There’s a knock knock joke in High Jack that perfectly encapsulates the humour of the film. Knock, knock, says one character to which the obvious reply is, ‘who’s there?’. This is followed by ‘hi’ and so it goes, ‘hi who?’. The punchline is an underwhelming, ‘hi, Jack’.
Hallucinogens and intoxicants alone will be grossly insufficient to endure Akarsh Khurana’s feature film debut. This while the characters are tripping on an unnamed effervescent drug (which is the fizzy one again?) that’s making them fly high as a kite. Khurana’s attempt at a stoner film sees a failing DJ from Goa — with financial woes — turn to drug muling in a drunken stupor. The flight, heading to Delhi, gets hijacked by four inexperienced men. Passengers unknowingly consume spiked water and (a lack of) hilarity ensues.
- Director: Akarsh Khurana
- Cast: Sumeet Vyas, Mantra, Sonnalli Seygall, Boloram Das, Nipun Dharmadhikari, Sarthak Kakar
- Storyline: Rakesh is high on a flight that’s hijacked by four inexperienced men
Watching the mildly funny film requires an absolute suspension of all belief. Apparently DJing nowadays forgoes the earlier pretension of twisting knobs on a console. Rakesh (Sumeet Vyas) manages to do it simply by flailing his hands on top of some equipment. Hijackers easily bring weapons on board a flight with guns strapped to their bodies. Even drugs, despite x-ray machines and sniffer dogs, find their way on the flight in hand-held luggage.
Khurana’s effort is noble. After all, a stoner film is a rare feat in Bollywood. But High Jack’s execution is far from exemplary with blood that looks like maroon cough syrup and actors that go overboard with their character portrayals. Then there’s the unintended but inadvertent jibe at a supposed transgender person in an attempt to introduce a plot twist. Someone should have told Khurana that stoner comedies aren’t always watched by audiences with blunted (read: intoxicated) judgement. They needn’t be dumb. Khurana goes for the opposite and ends up with a film that does have few chuckle-worthy moments, but largely disappoints.