Rating: 7/10
Based on the ‘Mars Orbiter Mission’ or Mangalyaan, the story starts with a failed mission because of which Rakesh Dhawan (Akshay Kumar) gets transferred to Mars’ department. There are no people in this department because they think achieving Mars is impossible, hence it’s an isolated dusty room with just a Cat in it. Tara joins Rakesh for Mission Mars as she blames herself for the failure of last mission.
Head of all the flagship missions gets changed to Rupert Desai (Dalip Tahil), an ex-NASA scientist, questioning everything done by Rakesh. Somehow, Tara convinces ISRO’S director to back Rakesh for Mar’s mission, and they build a team of underdogs (because so new). Everyone knows the mission was accomplished, but the rest of the story depicts how these underdogs achieve the impossible.
The spec-clad, with a hint of White frizzies, Akshay Kumar’s Rakesh Dhawan is impressive. He manages to underplay the character and succeeds living up to R. Balki’s sly sense of humour. Vidya Balan, as always, is natural. Her charming presence and the command of playing with her expressions, make her a delight to watch.
The super-confident Sonakshi Sinha gets the least cringe, as her character is well-written. She performs it with essential ease, which helps to connect with her. Taapsee Pannu has very little to add to the script. I can’t see someone like her getting exhausted, she deserves to rule the screen. Nithya Menen and Sharman Joshi are wasted on a supreme level. We all know what they both are capable doing of, but yet again, they’re the victims of lazy writing.
H. G. Dattatreya is a fun actor to watch, makers could’ve used him to maintain the humour but that doesn’t happen. Kirti Kulhari, too, barely has any contribution in making the script interesting. She’s just there, like many others (including us).
The movie depicts a mission showcasing an achievement with a very predictable storyline. It fails to hold on to what was important for the script, instead includes irrelevant sub-plots dragging the narrative.