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.