A disappointing trend among Telugu filmmakers is the desperation to hold on to a specific genre or storytelling style and overuse it till the novelty wears off. It is like a magician relying on the same trick until the secret is laid bare.

Director Ritesh Rana’s quirky, parody-style narratives set against crime — seen across the Mathu Vadalarafranchise and, to an extent, Happy Birthday — were one-of-a-kind when they first arrived, with the mark of a storyteller with a unique voice. With Jetlee, however, it appears as though his signature style has overstayed its welcome, struggling to offer anything new.

Jetlee, as per the writer-director’s own admission, was born when a serious aviation thriller was reimagined as a comedy. The drama begins when Prajapati (Ajay), the founder of a bank, flees to Dubai with his customers’ deposits. A key member of the bank is brutally killed, and a crooked politician, Melkote, is after Prajapati’s life.

Amid this conspiracy, the action shifts to a flight where Prajapati is returning to India. Veda Vyas, a.k.a. John Ceena (Satya), confused about his own identity, finds himself entangled in a tricky situation where co-passengers associate him with various professions. Who is Vyas, and what connects him to this conspiracy?

The film opens in the director’s typical style — a TV channel owned by the bank founder tries to whitewash his image amid public uproar. The rolling captions offer a satirical take on both the country and the film industry.

Later, aboard the flight that is aptly named Swing Fisher Airlines, a pilot named Kotappa Konda (Viva Harsha), who is also a part-time YouTuber, welcomes the passengers with, ‘Hello ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary people,’ and asks them to subscribe to his channel, Fly by KK.

The protagonist, meanwhile, has visions of his past whenever he presses his tummy. A priest in a church reads a story called The Nun in a Chandamama book. Another co-passenger is busy unearthing clues to solve Telugu film puzzles. Using this setup, the film takes potshots at everything under the sun — the eccentricities of the media, cinema, in-flight dynamics, and politics.

The audience plods along and tries to have fun, until it cannot be taken any longer. Much like in Happy Birthday, the director crams too many tongue-in-cheek pop-culture references, making fun at characters who bite off more than they can chew.

With the entire action confined to a flight and a limited set of characters, the film feels claustrophobic. There is no coherence in storytelling. The dialogues, regardless of the characters, evoke a similar effect. The humour is verbose and consistently comes at the expense of mimicking trends, settling for instant gratification.

The film mocks everything but refuses to acknowledge its repetitive jokes. There are double agents, cops, henchmen, multiple backstories, a revenge angle, and a political conspiracy, resembling an overcooked recipe with ingredients that are all over the place. After a point, it feels like a closer cousin to the spoof-comedy Hrudaya Kaleyam, but with far less effect.

Every capable actor, from Satya to Vennela Kishore to Ajay and Harsha, gives their all to salvage the film, but they ultimately end up contributing to the cacophony. Rhea Singha fits her part, though she appears as confused as the viewers. Kabir Duhan Singh’s formulaic antagonist role lacks chutzpah.

The climax is an ordeal to sit through, needlessly amping up the mystery around the pivotal character’s identity and leading into a special number when all you want is some calm. The over-the-top costumes, wigs, and flashy colours oversell its world, trying too hard to deliver a spectacle from a flimsy script.

Had Jetlee been more self-aware, less intent on packing in gags, and allowed the viewers some time to breathe, it might have been the irreverent entertainer it so badly wanted to be.