Jewel Thief (2025) : Movie Review - Uttering the name "Vijay Anand" in "Jewel Thief" must be regarded as a brutal metaphor, and this movie exemplifies that. Anand's "Jewel Thief" survived the allegations of being a remake of Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief" (1955) because it hardly had any similarities, but that's not applicable to this film with the same title. If you have seen all those well-known heist thrillers from Hollywood and British cinema, then "Jewel Thief" will feel like nothing more than an overly theatrical compilation of those films. It tries so hard to be perfect that it feels artificial regarding the conflicts, giving you the impression of watching a screenplay written by AI. Yes, it's that kind of mess, particularly in the last 30 minutes. Rajan Aulakh (Jaideep Ahlawat) learns about a precious diamond from South Africa called "Red Sun," which is coming to India for an exhibition at a museum in Mumbai. He forces a clever thief, Rehan (Saif Ali Khan), to come to India and execute this job for him. Rehan accepts the job and plans to steal the diamond from the museum while the local cop, Vikram (Kunal Kapoor), tries to catch him red-handed. Rehan begins an affair with Rajan's wife, Farah (Nikita Dutta), and includes her in his plans when the first heist goes awry. Meanwhile, Rajan has his own agenda. Will Rehan be able to obtain the diamond while both Vikram and Rajan are after him? David Logan writes a highly theoretical screenplay that appears immensely artificial. Every clever action is meticulously planned, but amidst that, he forgets the basic sense. In one scene, Vikram is heading to the airport to catch Rehan, but by the time he arrives, the plane has already taken off. Bro, you are a cop; you could have called the airport authorities and asked them to halt the plane, right? Instead, he chooses a difficult route that fails to convince with that "mota Bhai" taunt. The film goes terribly wrong in the last 30 minutes when the heist is attempted at 30,000 feet in the air, and every single move seems too accidental, lacking evident and logical sense. It's not that things are illogical; it's just that too many coincidences and plans converge to spoil the natural flow of the scene. The romance between Rehan and Farah feels completely out of place and unnecessary. One moment you are engaged in the heist, and the next, you are stuck in a tedious romantic scene or a song. The sequencing is poor, which detracts from the film's pacing. Performance-wise, Saif Ali Khan has swag, but as an actor, he's barely impressive. Jaideep Ahalawat outshines Saif in every single scene, yet predictability in the writing ruins the excitement. Nikita Dutta looks gorgeous but plays one of the most irritating roles here, along with Kunal Kapoor, who has entered the expressionist zone typical of daily soaps. The rest of the cast is somewhat acceptable, but overall, this casting unit is below average. The cinematography of Jewel Thief is decent, and the sound design falls flat. It's a lavish film with solid production design and sets that create a certain atmosphere around you, and even some theories are fine; it's just the execution that falters. Kookie Gulati and Robbie Grewal's storytelling is at fault here, as they fail to maintain the momentum. There are thrills, but no emotional depth to it. The similar elements from popular Hollywood and British heist flicks make Jewel Thief appear weak and outdated. It's more like watching Agent Vinod working on the other side, but it is 10 years late. RATING - 4/10*

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