‘Jewel Thief’ movie review: Saif Ali Khan-starrer is riddled with plot armour that shields it from common sense and logic

I have always wondered what would happen if you bring some of the best acting talent in the country and make the worst possible heist movie ever? Well, I don’t have to imagine it anymore, for Netflix’s India unit made it a reality with its latest film, Jewel Thief . With an ensemble cast, starring Saif Ali Khan as Rehan ‘Jewel Thief’ Roy with the excellent Jaideep Ahlawat as the “cool and calculated mafia boss” Rajan Aulakh (Netflix’s words, not mine), Nikita Dutta (of Sony TV’s Ek Duje Ke Vaaste fame) as Farah Aulakh, and the talented Kunal Kapoor as detective Vikram Patel—what could go wrong, right? Ooh! A heist movie from Netflix..

. I was excited. But as I clicked play, what followed was two-something hours of regret.



With the most oblivious of dialogues and the worst of screenplay paired with shoddy set design and lacklustre direction, it is perhaps the worst Hindi movie of 2025 so far. There is nothing that redeems the film. The lack of attention to detail was abhorrently painful.

Director-duo of Kookie Gulati and Robbie Grewal seemed to love slapping coloured contact lenses on random people in the cast, especially Jaideep Ahlawat. Yet, in some shots, his signature blue-green eyes were back to black-brown. In another scene, Saif Ali Khan pours the most blood-red alcoholic drink, sits down, and it turns to bourbon yellow.

And don’t even get me started on the plot. The best part of Sumit Aroraa’s writing is his liberal use of plot armour. In fact, calling these devices plot armour won’t suffice—it’s a plot shield, which not only plugs major logical holes in his story but also deflects any sort of intelligent storytelling.

Rehan (Saif’s character) is forced by Rajan (played by Jaideep Ahlawat) to steal the coveted African jewel, the Red Sun. Some forgettable family drama—and verbal expositions from each and every character using dialogues to explain things to the audience like they are five—later, the heist starts. Also Read 'Phule' movie review: An important, but imperfect film on Jyotirao and Savitri Phule 'Sarkeet' trailer: Asif Ali-starrer promises a moving tale, set to release in theatres on May 8 'Thudarum' review: Mohanlal delivers one of his most emotionally charged roles in director Tharun Moorthy's hat-trick outing But hey, in between all of this, are a couple of intelligence officers (who are portrayed as anything but intelligent because that is the comic relief we Indians want, right Netflix?) who are hot on the trail of Rehan.

Leading them is the excellently “brainy” Vikram (played by Kunal Kapoor), who in true detective fashion, solves every single piece of puzzle he ever encounters. Nikita Dutta as Farah, Rajan’s wife, is wasted as a set piece, with her only role for the most part of the movie being the introductory vessel of the Jewel Thief ’s greatest plot armour EVER—the belladonna plant—in smaller quantities, it renders you unconscious; in higher doses, it kills you. Everything else looks like a 2010s Power Rangers episode on 8K 60fps clarity, but no amount of expensive camera and decent acting can save a movie from bad writing.

Built on top of this momentous failure is one of the worst editing jobs I have witnessed in a long time. Have you ever watched a home movie or a novice short film and noticed certain cuts where you know they chopped off some important plot point? Well, the Jewel Thief is riddled with these! At times, I was caught unaware by certain edits in the film that I had to rewind 10 seconds to put myself through more pain. The failure of Jewel Thief is not in its cast.

It’s everything else—editing, makeup, set pieces, camera, action choreography, dialogues, editing, lighting, VFX, you name it! It also highlights the distinct difference between the capability of India’s Netflix team and their counterparts in other geographies in greenlighting regional movies—that is, if they are complicit in the making of this movie along with Marflix Productions. There is a certain point in this movie where Jaideep Ahlawat threatens to call the Enforcement Directorate on a certain character for accepting cash from dubious sources. However, as the credits of this movie roll on the screen, I felt like calling the authorities on the makers of the film for the crime that is the Jewel Thief .

Film: Jewel Thief Director/s: Kookie Gulati, Robbie Grewal Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Kunal Kapoor, and Nikita Dutta Rating: 1/5 | ★☆☆☆☆.