Bajrangi Bhaijaan

After seven years of Mehreen Jabbar's Pakistani film titled RAMCHAND PAKISTANI (2008), revolving around an 8 year old kid and his father unintentionally crossing the border into Indian Territory, we now have our own BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN made on a similar kind of subject having an adorable kid girl from Pakistan lost in India, to be rescued by arguably the most popular Khan icon in India, Salman Khan.

As a preview article written a day before the release, I mentioned five potential USP's of BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN other than its plot or Salman Khan as: 1. The Director – Kabir Khan 2. Harshali Malhotra (the cute little girl) 3. Journey to Pakistan (reminding you of Tara Singh of 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha') 4. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (repeating his solid support as seen in 'Kick') 5. And above all Lord Hanuman (as the divine saviour helping in the heartfelt task invisibly)

Luckily as speculated, BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN intelligently exploits the above five points only as its major strength and delivers a largely entertaining film with a decent first and an electrifying second half ending on an exaggerated yet emotionally charged note leaving a positive impact on the viewers. And all this, without any typical item number, specially focused love affair, romantic songs or overdose of action quite surprisingly.

To give you the details how the above mentioned USPs are well incorporated in the film, it begins with the first 10-12 minutes completely focusing on the adorable little girl, who straight away wins your heart with her innocent looks, smile and effortless expressions.

With Salman Khan being introduced as a true Bajrang Bali devotee, the 'selfie song' raises the spirits superbly. And then the film keeps progressing till the next hour as a simple but sweetly executed social family drama with all clean entertainment focusing on the cute little girl and differently innocent, immensely likable Salman Khan that was missing in all his recent blockbusters since WANTED. So the only minus to be mentioned in the first half remains a couple of average songs, particularly the 'Chicken' track that surely could have been edited out to keep the pace going. Post interval, where the film offers much more entertainment though its various sequence in Pakistan, you lost the count of creative liberties taken right from the border crossing sequence to the 'larger-than-life' climax, portrayed with all good intentions. Nawazuddin once again makes his much awaited entry with a bang, enacting a lifted sequence from a real life viral-video of a Pakistani reporter (having a similar name). Nawazuddin simply takes over from here till the end, winning hearts with his fabulous act of a kind human helping Salman and the kid girl without any hidden motives.

If watched with a realistic mindset, the film does have many 'impossible situations' depicting the relationship between the neighboring countries and the way Pakistan's police/military deals with the sensitive issue of catching a spy. But after few minutes of enjoying all the pleasant insertions post interval, one begins to think that 'to hell with whether this is possible or not, lets enjoy the proceedings on screen with the trio (Salman-the Girl & Nawazuddin).

As a director Kabir Khan brilliantly rediscovers himself from being an experimental director of KABUL EXPRESS to an entertaining commercial film-maker following the Raj Kumar Hirani school of thought, wherein everyone in the script has a golden heart. He extracts an extremely lovable performance from the charming Harshali Malhotra and also thankfully presents Salman Khan as the same old, big hearted, honest, childlike person hugely loved by one and all for their various reasons. In other words Salman actually acts this time with an author backed role performed well, answering all questions raised upon his recent performances strongly. On the other hand, Harshali is a real delight to watch with all perfect emotions and her scenes together with Salman remain the highlight of the film throughout, right till the last frame.

So here we have a film that can easily be called as the best among Salman Khan starrers in the last decade with an equally important message for the 'not so friendly' nations along with many well- written & brightly enacted supporting acts coming from Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Om Puri, Sharat Saxena, Rajesh Sharma and more. However as far as the leading heroine of the film is concerned, Kareena Kapoor needs to be applauded for accepting this kind of (unimportant) miniscule role and making the best of her limited scenes given like a true professional.

Beautifully shot capturing the breathtaking locations of Kashmir, BB has an impressive background score by Julius Packiam and enjoyable dialogues written by Kabir Khan & Kausan Munir together, that stay away from any standard jingoism or clichéd preaching. Also as a surprising fact, the film's story has been written by V. Vijayendra Prasad, the story writer of BAHUBALI, setting Indian box office on fire since the last Friday.

Among the downers, we have its lackluster music unexpectedly composed by Pritam returning from a long break. In fact even the hugely famous qawaali originally sung by Sabri Brothers doesn't turn out to be that impressive in Adnan Sami's voice who is known to sing in much lower scales.

In all, BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN is a thoroughly entertaining film with its five USPs intact along with a clear message for the people of both India and Pakistan. Yes, it becomes too filmy with huge cinematic liberties taken in its border crossing sequences and the epic climax that is simply not possible in the actual scenario. But at times, such films seriously make you wish that may all the cinematic liberties taken on the screen somehow become true and we learn to forget our ugly past for the benefits of the generations to come at the earliest.

Despite being a Salman fan I was not too impressed with some of his recent flicks which in my humble opinion lacked freshness or had mindless direction, so when a family member bought tickets for this movie I didn't go in with high expectations. But to you dear reader I'll say GO WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS! It will not disappoint!

And more importantly go with your heart - that is all you need for this 2.5 hours long film to become one of the best you've seen in years. It's just one of those movies with such heart-tugging moments and the highlight - the bond between Pawan (Salman) and Shahida (Harshali) - which is such a delight to see that you forget all about plot, logic, direction - not to say that the movie lacks that. The perfection in execution is definitely there, especially in the second-half. I watched it in the AVX theatre with at least 500 others and from the sound of it at least 75% of them regardless of age or gender were crying from the intermission onwards - sometimes because it was sad and other times because the screenplay was just so pure and unfiltered that it just made these happy tears bubble up inside of you.

There is a certain level of comedy throughout and definitely some deep witty one-liners. My favourite was from Nawazuddin Sidduiqi (who played his role to perfection) who pointing at the current state of the media and their polarization of India and Pakistan proclaimed that "Hatred sells. Mohabbat doesn't."

The movie has depth, a message, and the cuteness overload that is Harshali Malhotra. It also has a relationship and emotions so simple yet so extraordinary that they make a hero out of a common man. :)

Kabir Khan triumphs with a yet another winner with 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'. Khan delivers a film thats heartwarming, emotional & extremely entertaining. And Salman is exceptional, delivering his finest performance to date in the title role.

'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' Synopsis: A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.

'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' is a heartwarming tale about love & unity. Though a subtle father-daughter story at heart, the film is also an effective commentary on the India-Pakistan conflict/relationship, that exists even today. The narrative beautifully makes space for humour, strong emotions & also poignant drama.

While the first-hour, set in India warms up, with defining its characters & shifting between songs, its the second-hour that takes 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' to the epitome. The story shifts to Pakistan & the series of events that follow with its endearing protagonist & the child, are undeniably engaging & moving. And the climax, though slightly melodramatic, that too leaves an impact.

Khan, V. Vijayendra Prasad, Parveez Shaikh & Asad Hussai's Screenplay is excellent. It very believably blends many emotions & also courageously comments on the long-lasting topic of India-Pakistan. But its done effectively. Barring the slightly under-whelming climax, the Writing is consistently engaging otherwise. Khan's Direction is top-notch. He has handled the film with skill. Aseem Mishra's Cinematography captures the Stunning Locales of Kashmir, superbly. Editing is mostly crisp, although the film runs for over a 155-minutes. Music by Various Artists is lovely. Art & Costume Design are satisfactory.

Performance-Wise: Salman is at his best here. As Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the Superstar enacts the god-loving, clean-hearted soul, with excellence. He's restrained, affecting & absolutely lovable, proving once again that he's much more than a box-offer thunder. He's the soul of 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'. Child Artiste Harshaali Malhotra is adorable. Her on-screen chemistry with Salman, melts your heart. Kareena Kapoor Khan is charming in a brief, yet substantial role. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is top-notch, yet again! He brings the house down with his brilliant comic-timing & walks away with some of the film's best moments, as well. Om Puri shines in a cameo. Sharat Saxena is good. Others lend fair support.

On the whole, 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' has its heart & soul at the right place. It wins you over completely, with its heart touching story. Strongly Recommended!

I went to see BB on the day of release with my wife and 17 year old son. I'm not Indian or Pakistani, but white British, so it was fun sat in a cinema full of Pakistanis, to watch a film that could have painted Pakistani in a negative light.

Judging by the murmuring I could her there did seem to be some people during the interval that were not too impressed with the film - slow, boring, blah, blah - but by the end I think everyone left happy.

From a white British guys perspective I thought it was a terrific film, and so did my wife and son. Great story, interesting characters, a ridiculously cute kid who stole the show without saying very much, excellent music, and some scenery that took your breath away.

I thought Salman Kahn was great, much more three dimensional than I was expecting. Kareena Kapoor provided a massive dose of eye-candy and played her part well too, although it would have been nice for that part to have been developed more.

But for me the star of the show - other than Harshaali Malthotra, the little girl - was definitely Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He is one of the most mesmerising actors I've ever seen. He could read the label of a sauce bottle and have everyone transfixed.

In typical Bollywood style the first half was your typical setting-the-scene, which I thought was done very well, and it kept me interested throughout, but after the interval, as soon as Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his appearance, the film took off and didn't let-up until the end.

All-in-all a thoroughly enjoyable film for all the family.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan will count as Salman Khan''s best movie. Magnum opus in every way..it is a simple movie with an extraordinary script. A movie about an Indian who helps a Pakistani girl to go back to her country so she can be reunited with her parents. It teaches us that humanity is far above religion. In New Zealand this movie was a huge hit and after 5 weeks people are still talking about it. Brilliant performances, great script, excellent screenplay, crisp editing, great music and above average direction makes Bajrangi Bhaijaan the best movie of the year. It is sheer entertainment and I am yet to meet anyone who has disliked this movie. I am rating it 10/10 but honestly speaking this movie is beyond that. The true rating is reflected when a viewer leaves at the end of the movie with a smile and tears in their eyes. A very emotional movie.. It is one of the best movies to come out of Bollywood. Well done Salman Khan and thank you for entertaining us. Congratulations to Kabir Khan and the rest of the cast and crew. If you have not watched Bajrangi Bhaijaan please do, trust me you will not regret it..