Review: 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan' is the 'elaichi' in your Eid ki Biryani; however, Salman Khan is your eidi

Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan

With all the pomp and promotions, Salman Khan and team had blown the trumpets loud for thier Eid release 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan'. Coming after a long hiatus, Salman Khan fans have quite an expectation from the Farhad Samji directed film, which has stellar star-cast. While Salman had an array of misses with the likes of Radhe, Race 3, Bharat and others, lets see if he can revive himself with this larger-than-life masala entertainer or not. 

Plot and Screenplay

To start, the film will remind viewers of a variety of other films as the likes of "Hungama," "Golmaals," or any Sooraj Barjatya production. While we don't have Prem this time, we have his brothers Luv (Sidharth Nigam), Ishq (Raghav Juyal), and Moh (Jassie Gill). Salman Khan (Bhai Jaan) is a doting elder brother who has chosen to remain unmarried to take care of his siblings. All his brothers are dating and have hidden this from him. Now their motto is to make him fall in love so that all of them can get settled. Enter Bhagyalakshmi aka Baggy (Pooja Hegde). With a few meet-cutes and 2 songs later, Bhaijaan and Bhagya fall for each other. 

You'll be struck by how simple everything seems in this situation because when you seek to build up tension, everything that has to happen does so without a hitch. The first half of the story seems to be a movie in and of itself, with a series of joyful coincidences happening one after the other. 

The second half has Annaiya (Venkatesh); Bhagya's brother bonding with Salman over past family feuds and saving his family from a psycho don. 

The narrative is incredibly sloppy and fragmented. With a weak screenplay that is filled with many characters but nothing meaty coming out of almost half of them, Farhad Samji creates a mess. 

Salman Khan Aura

Like any other below-average Salman Khan movie, this one doesn't have much to offer in terms of script or story, but for all the Salman Khan fans out there, there are punches, kicks, bloodshed, and of course 'the classic shirtless moment'. Salman Khan offers you three different looks in the span of these 2 hours and 40 minutes. His aura and charm are never to be doubted, but it all goes in the mud when he ends up choosing such scripts. 

Other Performances

There are a bucket load of performers in the film, none of them bringing anything significant to the plate. Virendra Singh (Mahavir) is the local mafia who tries to lock horns with Bhaijaan. Little does he know that his boxing wont be effective against Bhai's punches. 

The three brothers played by Raghav Juyal, Siddharth Nigam, and Jassie Gill show good camaraderie, but their bromance gets loud at points and the emotions seem to be forced. There is no conviction in the performances. The three females who play the three brothers' girlfriends, Shehnaaz Gill, Palak Tiwari, and Vinali Bhatnagar, only add to the crowd and serve as props with nothing to offer. 

Pooja Hegde is breezy and chirpy with her antics. While it feels overdone at some times, her screen presence is bearable. 

Satish Kaushik, Bhumika Chawla, and others deliver what they are asked to. Venkatesh Daggubati as Venkatesh Daggubati as Annaiya shows conviction and has an amazing screen presence. His action sequences with Bhaijaan do justice to his role. But thanks to the script, he was underutilized here.  

The cameo of Ram Charan in the song 'Yentama' did steal the show. Bhagyalakshmi with her 'Maine Pyar Kiya' meta was a good addition. 

Dialogues and Music

One can expect head-hammering dialogues and one-liners when it comes to Salman Khan films and KKBKKJ isn't devoid of that. Cringy lines rhyming with 'Vande Matram'; one of them being 'Insaaniyat main hai bada dum, Vande Mataram' will keep hitting you throughout. 

The less-than-average soundtrack adds to the runtime with one forgettable number after another. The saving grace is that they are picturized well and are visually rich. 

The Verdict

Well, unlike rest of his offerings , seemed like Bhai Jaan himself wasn't confident about the film, especially the 'seeti maar' moments because he let the BGM and the film characters do it for him this time. 

So overall Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan is larger-than-life actioner with everything from romance to family drama to the kicks and punches, but with no entertainment and over populated screenplay. 

Rating: ** (2/5) stars