EID MUBARAK to one and all!

SULTAN

In my Opinion : ‘Sultan’ gets a little boring in the middle but Salman Khan's second half makes up for it. The film is clean and is recommended to all who were awaiting a family movie with no ‘Masti’ in it.  And as I say for a Salman Movie, If you are a Salman fan "What's the point of a review, you will watch so Don’t wait, Go watch"  ;) 

SULTAN is not just a movie; it’s Eidi from ‘Bhaijaan’ this year to all movie lovers, no wonder it calls for celebration, which I am sure would have already started at Galaxy Apartments, Mumbai post the first day collection. More than 8 crore INR earned on Day 1! Take a bow SULTAN Salman KHAN. He may not be a world champion but irrespective of what he says or does, he will always be the People’s Champion. That is what you feel after watching SULTAN.

This movie is about the rise and fall in the life of a sports champion and how his love life plays a pivotal role in whatever he does. I strongly feel if only Ali Abbas Zafar would have stayed a little focussed and not tried to push masala and songs in the film, it could have been a better film. These things slow down the pace of the movie and make it a drag at one point.

This film also shows in its first half how sports personalities other than Cricket are treated in our country. Salman khan is introduced as a common man who works in, Haryana Jal Nigam and is called for help when Tractors get caught in the puddle outside his office. That shows the way a wrestler is looked upon after his glory days are over in our land. It reminds one of a similar treatment and living conditions of Kabir Khan played by Shahrukh Khan in Chak De. We make movies about it, news stories about Olympic medalists selling food items on stall going door to door to earn their bread and butter, but once out of the movie do we think about the whereabouts of such people? Anyways before you guys start getting irritated and term this a lecture, I would move ahead to Bhaijaan’s SULTAN.

It is a story about love, life and wrestling. Love compels a thirty year old ‘boy’ to grow up and become a ‘man’. Then that love discards him and makes him a loser, and how in order to earn the love and respect he gets back in that ring and wins the battle with himself and life, becoming THE SULTAN or should I say REY SULTAN.

Ali Abbas Zafar’s works well with the cast and the best part is that he is able to control THE SALMAN KHAN from overpowering SULTAN KHAN. Speaking of Salman Khan, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Salman trying to be more and more human with every film. In a scene, Sultan admits, “Main koi sooperman nahi hoon...”, glad to hear this coming from someone whose fans also consider themselves as Superman (pun intended).

Salman’s charm roars but is often pushed back by the background score, the kind of emotional connect with the audience that Bajrangi had is what Sultan lacks. But the same is compensated by the depth of his character. The self-brooding, 40 plus wrestler who is now a ‘Babu’ in a government office is done well by the actor, he looked the character and lived it. As Sultan he is refreshingly intense, fierce yet vulnerable and down to earth. Salman shines from the scene where he gets his ‘lesson’ of life from Anushka’s character. 

The rise and fall of the character is well portrayed and since SALMAN is acting as an underdog it’s surely a delight. Though his ‘Haryanvi’ accent is a buzz kill, so let’s not get into the details of it. A scene in the movie where he stands infront of a mirror and sees his flabbed body that makes him cry and cringe and later walks infront of Randeep Hooda to beat a wrestler in order to prove that he remembers how to fight. This is one scene where Salman actually hit the emotional chords bang on. 

The love life of Sultan could have been handled a little better. The relationship between Aarfa and Sultan is not developed well; this gives Anushka’s character little meat to dig her teeth. But it’s commendable that she tries her best to do justice to her role in whatever little she is provided. She played her character of an educated athlete who has dreams and ambitions of winning Gold in Olympics damn well. Her character is headstrong and does not fall weak in front of SULTAN or SALMAN.

Amit Sadh as the guy who gets Sultan back to ring and later becomes an important part in Sultan’s revival has done his part well. Kumud Mishra as the coach and Anushka’s father has done an understated role with ease again.

The best use of transformation from Sarabjeet to his next is done by Randeep Hooda. He kept donning skull caps and loose tracks to hide the missing Hooda that girls root for. But he fits the description that is provided by Amit Sadh to Sultan about Fateh. Apart from Anushka, Hooda is another character who keeps Sultan at check and keeps showing him his reality. The best part is Anant Sharma as Govind, sultan’s friend. His Haryanvi accent is top notch, dialogue delivery and timing is perfect.

This movie has love songs, breakup songs and motivational songs too! Jag Ghumiya and Sultan theme are ones to stay with you as you walk out. The movie is a bit lengthy; this is where the editor should have done his job.

Despite all the flaws, this one is all about SALMAN, he keeps you glued for the time he is there onscreen and gets crowd hooting and rooting when he flexes his muscles. Salman Khan is a classic Hindi film hero, who can’t be defeated, who can’t falter and has everyone cheering for him, he utilises this part to his benefit in Sultan.

Watch it for the one man army whose name will pull this film alone to huge box office result, SALMAN KHAN. 

UDTA PUNJAB

In my opinion: A little slow but a Must watch. It shows the menace that a whole generation is facing. Irrespective of the baseless controversy, this movie would have been successful due to the positive word of mouth that it will generate.

(P.S: Even if you download and watch keep the young ones away, or else be ready for expletives like BE****D to come out next time they get angry or in a fight. Or better they might ask you to get a hair cut with, FUDDU carved on their sides. ) 

Remember the gruesome reality of the region beyond the last malls of Gurgaon that was told last year in the movie NH10? Well, it turns out that Sudip Sharma, the writer of NH10, had more in his bag to deliver. So this time he teamed up with Abhishek Chaubey, another brilliant writer/director of Ishqiya fame to create a story that shows a disturbing piece of realty with characters that will help everyone to understand the menace and politics that has clenched a beautiful part of the country in its vicious grip. They make an honest attempt to show the real ‘HIGH’ that has taken over Punjab in UDTA PUNJAB.  

  Four main characters of the movie; Tommy (the Rock star Junkie aka FUDDU), Pinky (the victim aka Ikk Kudi), Sartaj (Single star A.S.I aka Pagg wala munda) and Preet(Doctor aka Crusader against Drugs)  all act like tyres for this ride, and none of them falls flat throughout the span of 148 minutes, making it a smooth journey to the cinematic world (reality) of Punjab and back.   

       

  Not revealing much of the story here, sorry I forgot that has been taken care of by Mr. Nihlani and team. Will talk about it in a while, what needs to be talked about, are the performances.

Alia Bhatt!!! You Rock girl! After Highway she has proved that she likes to push her limits as an actor and boy she does, every time. Though it was nowhere close to Bihari accent, but you will be glad to see that she tried. As the Alia Bhatt that the world knows to be the hip chic, such roles define her potential and also the heights to which she will rise in the years to come. Take a bow.

Shahid Kapoor, went mad and enjoyed the eccentricity to the fullest. A scene where he comes in front of police officials shouting ‘I AM THE GABRU’ is hilarious. He put his best foot forward (with shoes that had wings) to play a Drug addict Rockstar who is an idol to millions. His self-realization was also nicely tackled by the director. Till Intermission a few of you might question, why is this character in the movie? Parr Kaake, thandd rakkhi, Interval toh baad sabb pata lag jaana hai!

Kareena Kapoor Khan, looked her role and performed it with ease. She had a role that was probably the easiest of them all in terms of characterisation, having said that no one can take away the fact that she has performed it gracefully. Sad news for all “Aditya-Geet” fans, though in the same movie with Shahid Kapoor, their characters don’t share on screen space at all.

This is the debut of Punjabi Actor/singer Diljit Dosanjh to Bollywood and boy; he did come with a BANG! Diljit did not let Sartaj’s character fall weak even for a second in front of well-established Bollywood superstars. Aggression with which he beats TOMMY in jail and the cuteness with which he approaches to kiss Dr. Preet, both are portrayed with equal honesty by Diljit Paaji.

“Khush karr ditta, Oye!”

Also for those who are not aware of the fact that the most beautiful lines that Shahid’s Character hums in the hospital, “ikk kudi jida naam mohabbat”, are sung by Diljit Dosanjh, listen to his version , if you haven’t already. I am so glad finally this multi-talented actor has arrived to Bollywood station. Hope other directors take note of him. 

All others have supported well, but Satish Kaushik needs a special mention, brilliant as ever. The boy who played Balli was also good, with almost no dialogues he pulled it well as a junkie.

The authenticity of this film is not just in the topic that it touches but the way it does. The language, the way dialogues are written and delivered, those small little things taken care of are what make it worth a watch. Let’s give the film makers credit for it, Thank You Abhishek Chaubey and Anurag Kashyap for believing in a beautiful script, being courageous enough to invest in something like this and putting your foot down when it needed the most. RESPECT.

 The only department I thought could have been better was, Editing. The Guy Ritchie style of film making requires some really awesome editing, just saying.

The film’s music matches the mood and storyline but “Ikk Kudi” is bound to stay with you for a while. (P.S: Please read the lyrics before you hum the song in public, heard some weird lyrics while someone was busy humming the song on my way to work).

Coming to the topic of Piracy, The Print clearly shows the watermark of CBFC. First they don’t allow the movie to come out as one from the CBFC Table and when one fights for and gets the permission legally, this is how low a blow one can try.

What needs to be understood is that people behind the scene put in a lot of hard work, money and themselves to bring it to life. The question that needs to be asked is when after so much of hard work something is submitted with good faith to the board, how did it leak? Also if they can’t even protect a movie that has been in the news and was being discussed in the court of law, how do they take care of other works? This kind of leak and if it will be supported, will ensure that what we deserve is movies like Grand Masti, Mastizaade etc.

Our film industry is trying to push its boundaries with UDTA PUNJAB, so let's help it FLY HIGH, and watch it in a theatre near you.  #PiracyDiMaaDi  

I leave you with the image below to ponder over.