I feel I am going through some bad luck….My time is not right and somehow all my decisions aren’t going right too. (Source: Rediff)
– Bollywood Flop King Shahid Kapur

Indian movie critics are generally a forgiving lot.

They tend to look for redeeming elements and hand out a pass grade to even bad Bollywood films.

But even Indian critics are so mortified by the trashy nature of Shahid Kapur’s new film R…Rajkumar that they’re handing it a F-grade.

Prabhudeva, known for scaling new trashy heights with each film, is the director of R…Rajkumar.

Here are a few review excerpts for R…Rajkumar from some prominent Indian movie critics:

NDTV

From this critic’s point of view, watching this film is like being trapped, for all of two-and-a-half excruciating hours, in a torture chamber with no escape channel in sight.

It is a dreadfully painful and numbingly grotesque drama that could put one off Bollywood action flicks for a while.

The screenplay, whatever little there is of it, is mangled heap of nonsense. Logic and good taste are given a wide berth all the way through. The film also takes limp shots at raising some laughs by way of the rustic villain’s attempts to learn Queen’s English and pick up ‘modern’ ways.

….The hero calls his lady love Lollypop. But expect no sweet delights. For the film, on its part, is pure poppycock. The only place that it should be heading to is the cleaners.

Rediff

R… Rajkumar is characterised by the most absurd camera angles. …

Shahid …. may be a great dancer but it is hard to see him as Rajkumar, especially during the fight sequences that drag on for far too long.

…Shahid entertains in bits but there’s only so much he can do to make this kind of stuff work.

Reuters:

The writing, just like the characters, has to be crass.

There are men hitting women, elderly men being stripped, and lyrics that could qualify as swear words. There is a villain who is bathed by women, and action scenes that make third-degree torture look better.

IndiaFM

The problem lies in the fact that there being an overdose of masala films, one can actually foresee what’s in store next. The story is done to death, the screenplay is far from inventive and everything seems conventional. Sure, a few moments do keep you glued and hooked to the proceedings, but the waferthin plot and lackluster screenplay plays spoilsport.

….Shahid Kapoor …. looks far from real when it comes to fighting an army of villains. Sonakshi Sinha seems to be getting repetitive and needs to reinvent herself. Ditto for Sonu Sood, who plays the mandatory villain without much of an effort.

…On the whole, R… RAJKUMAR doesn’t work. It is Prabhu Dheva’s weakest Hindi film to date!

Times of India

While ‘R…Rajkumar’ entertains at some levels, it suffers from utter plainness and predictability. The raw action is impressive (Ravi Varma), the songs (Pritam) and the choreography are routine attractions. The second half seems like a sari too long and the comedy is often forced.

It has some ‘Must Haves’ of a pot-boiler, but misses the real thing – a SOLID STORY!

  Shahid Kapur