Netflix 'Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins' Movie Review: All about Saif Ali Khan with a dollop of Jaideep Ahlawat’s brilliant performance, but... (2025)

Language: Hindi

Directors: Robbie Grewal and Kookie Gulati

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Kunal Kapoor and Nikita Dutta

Netflix’s Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins gives you all the big screen experience on the digital platform. Full -on entertainment, Saif Ali Khan plays a thief with good intentions. Jaideep Ahlawat, on the other hand, plays a complex, ruthless character who actually is an underworld don, but to the outside world he is an art collector. His paintings are stained with real human blood after countless smashes with his fist.

Jewel Thief, may be a mindless movie for many of us who are cinema lovers, but it is super high on entertainment and seeing the world of red diamonds, mafia dons, and museum heists is so much fun. But no knots and no twists unlike other heist films. Rehan Roy (Saif Ali Khan) who is a rule-breaking, big-hearted thief is on a mission to save his old doctor father from the hands of the merciless underworld don played by Jaideep Ahlawat.

A very predictable film with no out of the box thinking, Jewel Thief survives mainly because of the charismatic cast , Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat and Kunal Kapoor. The cast is the strongest point of the film, but not utilised to the fullest. Had it not been for all these actors the film would have been a complete washout.

The film no doubt is packed with style, but it is all fluff. Netflix’s Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins is a complete Bollywood masala film which is unfit for the digital platform. Looking at Saif Ali Khan who plays Rehan Roy, you will be reminded of T. S. Eliot’s poem_, Macavity: The Mystery Cat_. Just like Macavity: The Mystery Cat, he is a hidden paw.

To enlighten those who don’t know about Macavity let me explain a little about that. Macavity had the persona of a mysterious feline to satirise the behaviour of criminals, particularly those who are clever and elusive just like Rehan Roy (Saif Ali Khan). But he definitely is not as cunning and no way heartless like Macavity. He is just mysterious, sharp and agile like him.

Vikram Patel (Kunal Kapoor), on the other hand, is a relentless detective determined to catch the thief red-handed. Directed by Kookie Gulati and Robbie Grewal,Jewel Thief is a blend of high-octane action and surreal flair. Deep in my mind, I also felt that this could have been a theatrical release just for the look of it. But there must have been solid reasons to release it on the digital platform, especially in a time when there are so many uncertainties of box-office success. I also strongly believe that the movie faltered because the screenplay chokes. You had these two dynamic actors, oozing with charisma, but only had the writing been a little less lazy.

Rating: 2 and half out of 5

WATCH the trailer of Netflix’s ‘Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins’ here: