Squad movie review: Rinzing Denzongpa, Malvika Raaj’s film is a predictable mix of cliches

New action thriller Squad, released on OTT platform ZEE5, is nothing that we haven’t seen before – it’s a predictable concoction of puffed-up patriotism, shoddy action sequences, poor acting and is riddled with cliches. Squad, which is written, directed and produced by Nilesh Zajeeda Sahay, marks the Bollywood debut of Rinzing Denzongpa, actor Danny Denzongpa’s son. Malvika Raaj also makes her debut but is overshadowed by Rinzing Denzongpa’s low-energy-Hulk avatar.

Watch Squad trailer here:

Squad centres around securing an abducted kid, who is the key to a secret cyborg mission, once formulated by a faceless scientist. Squad stars Rinzing as Bhim, a National Emergency Response operative but in reality, a disgruntled special agent, who is in perpetual mourning and scarred for life after a failed mission. Malvika Raaj’s character Aria, also a special agent, along with a bunch of others, form the titular Squad with Bhim as their field trip monitor. Their class teacher is the rough and tough Pooja Batra as Nandani Rajput.

Needless to say that Squad tries to bank on Rinzing Denzongpa’s expression-less looks, stiffly spoken dialogues and those muscles, so much so that every time he walks into an enemy hide-out, he is assigned the mandatory slow-motion shots, with missiles and bullets missing him by a distance as if they have lost their way. Rinzing’s slow walk through the fireworks at a terrorist camp cost the movie it’s foundation moments and many more through a lengthy two-hour runtime. The fight sequences, with Rinzing only aiming to be a desi Terminator, begged a true blue Bollywood action fan to be reminded of Vidyut Jammwal from Commando or Hrithik Roshan from War or Tiger Shroff from Baaghi. But sorry Rinzing, none did happen.

Also read: Malvika Raaj says Rinzing Denzongpa angrily punched a hole in wall on Squad set

However, it’s a relief that he has very little lines to deliver in Squad because when he does get some, he seems like one of those stray cyborgs (half-human and half-android) that the film keeps referring to every now and then. Talking about the spoken word, Pooja Batra’s character does most talking– bickering rather, mostly with a male colleague, perhaps to show a power struggle between them. Also a cliche that’s hard to miss.

As was anticipated, Malvika Raaj has been assigned the responsibility of pulling off a few mandatory songs – a romantic track and a dance number – both of which add nothing to the story line. What’s weird is in between an ongoing mission, Malvika Raaj quickly prioritises dreaming of romantic encounters with Rinzing.

Malvika Raaj will sometimes remind you of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’s feisty young Pooja. But nostalgia goes out the window the moment she trash-talks other female members of her squad. It seems that throughout the movie, Malvika waits for her moment to shine and when it finally arrives, but nothing can help when the writing is this bad.

Also read: Malvika Raaj recalls Shah Rukh Khan’s gesture on Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham set

For those who can ignore the sketchy plot for the action scenes, Squad is indeed packed with dramatic gun-wielding moments, hand-to-hand combat sequences, helicopters shooting down military vehicles and the like. The film also incorporates moments to show the humane side of Bhim, especially when he bonds with the abducted girl.

Squad, which comes with a lot of firepower, eventually proves to be nothing more than a damp squib. It ends with the possibility of a sequel. Umm, another one of these? No, thank you. We will pass.