I haven’t watched Novocaine yet, but I’m looking forward to it. The action comedy about a man who doesn’t feel pain and looks to save his co-worker from a hostage situation has been described to me as “what if the Crank movies were romantic comedies,” which sounds exactly up my alley. My wait for the movie to come to home viewing was a great excuse to watch a similar movie that’s been on my Netflix queue for years — the 2018 Hindi action comedy The Man Who Feels No Pain, listed on Netflix under the Hindi title Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota.
As the title suggests, the movie has a similar premise to Novocaine: A young man with congenital insensitivity to pain has to fight for what he loves. But while Novocaine focuses more singularly on that conflict (in that case, a hostage situation), The Man Who Feels No Pain is also interested in what it means for a child to grow up with this condition, and what it means for a parent to raise a child who doesn’t always feel the consequences of his actions. This is to the movie’s great benefit: After grounding the movie in real drama, The Man Who Feels No Pain manages to be a well-rounded action comedy with fun choreography, interesting characters, romance, humor, and a general playful sensibility.
Growing up with congenital insensitivity to pain, Surya is overly sheltered by his protective father, who is constantly terrified the boy will accidentally injure himself in a serious way. In his dorky protective goggles and a front-clipping backpack filled with water (because he won’t know if he’s getting dehydrated), Surya is consistently bullied at school. But he finds community in his grandfather (who dotes on him with action movies and promises of martial arts training) and his neighbor Supri, a young girl who doesn’t take any shit from anyone. After something goes wrong and Surya has to move away, the pair are reunited years later with new problems but many of their same dreams from childhood.
Abhimanyu Dassani plays the adult Surya with a charming youthful exuberance as a result of his arrested development, which pairs nicely with a sincere, grown-up-too-quick performance from Radhika Madan as adult Supri. Surya’s sheltered, movie-focused upbringing means he’s only truly experienced the world through that lens. That shows up in surprising and funny ways, as he envisions himself in the movie’s flashback structure as an action star, often sneaking in beats from famous movies (like The Terminator or Jurassic Park) into his memories. There’s a sweeter side to this upbringing, too — his grandfather prioritized these movies precisely because he wants Surya to understand what pain means. He teaches Surya to say “ouch” when he’s hit and how to shave using a balloon, and sets up a healing calendar for the kid’s inevitable injuries. What better way to bring that all home than through action movies?
The concept lends itself to strong action design, and The Man Who Feels No Pain delivers on that front. The fights are designed by Eric Jacobus, an action scholar, designer, and stunt performer best known for the incredible Groundhog Day-inspired Rope-a-Dope shorts, his series of viral videos recreating famous fighting game characters’ moves in real life, as well as his work as a motion capture artist and action designer for video games like God of War Ragnarök, Demon’s Souls, and Mortal Kombat 1 (a maybe unrelated note: A villain in this one has an Assassin’s Creed-style wrist blade).
A devotee of the Hong Kong style of action, Jacobus brings that approach here, emphasizing clean lines and cooperation between performers. Combined with Indian cinema’s love of slow motion, the action scenes are dynamic, exciting, and often quite funny. Jacobus and his team are also able to create distinct styles for each of the three main fighters — Surya’s movie-inspired moves, where his tolerance for pain can make up for his lack of technique; the martial arts master Mani (Gulshan Devaiah, who also plays primary antagonist Jimmy, Mani’s twin brother), an amputee who makes ample use of superman punches and his crutch while fighting; and Supri’s blend of Mani’s style, her own inner fury, and a scarf she uses with clinical precision.
The Man Who Feels No Pain fires on all cylinders, delivering the quality action you’d want and expect from a movie with this premise while still providing enough drama and laughs to combine that action with a deeply felt story and likable characters. It’s one of Netflix’s best hidden gems, and one of the most compelling new action comedies in years.
The Man Who Feels No Pain is streaming on Netflix.
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