Zee Studios and Shakti Sagar Productions’ Fateh (A) is a story of cyber crimes and the cyber mafia. Fateh Singh (Sonu Sood) wants to now lead a tranquil life, very different from the hectic and action-filled life he has lived so far as an important member of a secret service agency. Towards this end, he settles down in Punjab. However, when a local girl falls prey to the cyber mafia and goes missing in Delhi, Fateh Singh is unable to ignore the call of duty. He re-emerges from his self-imposed retirement and comes as an avenging angel. He vows to bring down the entire cyber mafia syndicate. Is he able to save the abducted girl? Does he expose the cyber mafia? Is he able to prevent losses of thousands of crores of rupees which the cyber mafia is looting from the common men?
Sonu Sood’s story is routine except for the cyber crime angle which, incidentally, makes it very technical and, therefore, class-appealing. Since the drama is action-oriented, it is actually the awkward marriage of a class-appealing and very technical subject with mass-appealing action and stunts. The screenplay, written by Sonu Sood and Ankur Pajni, with additional screenplay by Sankalp Rawal, Rudra Anand and Shyam Nirmal, is dull and boring. The technicalities are so many and the drama gets so repetitive that it often bores the viewers. Even at places where it doesn’t bore, the drama definitely fails to thrill the audience and make them feel as if they are a part of the proceedings. In other words, the viewers watch the drama unfold on the screen, as silent spectators. Since it is very technical, its appeal is limited. Besides, the drama never really becomes exciting or thrilling. Sonu Sood and Ankur Pajni’s dialogues are commonplace.
Sonu Sood is alright as Fateh Singh, and he breathes fire in action scenes. But his cool dude act does not suit him. Besides, it is unlikely that many among the audience would be excited to watch Sonu Sood as the hero at this age, that too, after having played the villain or character roles in earlier films. Jacqueline Fernandez is below the mark as Khushi Sharma. Her dialogues are often difficult to understand because of her accent. Naseeruddin Shah is so-so in the role of Reza. He gets limited scope to perform. Vijay Raaz is alright as Satya Prakash. Even he does not get much to do. Shiv Jyoti Rajput is fairly nice as Nimrit Kaur. Dibyendu Bhattacharya is quite alright in a special appearance as Nishit Biswas. Prakash Belawadi is wasted as Ayyappa. Akashdeep Sabir is effective as Chaddha. Sheeba Akashdeep is okay as Nimrit’s mother. Binnu Dhillon (as Sandhu) does fairly well. Soundous Moufakir (as Reza’s assistant) is okay. Viral Patel (as Viral), Suraj Jumani (as Ronnie), Nyra Sachar (as Tittu), Rehaan Sachar (as Jolly), Nishan Cheema (as Ranjeet Singh), Atharva Bhatia (as Happy Singh), Kiranbir Kaur (as Satvant Kaur), Onkar Gill (as Jita), Arnav Gill (as Nimrit’s assistant), Krushna Patil (as Dolly) and the others pass muster.
Sonu Sood’s direction is not up to the mark. His narration fails to keep the viewers engaged or entertained. Music (by Vivek Hariharan, Haroon-Gavin, Shabbir Ahmed and Yo Yo Honey Singh) is ordinary. Lyrics (Mandeep Khurana, Shabbir Ahmed, Ajay Pal Sharma and Leo Grewal) are average. Bosco Leslie Martis’ choreography in the ‘Hitman’ song is quite nice. John Stewart Eduri’s background music is fair but should’ve been more impactful. Vincenzo Condorelli’s cinematography is nice. Lee Whittaker, Habib Haji Sayed, Riyaz Nasir Shaikh and Rampyare Ramdhari Yadav’s action and stunt scenes are exciting, but they loose in impact because of the weak script. Tariq Umar Khan and Nadiri Tariq Khan’s production designing is so-so. Yash Parikh’s editing, with additional editing by Chandrashekhar Prajapati, is loose.
On the whole, Fateh is a dull fare and will find the going tough. It will entail losses to all concerned.
Released on 10-1-’25 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: excellent. Opening: dull (except in cinemas where admission rates are Rs. 99 today). …….Also released all over. Opening was weak almost everywhere (again, except in cinemas where admission rates were Rs. 99 today).
