Tubelight

Kabir Khan & Salman Khan are a combo to reckon with. Their first collaboration was the Smash Hit Ek Tha Tiger & was followed by an All-Time Blockbuster with Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Expectations from their latest effort 'Tubelight' are expectedly gargantuan. But sadly, 'Tubelight' fails to deliver.

Reason? 'Tubelight' stands on a faulty script, that despite noble intentions, never takes flight. This tale of two torn-brothers aims to be an affecting tale on brotherhood & love, but what is eventually served here, is a bland film, that never hits the point.

'Tubelight' Synopsis: Laxman (Salman), a man-child simpleton, believes his faith will bring back his brother Bharat (Sohail Khan), who gets lost while in Battlefield in the Sino-Indian War.

'Tubelight' stands on a tiny plot & Writer-Director Kabir Khan gets stuck midway. Once Bharat leaves for war, the narrative just becomes stoic. And Laxman's relentless effort to bring back his brother with the power of 'faith' is overlong & tedious. Also, the sub-plot involving Laxman's relationship with a Chinese Family, of a mother & child, don't add much to the goings-on. To give its due, 'Tubelight' begins well & the camaraderie between real & reel life brothers offers genuine charm. But that doesn't last long. In short, 'Tubelight' doesn't make good use of its tiny plot & just goes on 136-minutes.

Kabir Khan's Writing is the weakest link here. Though his intentions are to deliver a noble message of love & peace, but the Writing isn't tight enough. Also, there are too many songs in the film & they only drag the film. Khan's Direction is alright. Aseem Mishra's Cinematography is fantastic. His work deserves all the credit, as 'Tubelight' is a visual delight. Editing needed to crisper. Pritam's Score is nice, but the songs don't appear useful in the film beyond a point. Art & Costume Design are decent.

Performance-Wise: Salman falls flat in his portrayal of Laxman. As a man-child driven by unshakable faith, the superstar tries to stretch the actor in him & even makes a sincere effort to justify the part, but his performance appears mechanical. Its sad that both Kabir & Salman aren't in form this time around. Sohail Khan gets little to do as Bharat, although his scenes with Salman are sweet. The Late/Great Om Puri shines in his final role as Salman & Sohail's mentor. The Legend grabs your attention in a supporting role. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is perfectly mean as the bully. Matin Rey Tangu & Zhu Zhu lend able support. Yashpal Sharma is wasted. And Shahrukh Khan barely leaves a mark in a cameo.

On the whole, 'Tubelight' offers very little light! A Huge Disappointment!

What do you in life when you are bullied, laughed and doubted - you believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself and the keep the hope alive, nothing can beat you. Tubelight, remake of critically acclaimed "A Little Boy", does sends out the message but is far from being properly executed ..

Tubelight tells the story of a special man (Salman Khan) whose IQ is well-below his age but is a gem-of-a-person. Praying for his brother's (Sohail Khan) return from Indo-China War, he starts fulfilling a wish list.

Kabir Khan, who gave us some memorable films like "Kabul Express", "New York" and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", Tubelight will come as shock for his followers and especially for Salman Khan's fans. The well intentioned film sits on a wafer-thin plot and the screenplay is weaker than a woman's tear. Of course, there are few moments which is enthralling. For instance, Salman Khan taking courage to slap his naysayer who he hurts the Chinese family. The scene where Salman Khan thoughts that his brother is dead at the Army camp and closes his ears pretending not to hear the sad news is one of the finest moments from the film. Unfortunately, the scenes are less to keep up the momentum of the film which falls flat on the face and tumbles down into a rabbit hole.

Cinematography is superb capturing the beautiful locals of Manali, Kashmir and Ladakh. Art direction is pretty impressive. Background score is just about okay while the music piece by Pritam is decent with "Radio" song being best of the lot and well-choreographed. Coming to the performance, Salman Khan tried something different with his honest performance. However, few scenes I felt he was overboard and could have worked on his expression. Zhu Zhu was good in her part. The young chap playing "Guo" was amazing. Sohail Khan was just about okay while Om Puri and Mohmammed Zeeshan Ayub were excellent.

Overall, Tubelight has been a big disappoint. Watch it only if you have not seen "A Little Boy". Below average 2/5

Being Salman Khan comes with a responsibility, sometimes that turns into : i'll do anything and fans will still watch. The original movie LITTLE BOY is so honest as we can believe a small childs fantasies and innocence. but tube light seems like forced. the easiest way to gain sympathy is by showing the protagonist as a non matured kid, innocent and childlike. we have had a long history of that in bollywood, gain sympathy by showing some rare disease (pa, guzarish, barfi) or show non realistic themes.

locations and cinematography is wonderful, so is the other cast. Om puri and the little child. rest it just feels like a safe bet by kabir khan, put a goody goody world and ppl will grab it.

of course one can't argue with salman fans as they get personal in case anyone criticises the movie. how ever it's more important to understand who exactly are they helping in this case, their IQ or Salman Khan

This movie is another Salman pathetic movie. Poor acting and direction. Tubelight rests on poor plot and lacks the power to enthrall and mesmerize. I am sure it will make money and be declared as blockbuster but this is not worth watching. Only good thing about movie is to see Om Puri

First thing first, I am not a Salman hater. I went into this movie expecting another good experience, because that's exactly what Bajrangi Bhaijaan did for me. I was disappointed.

This movie means well and wants us love our neighbors, but when the main man of the movie (this movie is 95% Salman) is unconvincing and at times, annoying, you just cant enjoy the movie. I liked what Salman did in Bajrangi. I didn't like what Salman did in this. I cant make up my mind on if he was trying too hard to be a convincing disabled childlike-man or not trying at all, because most of the times the camera was on Salman, he's making extremely silly and at times annoying distorted faces. I know kids and people with similar disabilities do that too, but what Salman was doing looked like he was making fun of such people, far from convincing us that he was one of them. Then again, making Salman play a disabled childlike man was never a good idea.

This movie can get emotional (trying too hard at times) so you might want to bring tissues along. The plot is pretty simple, Laxman aka Tubelight does little but wholesome things to increase his 'yakeen' which he believes will bring his brother back from war. The cinematography is breathtaking, but the war scenes were disappointing and poorly choreographed. The film's music was thoroughly enjoyable, especially Nach Meri Jaan and Radio.

The supporting cast was pretty good. The late Om Puri showed us his excellence for one last time, acing the role as Banne Chacha. Sohail Khan played his part well, nothing else to it. Zhu Zhu was great whenever she was great on-screen, so was little Matin Rey Tangu. Zeeshan Ayyub was convincingly good in his role. SRK's cameo was (no pun intended) magical.

5/10.