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Thursday, 16th July 11:45 PM IST
BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN Is Complete Entertainer With Solid Content
Pluses:
Salman Khan delivers a towering act, Nawazuddin is hilarious as well as effective, Rajesh Sharma impresses once again, Deepti Naval and Om Puri are good, Harshaali Malhotra deserves special mention, tight screenplay Minuses:
dialogues lack punch, editing is uneven, boring music, Kareena Kapoor Khan looks disinterested
Critic Rating: 4/5
Business Rating: 4.5/5
Verdict:
Watch it for the star power of Salman and message of peace
Detailed Analysis: Kabir Khan directed some sensible films like 'Kabul Express' and 'New York. He gave Salman Khan his biggest hit at that time with 'Ek Tha Tiger' and now he is back with Salman. The film kicks off with a Pakistani village household clapping for Pakistan while watching thrilling crucial cricket match with India on tv. Inspired by the ace Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, a to be mother from the household names her daughter as Shahida (Harshaali Malhotra). The girl despite being beautiful and expressive does not speak a word, which worries her parents day after day. On the advice of an elderly person in the family, Shahida's mother decides to take Shahida to a wish-fulfilling holy dargah in Delhi, India. On their way back to Pakistan, their train halts due to a technical failure. That's when the innocent and animal loving Shahida sees a helpless lamb fallen in a pit. She gets down from the train and just when she rescues the lamb, the train starts moving, thus leaving her behind in an unknown country all alone. She quickly boards the next immediate train and reaches Delhi. It is here when she meets the extremely God fearing and a devotee of Hanuman Pavan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi (Salman Khan). With the intention of helping the little girl who cannot talk, Bajrangi takes her home, only to be ridiculed by his family members. The only person who stands by him is his to-be-wife Rasika (Kareena Kapoor). Pavan and Rasika try their level best to 'decode' the identity of the child by dropping names of almost all the Indian states, but in vain. Havoc strikes their family household when they discover that Munni (aka Shahida) not only eats meat, but is also a Muslim and above all… a Pakistani! That's when Pavan decides to brave all the odds (visa issues, passport problems etc). Despite all the odds, when Bajrangi manages to cross the Indo-Pak border, but gets caught by the Pakistan police, who label him off as an Indian spy. That's when Bajrangi encounters a freelance news reporter Chaand Nawab (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who shoots the whole Pavan-Munni 'adventures' on his handycam, hoping this will be his big ticket to name and fame as a journalist. However, as he discovers their Pavan's good intentions, he too joins the duo in their journey and helps them out. Does Chaand Nawab manage to 'encash' on the Pavan-Munni story in order to be taken seriously as a journalist, does Pavan succeed in uniting Munni with her parents, does the ever-truthful Pavan manage to prove his innocence of him not being a spy before the Pakistani police and how does the simpleton Bajrangi gets transformed into 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' is what forms the rest of the story. Performance wise Salman Khan delivers one of the best performances of his career, if not the best! He simply gets into the skin of character and his serious approach in emotional scenes is quite visible. This is not his typical stardom act but his actor comes out probably fist time after 'Tere Naam'. Kareena Kapoor Khan looks completely out of sort and was probably disinterested in such not so meaty role. Nawazuddin again proves that he can pull off any role with ease and can make his presence felt no matter who the star is in the same frame. Om Puri and Deepti Naval are decent and Rajesh Sharma deserves special mention for effective brief role. But real surprise package is Harshaali Malhotra who is simply outstanding in the role of an innocent girl child. Film has such impressive yet massy plot which is welcome change for a Salman Khan starrer. Film has uneven editing that at times but camerawork is stunning. Music is minus but lavish scale coupled with star saves the day. Background score is first class and production design are good.
Director Kabir Khan again makes a film on Indo - Pak topic after ETT but this time he presents a right combination of content and entertainment. Story is emotional but the whole packaging takes it to the new level. Film will release today and it should take a huge start due to prolific release period and star power. There is no competition for the film for next few weeks so it has good chances to score new records at box office.
Go for this one for right combination of entertainment and content! | |||