When you decide to go to see Bajrangi Bhaijaan, remember to carry a box of tissues with you. Salman will make you all emotional at regular intervals in the movie. And if you think as a rare case you can control the surge, the beautiful Harshaali Malhotra is sure to melt your heart, with her big dopey eyes and the face of an angel.
Cutting across religious, national divides, the film captures innocent humans caught up in the emotional turmoil.
Before we go into the details, we can safely say that this is Salman Khan’s finest performance till date. Although, we tend to say that after his every movie. When you watch the movie, you seem to connect to the Salman in Maine Pyar Kiya. The expression in his eyes, the sincerity in his body language, is definitely going to pluck the strings in your heart.
The movie is based on the story of a young Pakistani girl, who doesn’t speak and due to an unfortunate turn of events gets left behind on the Indian side of the border. The screenplay revolves around this magnanimous human called Bajrangi Bhaijaan, who leaves no stone unturned to find the girls parents and have her home safe.
The setting of old Delhi, the simple background of the Bajrangi Bhaijaan, makes it easy for the audiences to connect with him. Unlike PK, he needs no super powers to be good. He is a staunch devotee of Bajrangbali, so there are lies and cheating in his world. Kabir Khan, the director of the movie has a vision for Salman, which is unlike any other director. If you see his previous movie ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, the execution of Salman’s character was very precise and very articulate.
In Bajrangi Bhaijaan too, Salman might be wearing simple cotton clothes, but one can see the effort that has gone in taking care of every small detail of the character. The idiosyncrasies, the nuances are all within a limit that makes the character look real and not a super hero. A common man who sets his mind to do a good deed, at any cost.
The rest of the cast is also well chosen. We adore Om Puri, in a small but significant role. Sharat Saxena doing what he does best. And Nawazuddin Siddiquee as Chand Nawab, a small time journalist. Nawazuddin is like play dough, he can be molded in any form and seems to give complete liberty to the director to cast him in any way he wants. A solid performance which does not get shadowed by the presence of Salman at all.
Kareena Kapoor is the female lead of the movie. It is still a mystery to most movie goers, as to how does she land up the meatiest roles in all Khan camps. Be it Salman, Amir or SRK! Kareena is a fine actress and the role of Rasika, is like a cake walk for her. She plays it to great finesse and is thoroughly entertaining. But at the cost of inviting outrage from her fans, we must mention that she doesn’t look her prettiest and glowing in this movie. In her entry scene the first thing you notice are her under eye bags. All the fancy hairdos and bright clothes fails to make her look even half as pretty as Three Idiots or Jab We Met. Maybe she needs a new makeup man. But the looks can be put on the backburner, when you see her perform in the emotional scenes and when her eyes do the talking.
The story and the screen play of Vijayendra Prasad, is the backbone of the movie. There is not a single dull moment. The music of Pritam is beautiful and gives you some very hummable numbers. A special mention of selfi le le re and Bhar Do Jholi meri by Adnan Sami. The background music blends with the movie very well. This review would be incomplete without a special mention of Sham Kaushal, the action coordinator. In all the action scenes, there are no fancy kicks or jumps that make Salman look unreal. Sham has designed stunts that make him look like a desi pahalwan who is unstoppable once enraged.
The special star of the movie is Harshaali Malhotra. Without speaking a single dialogue in the entire movie, this young girl manages to capture our hearts. Her expressions are so pure that she makes us cry and laugh with her. Again kudos to Kabir Khan, to get a small child to perform so beautifully. In all her scenes with Salman, she looks totally comfortable with him. Salman too gives us a glimpse of his softer side. The locations for the movie have been well selected.
We really have no negative feedback about this mega blockbuster. A simple movie which makes you forget your worries, makes you laugh, makes you cry and entertains you completely. It’s an all out family movie, which should not be missed at any cost. A fultoo paisa vasool !
We give the movie 4 stars – ****
Bon vivant, writer extraordinaire.
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