It has been a long time that I wrote any movie reviews. However,
this week's release Bajrangi
Bhaijaan has dragged me
out of my hibernation to write a review.
First things
first, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is not an usual Salman Khan movie. No cable hanging fights, no
stripping, no popular one-liners, no Munni type item songs and no villains that
we always associate his movies with. I think after Tere Naam this is one movie where Salman
has actually experimented with a subject and he comes out a winner, winning not
only his loyal fan's hearts but also the so called nasty reviewers.
The film starts
off with a Pakistani village household cheering for Pakistan while watching its
nail biting crucial cricket match with India on television. 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 devout
Hanuman bhakt 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.
Actingwise this is Salman Khan’s best performance till date.
Newcomer Harshali Malhotra is a revelation. With no dialogues to mouth, she
does a wonderful job with expressions. Kareena Kapoor in a cameo is okay.
Nawazuddin Siddique as always is endearing.
Kabir Khan after his previous movies viz. Kabul Express, New York
and Ek
Tha Tiger again proves his metal. The story by V. Vijayendra Prasad and dialogues by Kausar Munir are perfect and the movie is set to motion right at
the beginning with no space for boredom setting in. The visuals of POK is
wonderfully captured. The music is average.
Overall it’s worth every penny you spend. Go for it!
My Verdict: *****
