The magnitude of
Salman Khan and an Eid release is indicated by the fear in the minds of all
other production houses. Not a single
release other than Bajrangi Bhaijaan this weekend in India. In fact there were a couple of withdrawals as
well at the last minute. But at the end
of 2 hours and 25 minutes I would risk sticking my neck out and say this, “It
has to be the end of the Eid Monopoly for Bhai”.
The last half
decent movie from Salman Khan on Eid was probably Ek Thha Tiger (2012) which
was preceded by Dabangg (2010). It has
just not been working out for the biggest Khan (in terms of popular opinion) and
I think it is time for him to move aside.
Age has definitely caught up and the lack of reasonable scripts should
be enough to tell him that its over.
Bajrangi
Bhaijaan is Salman’s 2nd with Kabir Khan (Ek Thha Tiger) who is hell
bent on proving that Kabul Express was nothing more than a flash in the pan or
beginner’s luck. I say this not because he has made an emotional tear jerker with
a smattering of masala. I say this
because he has made a bad emotional tear jerker with a smattering of masala and
action (which is the hallmark of bhai) that is reduced to the status of a special
mention.
Shahida
(Harshaali Malhotra) is about 6 years old and from Sultanpur, Pakistan. She is born mute and her parents decide to
make the long trip to Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, India. En route back, Shahida decides to step off
the train at the border. Predicatbly the train chugs off without Shahida on
board. The kid gets onto an oncoming
goods train only to be pulled the other way and wakes up at Kurukshetra.
At Kurukshetra,
she meets Pavan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi (Salman Khan). Bajrangi has just finished the selfie song
for the bigger Bajrangi (Hanumanji). He
has made the trip to Kurukshetra for no other apparent reason. Shahida decides to follow him wherever he
goes leaving our hero with no other choice but take her to his would-be in-law’s
place at Chandni Chowk, New Delhi.
Needless to say,
the mute girl is unable to communicate where she is from and the home she has
walked into is one that doesn’t have much tolerance towards even the
neighbouring muslims – the ones from across the border may just be
quartered. But of course true colours are
revealed over a cricket match that our friendly neighbours win. Bajrangi of course swears to get her across
the border – with paperwork or otherwise.
The story
meanders through some meaningless and less than believeable antics like crossing
the border through a tunnel. Then there
is the convenience of switching between principles such as speaking only the
truth and lying under the pretext of the Mahabharat which our neighbours have
apparently never heard of. Of course the
border is depicted to be around 20 feet wide and with barbed wire that seems
like an excuse.
The essence of
the movie and the objective may not have been ill-placed thanks to a few messages
such as “Borders are man made”, “Hate is easier to sell than love” etc. But the
execution is crappy – a plague that has infested Bollywood for ages now. Of course, before I forget, it takes an
unknown reported from the remotest part of Pakistan to communicate the power of
the internet – us Indians in Dally Vich of course haven’t heard of the
phenomenon. 3 on 10 for a less than
impressive movie.
Watch the
trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyX4toD395U
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