sanctimonious advice as the film tries to set up the story. Even though Sonu Sood is quick to land on his feet during the action scenes, they are too few and feel unoriginal.

What money lessons does this film offer to investors besides curing their insomnia?

How real is the promise of easy loans?

The movie talks about how simple folk in Moga, Punjab fall for an instant loan scheme where money comes directly into their bank accounts. They end up losing all their savings and one young man even kills himself after the scamsters threaten him to pay them more money.

Your bank will tell you loans are easy to secure: ‘We will give you loans on the phone!’ or ‘As our valued customer, the loan paperwork is halved!’

They’re not wrong. Most loans via a proper financial institution will be legit and easier than trying to get your child into a fancy school. But even the educated fail to read the fine print and forget that sometimes trying to pay interest on the long term loan that seems too good to be true might break you. Everyone has heard how students in the USA end up owing the government money even when they are in their forties.

Most of us have secured loans for buying our home, car, business or even weddings in the family. It helps when you do your research. Find out which loans are the most helpful to your needs and your ability to pay back.

Government warnings about not falling for smses that tell you about winning a car, money and sharing your bank account numbers with senders are often overlooked. People are still falling for emails and text messages from friends who need you to transfer a small amount into their account because their ‘wallet was stolen’. It takes just one phone call to the friend (who lost their phone, and hence the scamsters found their contact list) to confirm their need.

It is a task reading the fine print on loan documents. But it is better to be smart about where you are signing before you accept the loan. No matter how trusted the bank is.

Don’t spread yourself too thin

The intent of the film is good, I think as I delete yet another SMS from an unknown number that warns 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 more than half of the 130 minute runtime. Sonu Sood also plays the title role of the hero who is straight faced whether he’s drinking tea or killing hundreds of baddies. Even John Wick gives us a break from his smouldering presence when characters like the Bowery King, Winston and Charon show up on screen. Usually formidable actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz and Dibyendu Bannerjee seem to be doing their own thing and failing to create any fear as they ham their villainous roles. Naseeruddin Shah’s glee at imprisoning Krish’s scientist father was so much fun to watch. But here? He looks more bored than interested in stealing money from witless, simple minded folk. Vijay Raaz has shone in roles big and small since Monsoon Wedding. Dibyendu Banerjee stole the movie in Rocket Boys but here…

Perhaps the film would have fared better had there been a director who could handle these heavyweights. Perhaps Fateh Singh would be pushed into emoting a little more. Perhaps silly sidekick villains wouldn’t be eating noodles when threatening a man in his house only to be stabbed by them.

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

A movie is a joint effort, and the success depends on every little part working perfectly with all other parts to create magic on screen. Why is your villain claiming to love coffee and cookies, but eating crumbs? Why is his food choice of momos even relevant to the story? When you are so close to the story, you don’t see irrelevant bits. Even Guru Dutt partnered with Abrar Alvi to tell his stories on the silver screen. Trust your team. Don’t try to be everything.

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

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