Halla Bol

It is encouraging to know that in the current scenario of rip offs, remakes and comedies, a filmmaker is there who has the courage to make films on social issues which need to be addressed. Halla Bol is Rajkumar Santoshi's hard hitting movie inspired from a well known real life incident. It has a slow and unimpressive start but gains after the intermission. In the second half you see the good old Rajkumar Santoshi back in form in some well directed scenes. In short some straight conclusions about the movie are : 1. It is inspired from the famous "Jessica Laal" Murder case which questioned our judicial & political system. 2. It can also be seen as a redefined version of Rajkumar Santoshi's own masterpiece "Damini". As here Ajay Devgan witnesses a murder and then fights for the justice. 3. There are few firsts in the movie. A hero using the main hall of a minister's home as his bathroom and Vidya Balan giving some bold statements as the wife of Ajay Devgan to the press reporters. 4. This time Santoshi's 'Sunny Deol' is the powerful "Pankaj Kapoor" who is equally power packed and punchy as Sunny was in "Damini". He is such a great actor that even when he has not got that physical appearance, still he makes you believe when he fights many men single handedly. He gets a author backed meaty role and does full justice with it. The film belongs to him completely.

Ajay Devgan plays the role of Bollywood Star who was there in a party where a girl was shot dead. As he comes from a good social background he stands alone against all oppositions and becomes a witness. He is quite impressive but also seems similar to his act of "Aprahan" and "Gangajal" . Pankaj Kapoor is there for his support who was once a dacoit and had surrendered after a moral transformation. The movie is enjoyable in parts, specially the confrontation scenes between Ajay Devgan and the politician father of the murderer, with some powerful dialogues inviting cheers from the viewers. But its all the way "Pankaj Kapoor" which you remember coming out of the theater for his gem of a performance. Vidya Balan has nothing to do as Ajay's wife except one good scene with the press. Whereas music is satisfactory & could have been better, the background music on the other hand enhances the impact of the scenes. The movie is tense and lacks lighter moments of good humour. Rajkumar Santoshi only manages to impress in the second half. If only the first half had been more entertaining and engrossing, it could have resulted into a better movie. "Halla Bol" lacks the complete ingredients of a blockbuster, still it's a welcome change to have a movie on social issues after "Rang De Basanti" and the movie should be watched only for one person, that's Pankaj Kapoor.

Raj Kumar Santoshi as director is at his element while handling a script that demands its pound of action and strong dialogues. With Halla Bol he gets those occasional moments and on their basis the movie is worth a watch.

Movie star Ajay Devgan (Sameer Khan) knows the ropes of how the industry works and does his bit as a member of the film fraternity who bitches behind the back of colleagues, acts in umpteen commercials or turns sycophant, dramatic, romantic as the situation in reel or real life may demand. But when he becomes an eye witness to murder at a party (Jessica Lal episode revisited) his conscience is at a crossword.

With the aid of his theatre guru Pankaj Kapur (Sidhu) he declares Halla Bol on the nexus of politicians and important businessman who believe they can protect their guilty sons since they control the reins of 'Power' 'Paisa' and 'Public' in the country.

The plot dips and loses audience interest at times since its a script that has been done in different variants before but then you can trust the director to deliver a few moments that draw a clap from the audience.

The dialogues between Ajay Devgan and the Politician along with those few minutes when Pankaj Kapur reacts to a bribe are strong points and raise the movie above the ordinary.

Ajay Devgan puts in a spirited performance but the movie belongs to Pankaj Kapur who lights up the screen every time (reminiscent of Sunny Deol doing his bit with Damini).

For his portrayal as Sidhu - a reformed dacoit - and a bit of Ajay Devgan each time he hits out at the political big wig makes Halla Bol a movie to watch and get, shall we say… a bit inspired.

Mr. Rajkumar Santoshi needs no introduction. In a true action hero style he made an entry with a "BANG!" (read that "Ghayal"). Then he went ahead and seized up movies like "Damini", "Ghatak" and highly under-rated "Andaz Apna Apna" (PS: the rest are not worthy mentioning anyway). If you look at "Halla Bol" it clearly gives away the fact that Mr. Santoshi has run out of steam. If "Family" was yet another "Ghayal" then "Halla Bol" is definitely "Damini". This time it is Ajay Devgan who witnesses a crime and decides to stand up against it. Coming to his rescue is not a drunkard lawyer with "Dhaai-kilo ka haath" but a reformed dacoit Pankaj Kapoor. The spouse in both versions lend a moral support to the proceedings. The plot has been tweaked to incorporate bits from A.) "Bollywood Calling"/ "Om Shanti Om", B.) Power of public and C.) Jessica Lal murder case.

Ajay Devgan:: Passable considering the plagiarised plot he decided to be a party to.

Vidya Balan:: Weak character which got compensated with a few fiery sentences like "My husband has got ****". Sorry but that cheesy line made me fall out of my chair.

Pankaj Kapur:: Saving grace. Anybody else instead, there would be nothing more than a zilch in the movie.

At least the Nadeem-Sharavan's music in "Damini" was melodious here there is hardly a number that stays with you when you walk out of cinema halls.

Finally Mr. Santoshi, nobody can fill in the shoes when it comes to your pairing with Sunny Deol. Your newfound partnership with Ajay Devgan is fine but the whole thing is akin to catching a tiger in the jungle. Only that you have caught a bear and trained him to mouth "I am tiger, I am tiger!".

Every time Pankaj Kapur's movie comes out, I eagerly wait to watch it. So I went to watch Halla Bol, but for the first half hour I could not decide if I am watching Halla Bol or Madhur Bhandharkar's "Page 3" or Jessica Lal murder case on some news channel. Its the same old plot, same old story. But as always Pankaj Kapur stands out. What an actor! Maqbool, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Chameli Ki Shaadi, etc., awesome movies. Hope he gets more movies, and film industry does justice to his talent.

This movie is not up to the standard of what we expect from Raj Kumar Santoshi. The person gave us awesome movies like Damini, etc. but this movie is not like those movies. As for Vidya Balan, I don't understand how is she managing to get movies. She is not a good actor, and does over acting most of the time. Looks can only take you so far, but she doesn't have talent. She has this patent face expression in most of her movies. But anyways, do watch the movie, it is a one time watch.

This film is a brilliant and yet not so great a film. This film had its flaws, the story line got a bit too filmy in a few places, was not so practical... a few goofs here and there but in the end what I feel what matters is the overall feel and effect, where this film did very well.

Analyzing this film, Rajkumar Santoshi does have a habit of touching an extreme, portraying a world with people who live either in the black or the white, he tends to leave out those who reside in the greys... That is where this film lacks in the story, that it is not practical.

But the same point comes to his rescue when it comes to involving the audience in his film, it becomes much easier for a viewer to associate himself with an extreme.

The music was a part that got left out of the rain, had someone like AR Rahman done the music and the background score, the film would have got a lot more value added to it. The acting was good, with all those in the lead doing an exceptional job...

If one overlooks a few flaws this film surely makes for a great viewing, and surely does touch your heart!!!