BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN (U/A)
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Harshaali Malhotra
Running time: 159 minutes
He did it last year with Kick. And now he’s done it again with Bajrangi Bhaijaan. No, not Salman Khan. But the little big man, Nawazuddin Siddiqui — salvaging a Bhai film one more time. Kept on the sidelines for the first 100 minutes of the film, Nawaz comes on as a super-sub, strikes in quick succession and makes Team Bhaijaan come out trumps before the final whistle.
You can sense the noble intentions from the start, you can see that the heart is pumping in the right place, you can guess where the journey will end but only when Nawaz’s Pakistani TV reporter Chand Nawab comes and spells out the sacrifice do you reach for that hanky and wipe away that tear. In a strange way, Siddiqui turns out to be the Hanuman of the piece bailing out our Khan god.
Actually, Chand rises at a time in the film when Bajrangi’s quest has almost been eclipsed by lack of activity. Lost in India, the mute six-year-old from Pakistan, Shahida, has latched on to Pavan (Salman Khan), who’s a Hanuman-worshipping truth-telling big-hearted do-gooder. He’s also infinitely stupid. Between school and college he’s failed like 20 times and still manages to charm the beautiful schoolteacher Rasika (Kareena Kapoor Khan) with his innocence.
Reels go by as Pavan and Munni — he doesn’t know she’s called Shahida — hang around Delhi with the redundant love story as a sideshow. It is here that the religious subtext of the film raises its preachy head. He wants to take the kid to the temple, she goes and prays at the mosque; he wants her to have shuddh shakahaari food and she wants to gorge on tandoori chicken. Finally during a cricket match on TV, she who’s named after Afridi shows her true colours, when she kisses the green flag on the screen.
More tiring scenes follow as Pavan tries to pack Munni off to Pakistan by official and unofficial methods but somehow the girl keeps bouncing back in his life. It is then that he decides to go to Pakistan himself with the girl in tow. From that moment of trying to cross the barbed wire, the film comes alive and gradually soars to an emotional crescendo where thousands of voices from both sides of the border roar in unison.
Interestingly, Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s story has been written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, father of S.S. Rajamouli, who has also written Bahubali. And despite the south Indian connection, the film feels radically different from all the Tamil and Telugu movie remakes which pop up in Bollywood. It also has a lot to do with director Kabir Khan’s documentary roots, powering the mainstream film with just the right doses of realism.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan is arguably Salman’s most honest attempt in ages, both as an actor and as a producer. [Here, we are also counting all the films where his sisters and brothers were credited as producers.] No unnecessary gravity-defying action, no front-bencher-aimed one-liners, no Malaika Arora Khan item number, it’s loyal to the story it wants to tell. And because Salman is so earnest and endearing as Pavan Chaturvedi, Bajrangi Bhaijaan packs as much punch as a Chulbul Pandey. Without the gaalis or the golis.
Recreating the much-laughed-at YouTube video of a Pakistani news reporter struggling to get his lines right in front of the camera, Nawaz first appears as almost a tertiary character. But he soon decides to partner Bajrangi on his journey and before you know it he’s taken you along for what is the best part of the ride. His fervent appeal in the news capsule that goes viral is the enduring moment of the movie.
Bollywood often gets their child actors wrong but the innocence of the little girl playing Munni aka Shahida, Harshaali Malhotra, is another major tug at the heartstrings. Kareena has very little to do in the film. Om Puri has a fun cameo. And Rajesh Sharma is expectedly effective towards the end.
Making a comeback after a prolonged hiatus, Pritam delivers tracks which go with the mood and the moment rather than just groovy club hits. But there are way too many songs and one of the main reasons why the pace is so sluggish in the first half. Aseem Mishra shoots the film with a lot of panache in saturated tones.
There are scenes when Bajrangi is not sure whether as a Hindu he should be inside a mosque or whether he should be responding to an adaab that will remind you of PK’s equally confused state of religious disposition in last year’s mammoth hit. Well, nothing can be more heartening than witnessing the country’s biggest stars doing films that talk about one world and universal brotherhood. Or should we say Bhaihood? Go, get your fix.
Pratim D. Gupta
Bajrangi Bhaijaan is/ is not Salman’s best film?
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SPOILER ALERT! A FANGIRL PICKS HER BEST BB MOMENTS, COURTESY AN ALL-NEW SALMAN
After years of pairing up with the Katrinas and Kareenas, Salman Khan has found the co-star who brings out the best in him — Harshaali Malhotra, the knee-high pocket-sized dynamite of talent that Salman had told t2, in the run-up to release, was his “best co-star ever”.
Even as she holds her own in frame after frame, scene after scene — those puppy eyes and winning smile are oh-so-endearing — Harshaali gives us the Salman we have rarely seen before: innocent Salman, emotional Salman, a Salman who is great with kids, a Salman who leaves you teary-eyed, a Salman who makes you leave the hall with a sniffle and a smile....
With Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman finally shows us how good an actor he can be. From that introduction shot when just his eyes come into focus to when he turns to smile at the camera in that pink shirt, Salman says so much with his eyes, his body language and his attitude.
Even as he cruises through the emotional scenes, Salman also brings his trademark deadpan humour into play, giving us LOL or lump-in-the-throat moments.
Here are some that got us clapping and catcalling at the first day-second show in INOX (South City).
♦ Right after the Selfie le le re number — Salman’s introduction in the film — a man asks Salman’s Pavan: “Yeh selfie kya hota hai?” Pavan: “Jab khud ki lete hain na (pregnant pause) tasveer”! #Ceetee
♦ The throwback to Pavan’s younger days when he’s shown as a failure at everything — studies to sports. We loved it when his reply to 6x4 is 25, 26, 27, 28... anything but 24! #Taali
♦ An ardent worshipper of Hanuman, Pavan folds his hands and bows his head every time he spots a monkey. That shot of him, Munni (Harshaali) and Chand Nawab (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) praying in tandem in front of a monkey in Pakistan makes you ROFL. #Taali
♦ The fun scene between Pavan and Munni when he spies her biting greedily into a succulent chicken piece at a Muslim neighbour’s house. Pavan’s expression every time he brings back Munni and she keeps running back to eat: priceless. #Taali
♦ The first action sequence takes place more than an hour into the film when Pavan — eyes blazing and fists clenched — walks into a brothel to rescue Munni. Done in slo-mo, the action is bone-crunching. #Ceetee + #Taali
♦ When Pavan tells Chand Nawab that Bajrangbali will help him trace Munni’s parents, Chand asks him, deadpan: “Pakistan mein bhi?!”#LaughOutLoud
♦ That awesome scene in which Pavan slips into a burkha to escape from the Pakistani police has a lot of fun moments — a passerby slipping off his cycle when he spies the local maulana (Om Puri) hugging a burkha-clad woman (yes, Pavan!) to Pavan showing off a jhatka or two when Chand asks him to bring some nazaakat into his movements so as not to arouse suspicion. #Ceetee
♦ Chand’s impassioned plea on TV where he implores the people of both India and Pakistan to make their way to the border so that Pavan can return to India safely. Chand’s eyes well up and his voice becomes hoarse... so does ours in that dark movie hall. #Taali
♦ Those final moments when Shahida aka Munni runs towards the barbed wires at the border to bid goodbye to her “Mama”. What happens next is true-blue Bolly, but is sure not to leave a dry eye in the audi. #Sniffle + #Taali
Footnote: Bajrangi Bhaijaan is that rare Salman Khan film where the man doesn’t take off his shirt even once — we don’t even get to see him in that customary white vest. But what we get to see is an all-new Salman. And we love it.
Priyanka Roy
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