Action and humor are two genres of cinema that work predominantly well in the large screen set-up. Films like WANTED, DABANGG, READY, BODYGUARD, ROWDY RATHORE and all of Rohit Shetty's movies are examples of movies that not only entertained the masses, the
aam junta, but were incredibly victorious at the ticket window as well. Most actors prefer to work in movies that are mass appealing, besides being a big draw at the box-office because it's also about commerce, right?
If you perceive vigilantly, you will observe that most of our movies have, swiftly, tilted towards the desiflavor all over again. Movies that we enjoyed thoroughly in the 1970s and 1980s. BOL BACHCHAN, the remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's GOL MAAL [1979], is also seeped in desi flavor, with everything so larger than life. It seems like one's watching the desi cinema of yore, albeit with a bigger canvas, better technique and of course, present-day stars. Rohit Shetty follows the same mantra that the badshaah of entertainers, Manmohan Desai, followed: Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!
A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future. But when a person lies to the most powerful man of Ranakpur, Prithviraj [Ajay Devgn], he makes sure that the person is left with no future ahead.
Abbas [Abhishek Bachchan] is drowning in his financial problems which lead him to his well wisher, Shastri's [Asrani] house in Ranakpur, where he comes down to having a proper job to take care of himself and his sister Sania [Asin]. Abbas accidentally falls prey to an indistinct situation which makes him lie about his name in front of the villagers in Ranakpur. This uncertain incident plays a very important twist in Abbas's life. He lands up working as a supervisor with the lie hater Prithviraj. Destiny forces Abbas to perpetrate a series of lies in front of his lie-hater boss!
A single person acting as two different entities, Abbas's topsy-turvy journey makes him lie and keep lying to his boss, who hates liars to the core. From here on starts the topsy-turvy journey of a single person acting as two different entities!
Though Rohit Shetty borrows the essence from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's immensely likeable GOL MAAL, he twists and twirls the original premise to unrecognizable proportions. Even otherwise, when you adapt a movie that was released in the 1970s, you ought to modify it to suit the current setting. The mindset is different and so is the movie-going audience. The purists, who hold a grouse against remaking classics and call it sacrilegious, are sure to fume and rant, but that's okay.
BOL BACHCHAN works primarily thanks to the entertainment quotient and of course, the persuasive portrayals by its lead actors, especially Ajay and Abhishek. Ajay is super-efficient and, expectedly, his comic timing is unimpeachable. At the same time, Ajay allows Abhishek to take the lead as the film chiefly revolves around his character/s. And Abhishek does complete justice to those parts. Though Abhishek has wowed spectators with wonderful performances in the past, the two characters in BOL BACHCHAN are sure to multiply his fan-following by leaps and bounds. More on that later!
On the flipside, BOL BACHCHAN falters due to its erratic pacing at times. Besides, a few episodes try too hard to make you laugh, but the impact is missing. In fact, Rohit Shetty is known to pack so much in every sequence, but BOL BACHCHAN has a couple of loose ends that stand out. The culmination, for instance, could've been better envisaged.
Riding high on the victory of four uninterrupted hits of his zany/madcap entertainers [GOLMAAL RETURNS, ALL THE BEST, GOLMAAL 3 and SINGHAM], Rohit Shetty's latest outing doesn't fall in the predictable zone thanks to a well interconnected screenplay [Yunus Sajawal]. Though the graph of the film plunges faintly in the second hour, Rohit makes a film that's entertaining for the most part, keeping his target audience — the masses — in mind. As a matter of fact, Rohit has absolute command over all factors and doesn't allow the film to go out of hand at any juncture.
With Himesh Reshammiya and Ajay-Atul at the helm, the music ought to be lilting. 'Chalao Na Nain' and the title track filmed on Sr Bachchan and the principal leads are the pick of the lot. The DoP [Dudley] captures the colors vividly. In fact, I admire the way the camera moves zealously all through the action sequences. Action [Jai Singh Nijjar], like always, stands out in a Rohit Shetty film. The action stunts are also very desi, with goons and vehicles flying in the air most of the time, something which sends the masses into raptures. Dialogue [Farhad-Sajid] are amusing, humorous and witty, very much in sync with the mood of the film.
What makes Ajay stand out are two factors — his desirability to speak in English language [the outcome is incredibly gleeful], besides the fact that he plays a toughie who is also a comical chap, thus adding a lot of zing to the character. He's first-rate! Abhishek goes all out, playing to the gallery, wooing the masses. Abhishek seems to have unlearnt what he had learned and implemented this new style of comedy, which must've been very complex and challenging for him. Watch him in the dance act at the interval point. It's incredible. Abhishek gets the two characters right and how!
Asin does well, though her screen time is limited. Nonetheless, her amiable looks and stimulating smile add to her charisma. Prachi Desai is striking, getting ample opportunity to showcase her talent. In fact, one hopes to see more of this talented actress in zany entertainers. Krushna Abhishek is supremely talented and it's unmistakably obvious in this movie. His comic timing is perfect. Neeraj Vora is superb. In fact, there are times when you realize that he gets the best lines and induces frequent laughter. Archana Puransingh is, as always, fab. In fact, in roles such as these, there couldn't have been a better performer than her. Asrani is, once again, wonderful, adding so much credibility to the sequences.
On the whole, BOL BACHCHAN is a dhamaal entertainer that has the Rohit Shetty stamp all over it. A film that pays homage to the cinema of 1970s and 1980s, especially the ones made by Manmohan Desai. Big stars, big visuals, big entertainment, BOL BACHCHAN has it all.
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