A lot
of hard work, deliberate efforts and forced energy have been put in
making/re-making HERO, and it shows. The desired all muscles-heavily tattooed
look is achieved, as for as the sincerity and passion at the male lead’s part
is concerned. The girl sure has learned a couple of lessons on how to move it;
and I am not talking about anything here distantly related to acting. Postcard-perfect
locations have been recced and marked. Songs are completely in sync with the
hit love-story mould. Even the storyline has been borrowed from a classic
romantic drama, still very much admired for its good music, distinctive direction
and decent performances. A safe and well-protected launch-pad for two of the
Bollywood star-kids is ready. Well, almost! And that ‘almost’ says a lot. Two most
important parts of the filmmaking process i.e. the edgy writing and the skilled
direction miss the bus; and Nikhil Advani’s HERO turns out to be a sluggishly
written- sloppily directed bad film no one would love to be called his/her
launch-pad.
Backed
by Salman Khan- an institution in himself for today’s gym-loving generation,
HERO is made only to establish the mentor’s ego in projecting his loved ones as
the next possible stars in Bollywood. The list has many Atul Agnihotris and
Pulkit Samrats besides all plastic face look-alikes [Sneha Ullal & Zarine
Khan, if you remember]. Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty secure their places
in the same list. The local gangster Sooraj [Played by Jr Pancholi] has
kidnapped Radha [Athiya Shetty]- the daughter of Mumbai’s Inspector General of
Police Srikant Mathur [Tigmanshu Dhulia] in order to get his godfather Pasha
[His real father Sr. Pancholi] released from the jail. And it takes exactly 2 songs
and 3 scenes for the fashion-freak & selfie-obsessed Radha to fall in love
with an under-qualified but good-hearted ‘Goonda’. I know it hurts to accept
him as an under-qualified but he himself confesses in one scene that he can
only do either ‘dadagiri’ or ‘bodybuilding’. Now, that can really be an
eye-opener to all the gym-fanatics! Anyways, the plot ahead sees the foreseen
tussle between the lovers and the rest of the world.
What gets
lost in translation from the Subhash Ghai directed original HERO to this latest
remake is the conviction in writing and the confidence in direction. Though the
writer tries his hard to give it a contemporary feel but could only come up
with a few dialogues using internet-savvy lingo and the outdone tattooed look
every Bollywood aspirant thinks a must to get big break. Rest of all is outdated,
absurd and not at all appealing. The writing is so lethargic and noticeably so embarrassing
that you can’t stop grinning about it. The IG of Police is named Sri Kant. The
full name of Pasha is Surya Kant Pasha. Even Sooraj is called Surya sometimes. Pasha
is called ‘baba’ by Sooraj, Sooraj is called ‘Sooraj Baba’ by Pasha. There is definitely
some shortage of names. And then, there is bad direction that borrows heavily from
every successful romantic action films in past. The whole entry sequence is so
pale and pathetic you want to ask if Salman [The Producer] himself has approved
it. In one of the most hilarious scenes, Pasha recalls in front of Sooraj, “Teri
maa ko main behan manta tha”. Now, reconsider this as they both are sharing the
screen for the first time and Sooraj is projected till now as Pasha’s son!
Absurd miscommunication, I say!
On the
performances, it’s better not to express much as even they [Sooraj &
Athiya] also didn’t much in the film. Sooraj definitely has some
screen-presence only till he starts trying to weight his words before speaking.
I wish his gym has vocal trainers also! Athiya is unconventionally bad. And
thanks to the writing that portrays her even worse! How can playing a dumb be
someone’s very first role to impress the world? Sharad Kelkar acts in respected
measures and impresses the most of the lot. Tigmanshu looks completely
disinterested and drained out. Aditya Pancholi for once underplays it and looks
cool while doing it.
Film’s
poster has a tagline, “Rebels. Love. Freedom.” Apart from it being grammatically incorrect,
I could only give you my word about the last of the three words you would
actually feel for, not while watching the film but after leaving the theatre. For Salman? When there is an expert [Mr. Salim Khan] at your hand’s distance,
you should better give your script a chance rather than countering film critics’
substance just couple of days before releasing your film. And to Sooraj & Athiya; try again, kids! I
know you both are lucky enough to get more chances! [1.5/5]
