Film Review - Bajrangi Bhaijaan

All You Need Is Love

 

Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Cast: Salman Khan, Nawazuddin Siddique, Harshaali Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor

Directed by: Kabir Khan

Duration: 2 hrs 28 mins

Rating:  * * * 1 / 2

To put it plainly, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is the best Salman Khan film by light years. Or conversely, it is an above average film in which Salman Khan happens to participate. Be that as it may, the film scores highly on the emotional quotient in good old Bollywood fashion. Full credit goes to director Kabir Khan who pulls off a rabbit from the hat. While Kabul Express and Ek Tha Tiger were action oriented films, this time he has opted to pull the heart strings. Fair to say, he succeeds in doing and that too in style and when you leave the theatre in admiration of what the filmmakers had to offer. 

Call it prejudice, but the fact is very few walk into a Salman Khan film expecting something off the beaten path.  And a film that has some layers to it and offers more than just entertainment is like asking for the moon. Hence, Bajrangi Bhaijan comes as a pleasant surprise. 

Indo-Pak stories usually are about rhetoric like Gadar or the Heena, Veer Zaara kind of love stories. Kabir Khan looks at the larger canvas. There is no love struck man and woman on the either side of the border, although this is more about love, caring as is taught in moral science.  Barring a couple of state actors there are no villains in it either and yes, this is an India Pakistan story.

Somewhere along the most picturesque side of the Pakistan border lives a little girl named Shahida (Harshaali Malhotra, incredibly expressive). She can’t speak hence her mother brings her to Nizamuddin dargah in Delhi but in a twist of fate she is left behind. Her parents lament “Hindustan mein koi to khuda ka ek nek bandah hoga jo hamari beti ka khayal rakhega” The nek bandah, is Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi (Salman Khan), the biggest bhakt of Lord Hanuman and someone who will never ever tell a lie. Such characters are likable, even if they exist in films because you know in real life they are hard to come by.   

Pawan takes her under her wings not knowing anything about her background or parents. As is mandatory in Bollywood and most certainly in a Salman film, romance is also the order of the day and the glamour quotient is fulfilled by Rasika (Kareena Kapoor). In a progressive tilt, her father (Sharat Saxena) bluntly refuses a marriage proposal for her because she is not inclined to it.  These subtle touches are what make the movie rise above the ordinary.  

The story gets going when Bajrangi crosses the border in search of the little girl’s parents. Nawazuddin Siddique plays a news reporter who lends them a helping hand and he steals the show with his wisecracks and terrific sense of timing. The finale will bring a lump to your throat and if your lacrimal glands are stirred easily, then a tissue box will come in handy – even Manmohan Desai would have been proud of the climax. In fact the last ten minutes is perhaps the only time when Salman Khan actually plays a character and not himself.

It is the overall conscious effort of portraying optimism and heart warming characters that strike a chord. Good guys still finish first seems to be the message and it is narrated with conviction. After Rajkumar Hirani, this seems to be the first attempt to entertain and yet tell a story that talks about values, even though on a relatively smaller scale.

Of the cast, Kareena Kapoor has an insignificant role to play. The little Harshaali Malhotra charms you with her cute looks but more importantly, she can act. Salman’s character is such that he gets to play his usual self and to be fair to him, he is sincere and earnest in some of the key scenes. Nawazuddin is first rate, as he usually is.

So, believe it or faint, this Salman Khan film deserves a strong recommendation.  

Published in The Navhind Times on 19th July 2015

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Film Review - Kick

Just for Kicks

Film: Kick

Cast: Salman Khan,Jacqueline Fernandes,Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Directed by: Sajid Nadiadwala

Duration: 2 hrs 26 mins

Rating: * *

The similarity between Salman Khan’s film and a children’s animation film is that, irrespective of the content, the target audience is generally happy with whatever is thrown at them. In fact, a six or eight year old might have an alternative opinion about an animation film but rarely will you get to hear a varying opinion from bhai’s fans.

And it is not very difficult to see why. The man has a larger-than-life persona on and off the screen and some directors know better than others how to exploit it. From that point of view, producer turned director Sajid Nadiadwala is in full throttle in his debut venture Kick.Salman’s fans will surely be delighted. As the actor says, “Main dil mein aata hoon samaj mein nahin” – whatever that is supposed to mean.

For the rest, it is all about looking at your watch and counting the minutes. 

You don’t expect a Kurosawa or Bergman-like experience in a Salman Khan enterprise. If you come out with your marbles intact, it calls for a celebration.

Apart from Salman Khan playing Salman Khan, he also plays a badass named Devi Lal who likes to beat up eve-teasers – the audience has seen that drill several times before but yet they lap it up. And if you thought the grand entry of the hero was done away with in the 80s, then think again. You see him making an entry in super slow motion as his face appears on the screen. Trends in film making don’t apply to bhai - he is a trend unto himself.

In Kick, he is not exactly gainfully employed; his full time job appears to be pursuing his love interest Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandes) who is a psychiatrist and appears to be more exasperated than her patients.

Devi also has another avatar: he transforms into Devil, a Robin Hood character who also has full backing from his dad (Mithun Chakraborty). Randeep Hooda plays a cop in hot pursuit of Devil who is targeting the evil guy (Nawazuddin Siddique). It helps to have a villain who can hold your interest and who, at times, with his evil laugh and quirkiness, is more enthralling than the hero.

When it doesn’t take itself seriously, the film is watchable but the moment it switches to serious mode, as it does every now and then, you want to hit the fast forward button. A car chase on the streets of Warsaw shows the Rohit Shetty has serious competition when it comes to blowing up cars.

And just for the record, I haven’t seen a movie where the title is mentioned so many times in the film. As a part of the dialogue, if someone were to ask, “What did you have for lunch today?” am pretty sure the answer would have been “Kick”.

The film is well shot by Ayananka Bose and it is obvious that big bucks have been spent in making it. Even though I am far from being a Salman Khan fan, I can see why he has such a fan following – he aims to please and does it well. Now, only if someone could cobble together a sensible story for him rather than just rehash South Indian films. At times, Nawazuddin Siddique is one up on Salman; in some of the scenes he is deliciously evil.  

But all in all, this is just another Kick in the wall.

Published in The Navhind Times, Goa on 27th July 2014

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Film Review - Hawaa Hawaai

Get, Set, Go!

Film: Hawaa Hawaai

Cast: Partho Gupte, Saqib Saleem, Neha Joshi

Directed by: Amole Gupte

Duration: 2 hrs

Rating: * * * 1 / 2

On the heels of the wonderful Stanley Ka Dabba, director Amole Gupte has delivered another winner in the form of Haawa Hawaai, a film that again has a children as a part of its main focus. While the story is very simplistic, it tugs your heart strings and the director also focuses on important social issues like child labor and he does it without being preachy. 

Arjun (Partho Gupte, the director’s son) is a young boy who lives in the slums and helps his widow mother (Neha Joshi) make ends meet. He works at a tea stall and in the evenings he watches skaters as the same arena turns into skating ring. Lucky Sir (Saqib Saleem) teaches the kids and before you know it, the little boy wants to learn skating. At the center of his story are his friends, a rag picker, a mechanic, a zari worker and another one who sells flowers at the traffic signal. These kids have got a raw deal in life but that doesn’t stop them from making the best of it. 

They get together and ingeniously design a pair of roller blades, dressed like Iron Man, Arjun even manages to grab the teachers attention.  While the film moves on predictable lines from there on, the story about the triumph of an underdog has a zing that will never go away.

Apart from the telling social commentary about child laborers, the director also makes a point about the plight of farmers where Arjun’s father (Makarand Deshpande) becomes a victim.  The screenplay takes a few convenient routes at times and for instance the character of Lucky’s brother, a skating champion turned investment banker, is clichéd.

The film plays heavily on your lachrymal glands and more than once you feel a lump in your throat. One of those moments is a beautifully edited song where they show what the street children are doing rather than what they should be doing in school, like the privileged kids. 

At the heart of the film is Arjun and his friends –together, they the steal the show. Maaman Memon, Thirupathi Kushnapelli, Salman Khan, Ashfaque Bismillah Khan have done a terrific job and due credit should also go to the director for extracting such wonderful performances. Saqib Saleem is spot on as the teacher who invests in his students dreams. After Stanley Ka Dabba, Partho Gupte has proved that it was not a flash in the pan. As the central character he is brilliant.

A few dramatic moments notwithstanding, Haawa Hawaai is eminently worth a watch. Get, set, go !

Published in The Navhind Times on 11th May 2014

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Film Review - Jai Ho

It's All Jai Ho Hum

Film: Jai Ho
Cast: Salman Khan, Daisy Shah, Tabu
Directed by: Sohail Khan
Duration: 2 hrs 25 mins
Rating: * 1 /2

For fans of Salman Khan, it doesn’t matter if the review accords the film one or five stars, bhai’s films are critic proof. But for all those who care about cinema and sanity, get this straight – this is the worst Salman film in years (yes that includes Veer and Main aurr Mrs. Khanna) simple because the film maker (in this case his brother Sohail Khan) takes the audience for granted and dishes out a film that looks older than an Egyptian mummy on just about every count. Officially, the film is a remake of Chiranjeevi’s Stalin (2006) which in turn was inspired by Kevin Spacey’s Pay it Forward (2000)

If you must know the story, the superstar plays the latest flavor of the season, a common man. This common man has extremely uncommon powers though; he can beat up goons dime by the dozen without even so much getting a scratch. Maybe that Revital thing that he endorses, works after all. You’ve seen people kick start a scooter but bhai can even start an ambulance with a kick.

He is a good Samaritan helping people, including an amputee (Genelia Deshmukh) who needs help to write her college exams (the actress is only 27 years old and her character is that of a ‘bright’ student). When he was in the army, he also saved a bunch of children from terrorists and for not obeying orders he was dismissed.

For the life in me I can’t figure why and what was Tabu doing in the film. She plays the common man’s sister and when some good try to put a hand on her izzat he beats them to pulp.

Among other skills, he can also scare his opponents by roaring like a tiger, after all,  Ek tha you know what. Since a heroine is necessary for some song and dance routine, we have Daisy Shah to fulfill that quotient and since it is a Salman Khan film, actors need acting skills like a fish needs a Harley Davidson. 

The ‘humor’ comes mostly from jokes about the heroines pink underwear and other oddities include a kidney that gets damaged when a woman gets run over by vehicle and needs replacement (all other parts of the anatomy remain intact). But then who cares of logic or common sense.

There are plenty of actors here to remind you that they are still around – Mohnish Behl, Aditya Pancholi, Ashmit Patel, Mahesh Thakur, Mahesh Manjrekar, Nauheed Cyrusi, Tulip Joshi, Vatsal Seth and even good old Danny Denzongpa. If that is not enough, Suniel Shetty also pops up on an army tank. Enough endured.

Oh just one more thing, Salman also takes off his shirt and you could go to Mars and come back by the time the last fight can get over.

With such a hackneyed plot and antiquated plot there is nothing much you can do except grin and bear it in your seat. Technically, the films of the 80’s were much superior and as far as the music goes, it is pretty much like kids banging pots and pans.

The film exhorts the values of helping other people but it is repeated till the cows come home. Here’s my humble way of helping others- avoid this film and save your money. And please spread the word. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 26th Jan 2014

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