Kung fu without logic

Kung Fu Yoga has little to do with yoga, India or even a plausible plot line, says Ranjita Ganesan

A  minor miracle in Stanley Tong’s Kung Fu Yoga is that no fringe groups were hurt during its making. The Jackie Chan-starrer wrestles with history in a purely casual fashion, and any ancient kingdom mentioned here becomes a mere accessory in launching an entertaining treasure hunt. Much of this Hong Kong action film, which attempts to straddle the Chinese and Indian cultures, has a “so bad it’s good” appeal. 

An opening computer-graphics sequence casts Chan as a Tang dynasty warrior who protects soldiers from the Magadha dynasty in battle with rebel forces. In the rest of the film, where no reference is made to this bit, Chan plays archaeologist Jack, who agrees to help an Indian professor Ashmita (Disha Patani) and her assistant Kyra (Amyra Dastur) to locate lost riches of the Magadha rulers. 

Two of Jack’s assistants join this team of investigators, as does a charming but unreliable local tomb raider Jones (Aarif Rehman). Challenge comes in the muscular form of Randall (Sonu Sood) — a descendent of a rebel fighter of Magadha — who has impressively inherited ancestral lust for gems and gold even after all these centuries. 

Archaeology as depicted in the film is a glamourous activity. The pursuit takes the team around parts of Tibet, Dubai and India. They encounter, and sometimes fight, a variety of animals: snow foxes, lions, camels and hyenas. The women wear a Dora-the-explorer attitude in these expeditions, smiling throughout and being excited by trivial things. The men are all adept at martial arts.

The makers did not waste too much time on dialogue. “You are the greatest archaeologist in China,” Chan’s character is frequently told. “I am one of them,” he always replies without ever explaining who the others are. True to its genre, Kung Fu Yoga’s humour is loud, peculiar and physical. 

Other than the fact that three members in the principal cast are Indian and portions were filmed at the Mehrangarh fort, the India element in this film is sparse. There are passing mentions of yoga and one demonstration of how yogic practice allows one to hold their breath under water for long, seemingly included to justify the film’s title. 

It shows a shop-worn stereotypical version of India where people wears turbans or prayer beads and charm snakes. At one point, when a Chinese character correctly identifies a street performance as “the Indian rope trick”, his companion exclaims, “Wow, you seem to know a lot.”

Kung fu fights, on the other hand, get the bulk of screen time. The first of them has Chan explaining techniques of the martial art form. Although visibly older, he is still delightful. Another high-octane fight in Dubai has several gorgeous cars being crushed to smithereens. A third sequence featuring blood-thirsty hyenas is edge-of-the-seat stuff.

Towards the end, the treasure hunt takes an unexpected backseat and everyone — even members of the crew — breaks into song and dance. Pretense is given up, and there is an infectious joy about the moment. What we have here is a Bollywood film made in China.