TEVAR: Stinking old, rotten & formulaic! ‘Manoj-Arjun’ does the repair! [2/5]

Remaking an 11-year old Telugu super hit doesn’t really sound a bad idea at first, as masala entertainers are the safest option in Bollywood to hit the jackpot of the 100 Cr club. First timers Sanjay Kapoor [being the producer] & Amit Ravindernath Sharma [the admaker takes a leap by directing a full-fledged feature film] try the same with showing their jam-packed confidence in family-boy Arjun Kapoor and the adeptly assured actor-performer Manoj Bajpayee in a negative role. Still, TEVAR suffers the stinks of being old, rotten and formulaic, mostly and mainly at the plot part.

In the murderous land of Northern Uttar Pradesh; where power rules and male-chauvinism takes hold of the dice in the game, you don’t really meet a Pintu Shukla [Arjun Kapoor] very often. Though he is a Salman Khan fan and wears same attitude as well and effortless as his trademark aviator shades, he can also be seen harassing an eve-teaser for giving him back what he was doing to a teenage girl, moments ago. He also cares for the girl’s presence while mouthing not-so-smooth verbal expressions. Now, that’s rare. Rare for a Bollywood movie which also could have Salman in the place! I wished it to have more of such attitude!

The drama soars high when a bigheaded, haughty and powerful scandalous brother [Manoj Bajpayee] of an influential politician starts feeling for a local girl doing her obvious best like dancing and attending drama classes. Who else but Sonakshi in real, and in reel? Pintu accidently crosses the path, beats the villain, meets the girl and takes it as a mission to save the girl from the lecherous. Don’t allow me to judge your intelligence about what comes next and in the finale! And it all happens with a plentiful of high-octane action and songs of every kind, alternatively and frequently.

The part where Amit Ravindernath Sharma scores big is the treatment, authenticity of the locations, characters that can easily charm the audience in mass and drama that never actually lacks the punch. He is confident for sure but it hurts to see such talent trembling all over a plot which could have been best in the year of 2005 but never a promising in 2015. Arjun Kapoor’s energy never runs out of charge. He CAN be as charismatic as Salman. He CAN beat the goons too, at beats. He CAN also lip smoothly the most absurdly written dialogues using slangs of male-organs. Only if the script had provided him more space and viewers some kind of novelty to stick around, it would have been a pleasant surprise!

Though not in full form; Manoj Bajpayee does his part well in the most theatrical manner. He successfully uses his corrupt, sinning and wicked eyes for the most. Don’t expect a GANGS OF WASSEYPUR from him but he’s better than the repetitive Prakash Raj any day. Sonakshi does what she’s been doing for ages now, and I really want to write more about her abilities as an actor but then, there is hardly anything new. Raj Babbar, Dipti Naval & Rajesh Sharma don’t disappoint.

With a tiring duration of 2 hour 39 minutes, age-old plot and mindlessly put songs, Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s TEVAR is an average action-entertainer saved hugely by Arjun Kapoor’s earnest & energetic performance and Manoj Bajpayee’s engagingly villainous character. Watch it if you are a fan of both, though it is not their best at all! [2/5] 

BULLETT RAJA: Commercial, predictable & average action thriller! Witty one-liners make it Watchable! [2.5]

Names suggest. Names carry perceptions. So whenever you hear ‘Tigmanshu Dhulia’, you expect razor-sharp story-telling [PAAN SINGH TOMAR], utter participation of passion mixed with art [SAAHEB, BIWI AUR GANGSTER] or if nothing else, earnestness shining in the framework for sure [HAASIL]. Intentionally or involuntarily; sounding as if another south action entertainer dubbed in Hindi, Dhulia’s ‘BULLETT RAJA’ has flares of all these but overshadowed & eclipsed heavily by added star value, superficial style & an undeclared delusion in one’s head to be in the sheep-race of 100 Cr club.

Uttar Pradesh- the terra firma of filthy politics, gory goonism, and caste-driven social establishment is the place where ‘BULLETT RAJA’ fits the most. With serenely ferocious Rudra [Played by confident Jimmy Shergill] joined at the hip, fearlessly rowdy Raja [Saif in a comfortable zone] is nothing but a political commando rising and shining under the most powerful politician played by Raj Babbar. Situation goes upside down when the grimy game of power & control gifts back Raja an unbearable loss of his lifetime to flame the anger of vengeance that would blaze the whole of enterprise behind.

A story weakened by confusing screenplay, shabby-unimpressive-infuriating work in the music department & a bad hand in editing were enough to mess up all the reputation Dhulia has earned until comes to rescue the writing, giving plenty of smart & quirky one-liners that hold your interest throughout. Hear this, when villainous Chunky Pandey narrates a mythological incident about Lord Brahma using some foul words [in smartly muted sound], Raja blasts him with bullets saying, “Dharmik mamlon mein hum ashleelta bardasht nahin karte!” Writing also celebrates the emotions one carries for his caste. Playing a Brahmin by caste, Saif will be seen mouthing arrogance profoundly in most of his lines e.g. “Brahmin bhookha toh sudama, rootha toh raavan” or “Brahmin hoon, janam se samajh ke aaya hoon”. Enjoyable & entertaining!

Performances are strictly average and there is nothing that could compel you for a jaw-drop response. Though Jimmy Shergill impresses in the first half and his equation with Saif creates a pleasant sight for eyes & most of the enjoyable moments. Vidyut Jammwal enters the scene after interval and his sequences don’t look more than his acting or rather action showreel. I would love to see him in a meatier role. Sonakshi disappoints the most. This one is a complete superfluous role for her in all these years. There is a hotel scene where Jimmy decides to lock himself in an adjacent room to give Saif & Sonakshi their own space and she is so unwanted that you don’t really want it to happen. Gladly, Saif doesn’t make you feel so and takes you through this partly intriguing action thriller relentlessly.

‘BULLETT RAJA’ is enjoyable in parts and watchable only for its harsh but satirical take on various political & social scenarios mainly in Uttar Pradesh. Dhulia shows his skill to extract raw humor soaked in an unsympathetic rustic feel with languages spoken physically and verbally both. Be attentive with what one-liner will come next from any of the characters and you might experience some good laugh. Overall, it is a revenge drama that is commercial, predictable and targeted only to create some buzz at the box-office, something that is never expected from Tigmanshu Dhulia![2.5/5]