Ra.One´ Creates History With Biggest Single Day of 25 Crore From India

Ra.One´ Creates History With Biggest Single Day of 25 Crore From India

After an earth shattering start, Shah Rukh Khan's Anubhav Sinha directed 'Ra.One' may have missed the best first day record of 20.60 crore by Salman Khan's 'Bodyguard', as the evening shows were hit by Diwali puja.

However today (Thursday) 'Ra.One' has created box-office history by netting over 25 crores from India, the biggest first day ever.

In fact 'Ra.One' has also beaten the two day 'Bodyguard' record of 39 crores by netting in excess of 40 crores from India!

The film is also doing superbly in the Overseas.

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Ghajini (2008 film) ;Best Film of the Year

Ghajini (Hindi: गजनी) is a 2008 Indian Hindi action film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Tagore Madhu and Madhu Mantena. It is a remake of Murugadoss's own 2005 Tamil film Ghajini starring Surya Sivakumar in the lead role. The film stars Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal and Jiah Khan in lead roles whilePradeep Rawat and Riyaz Khan essay supporting roles. The Tamil version of Ghajiniwas inspired by Christopher Nolan's Memento. Aamir Khan spent a year at the gym, training for the role.

The film is an action-thriller, with strong romantic elements, that explores the life of a rich businessman who develops anterograde amnesia following a violent encounter in which his love interest, model Kalpana, was killed. He tries to avenge the killing with the aid of Polaroid Instant camera photographs and permanent tattoos on his body.The character of Aamir Khan also featured in a 3-D video game titled Ghajini - The Game, which is based on the movie.

Plot

The film opens with Sunita (Jiah Khan), a medical student, and her friends working on a project about the human brain. She wants to investigate the curious case of Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), a (former) notable city businessman, who is reported to have anterograde amnesia. Her professor denies access to Sanjay's records as it is currently under criminal investigation. Sunita, nonetheless, decides to investigate the matter herself.

Sanjay is introduced as he brutally murders a man. He takes a Polaroid picture of the man, and time-stamps it "done". It is revealed that Sanjay has anterograde amnesia where he loses his memory every 15 minutes. Sanjay uses a system of photographs, notes, and tattoos on his body to recover his memory after each cycle. It is revealed that Sanjay is ultimately out to avenge the death of his sweetheart Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal), and that he is systematically killing the people who were responsible for it. His main target is "Ghajini" (Pradeep Rawat), a notable social personality in the city.

Police Inspector Arjun Yadav, on the case of the serial murders, tracks Sanjay down to his flat and attacks and disables him. Yadav finds two diaries where Sanjay has chronicled the events of 2005 and 2006. The film flashes back to 2005 as Yadav reads the diary. Sanjay Singhania is shown as the owner of the Air Voice mobile telephone company. In the course of his business, Sanjay sends his men to meet Kalpana, a struggling model, about putting up a billboard above her apartment. The owner of Kalpana's advertising firm misinterprets this as a romantic advance, and in view of a possible lucrative Air Voice ad campaign and other benefits, encourages Kalpana to accept the overture. Kalpana thinks of this as an innocent prank that may fetch her better modeling work, and decides to play out the charade as Sanjay's girlfriend.

When Yadav is about to read the 2006 diary, Sanjay attacks him and ties him up. He tracks down Ghajini to a college function where Ghajini is the guest of honor. Sanjay snaps some pictures of Ghajini and decides to kill him. He meets Sunita at the function who, after some conversation, decides to befriend him. Later that evening, Sanjay mistakenly attacks and kills one of Ghajini's goons in the parking lot. The dying goon tries to remind Ghajini about an incident that took place two years back. Ghajini is perplexed and fails to recollect the incident. However he decides to find and kill his enemies one by one, but Sanjay is not among them.

In the meantime, Sunita visits Sanjay's flat and finds Yadav, beaten and bound. Sunita finds the two diaries and frees Yadav. She also finds that Ghajini is Sanjay's target. Yadav tells her that Sanjay is a known serial murderer. Sanjay arrives suddenly; he remembers neither of them and chases them out. Yadav is eventually hit by a bus, while Sunita barely escapes, going into a boutique. Believing Ghajini is in danger, she informs him that Sanjay is after him. Ghajini arrives at Sanjay's flat to kill him. He destroys all the photographs, notes and scratches off Sanjay's tattoos. Satisfied that he has neutralized Sanjay by wiping out any trace that connects back to him, Ghajini leaves.

Meanwhile, back in her dorm, Sunita reads the diaries. The film flashes back to 2006. It is revealed that Kalpana had accepted Sanjay's proposal. This diary ends abruptly. Sunita investigates further, and discovers that Kalpana was traveling to Goa for a modeling assignment by train when she came upon 25 innocent young girls being trafficked to Goa. She saves the girls who name Ghajini as the ringleader of the racket. Ghajini kills two girls, who recognized him, and goes in search of Kalpana. His goons break into her apartment and wait for her to return. Sanjay arrives there to meet Kalpana. Her last word to him was "Ghajini". The goons attack Kalpana. Sanjay intervenes but Ghajini hits him over the head with an iron rod. Sanjay's last vision was to witness Ghajini brutally murder Kalpana with the iron rod.

Sunita, now aware of the shocking truth, finds Sanjay in the hospital and tells him the truth. He flies into a rage and goes after Ghajini. Arriving at Ghajini's lair in downtown Mumbai, Sanjay confronts all of Ghajini's henchmen and with superior strength, manages to disable. Finding Ghajini himself, Sanjay fights Ghajini hand-to-hand. However, Ghajini realizes that he is no match for Sanjay's strength, so the two engage in a chase until Sanjay's memory loss strikes again. Ghajini turns around and stabs him. He begins to taunt Sanjay with the grisly tale of how he murdered Kalpana, when Sanjay, with a sudden burst of last minute strength, overpowers Ghajini. Sanjay kills Ghajini in the same way as Ghajini had killed Kalpana.

The film ends with Sanjay, still experiencing amnesia, volunteering at an orphanage. Sunita gives him a small gift which is the cement slab on which Kalpana and Sanjay impressioned their first footprints when the couple moved into a new apartment to remind him of his fond association with Kalpana.

Cast

• Aamir Khan as Sanjay Singhania, a rich business man; the chairman of a mobile phone company, Air Voice. He suffers from short term memory loss (anterograde amnesia) which means he forgets all the events that had happened 15 minutes ago.
• Asin Thottumkal as Kalpana, a model by profession who gains publicity by proclaiming herself to be the girlfriend of Sanjay Singhania.
• Jiah Khan as Sunita, a medical student, who is trying to study the case of Sanjay Singhania and his amnesiac problem.
• Pradeep Rawat as Ghajini Dharmatma, a gang honcho and the mastermind of many illegal and criminal ventures.
• Riyaz Khan as Inspector Arjun. A police inspector who is investigating the murders by Sanjay Singhania.

Production

The film's shooting started in Chennai in May 2007. Other filming locations included Bangalore, Cape Town, Deadpan Desert and Mumbai.

Release

Ghajini was released on 25 December 2008 with an estimated 1500 prints, of which 213 were released to overseas markets. The film had around 650 paid previews which fetched it around INR 70 million. The domestic distribution rights of Ghajini were sold by Geetha Arts for INR 530 million. The film's home video rights as well as overseas rights and satellite rights were sold for 500 million to Adlabs Films Ltd.

Home media

The 2-disc collector's edition DVD was manufactured by Big Home Video and distributed by international distributor, Adlabs Films Ltd on 13 March 2009 with a MSRP of $19.99 USD. It received a 15+ age rating by the British Board of Film Classification for persistent and excessive violence.

Video game

A PC video game based on the film was manufactured and produced by FXLabs Studios Pvt Ltd and Geetha Arts, and marketed and distributed by Eros Home Entertainment, entitled Ghajini - The Game. It is a third-person action game consisting of five levels of play, here the player controlled the protagonist Sanjay to accomplish various missions using martial arts, weapons, and artifacts.^[12] It was hailed as India's first true 3D PC game with an MSRP of US$14.99, although never officially rated, the distributor recommends that 15+ year old players partake in the game.

Mobile content

Indiagames Ghajini is a mobile games and applications based on the film. Indiagames has developed 4 games and 1 application based on the title on the mobile platform. It has different types of games like Ultimate Workout, Memory Revival, Brain Trek, and a number of mini games.

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the movie 4 stars and recommended watching it "For the four As—Aamir, Asin, AR Murgadoss and AR Rahman".^[14] Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN gave the movie 3 stars writing, "Ghajini isn't a particularly good film, but entertainment it delivers by the bucketful." Martin D'Souza of Bollywood Trade News Network gave the movie 3.5 stars, noting the flaws in screen play, while praising the action.Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama remarked that the movie "is a winner all the way" and gave it 4.5 stars.Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India praised the performance by Aamir Khan as its high point, and awarded 3.5 stars.Zee News described Aamir's performance as his best till date.Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave the movie 3.5 stars, while describing the film as "a sleek album of dark memories, which are terrifying to relive and shattering to experience".Bollywood Movies review gave it a 4 star for good screenplay, directing and good acting by Aamir Khan and Asin Thottumkal.Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India said, "Most comparisons often point out that a remake is not as worthy.Ghajini however succeeds when it is compared to the Tamil version directed by the same director.

The film also received some negative reviews. Gaurav Malani of Indiatimes gave the movie 2 stars, criticizing its length while praising the performance of the cast. Raja Sen of Rediff rated the movie 2.5/5 and criticized the performance of Asin while concluding, "overwhelming feeling is one of regret". Shubhra Gupta of Express India concluded that 'Ghajini' is too long, too violent, and criticized Jiah Khan's acting and dancing skills, but praised the performances of Aamir Khan and Asin.

Box office

According to Box Office India, Ghajini's box-office totals were Rs. 155 crore in India, and over 34 crore overseas, for a total worldwide gross collection of 189 crore (US$42.15 million). It is currently the fourth highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time according to worldwide gross collections.

Influences

The original Tamil version of Ghajini was inspired by the American film Memento, which itself was adapted from the short story Memento Mori. The film stars Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a former insurance fraud investigator searching for the man he believes raped and killed his wife during a burglary. Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia, which he contracted from severe head trauma during the attack on his wife. Certain concepts like writing notes behind instant Polaroid photographs and tattooing facts on his body were inspired by the film. According to Aamir Khan, "Ghajini is not a remake or even slightly inspired by Memento, but it's a remake of the Tamil film, Ghajini".^[4]

Several comical scenes in the film are similar to Happy Go Lovely (1951). The scene where Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal) helps a blind man to cross the road is also similar to the French film Amélie.

Soundtrack

The film has six songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. While Harris Jayaraj scored the Tamil version, Rahman started from scratch for the Hindi version.The soundtrack album was released on 24 November 2008 by T-Series.

Awards

• Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female, Asin Thottumkal
• Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female, Asin Thottumkal
• Stardust Hottest New Filmmaker, A.R. Murugadoss
• Stardust Hottest New Film Award, Ghajini
• Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Asin Thottumkal
• Filmfare Best Action Award, Peter Hein
• IIFA Best Female Debut, Asin Thottumkal
• IIFA Best Villain Award, Pradeep Rawa

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Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (Movie Review)

	Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
	Producer: Aditya Chopra Director: Ali Abbas Zafar Starring: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar, John Abraham Music: Sohail Sen Lyrics: Irshad Kamil Genre: Romantic Recommended Audience: General Film Released on: 09 September 2011

Somewhere in the vast spaces of mainstream Hindi cinema, the North Indian shaadi with its band baaja and, yes, baarati, seems to have made a permanent place in our cinema. Mere Brother Ki Dulhan(MBKD) is the third film in the last 8 months after the delightful Band Baaja Baarati and the surprising Tanu Weds Manu to weave a rom-com around the sights sounds scents stress chaos and satire of a big fat Hindu wedding.

Must say, the other two films got it right dead-on. MBKD flounders in its frisky fusion of a love triangle and plea for an arranged marriage. Debutant director Ali Abbas Zafar knows the subtexts in his script well enough to conceal the rather glaring discrepancies in the storytelling.The narration quite frequently relies on jump cuts, retro music and other external ploys to make the goings-on appear more involving than they really are. The recurrent use of R D Burman’s Piya Tu Ab To Aaja has no relevance after a point. It just becomes a tiresome inclusion.The three main characters, played by three watchable stars one of them from across the border, manage to take the plot’s improbabilities into the province of the palatable. But the situational humour doesn’t quite have the delightfully disarming naturalness of Band Baaja Baraat.But the characters exude a contagious warmth, more in their individual capacity than in combinations. For a film about love warmth togetherness and family bonding during the time of a wedding, the interative warmth between characters is strangely missing. Besides one memorable sequence towards the beginning in front of the Taj Mahal(a recurring cultural and sociological symbol in the film) when they share cold chai, there is little to suggest any serious bonding between Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan…or for that matter, between the two brothers played by Ali Zafar and Imran Khan.Zafar who delighted in the satirical mode of Tere Bin Laden, returns with yet another performance that knows how over-the-top to go without toppling over. Yup, Zafar gets it pitch-perfect all the way. The same cannot be said of the film which occasionally slips into becoming a stretch.What really redeems the film’s blind spots is Katrina Kaif who brings a very spcial transparency and dazzle to her role of a wild child who wants to have all the fun that she can before she settles into a comfortably arranged marriage with the rakish NRI Ali Zafar.Fun, as it turns out, leading to falling in love with her brother-in-law-to-be. The turn of events may surprise the characters. We remain largely detached from the synthesis of celebration and drama.“What will I tell everyone?

 That I fell in love with my Bhabhi?” the embarrassed and horrified brother-in-law tells his untamable Babhi-to-be.That’s Imran Khan, playing the sweet-tempered benign do-gooder once again. Khan stays in his comfort zone while Katrina comes out of it to give herself and the audience the time of her life.There is nothing seriously amiss in MBKD. It gets right the camerawork (Sudeep Chatterjee), music (Sohail Sen) and the outdoor locations in and around Delhi. What it misses out on is that element of unpredictability during the time of a wedding that Band Baaja Baarat and Tanu Weds Manu managed to capture probably because the couple at the helm was supported by any number of splendid supporting stars. Here the supporting actors are serviceable. Parikshat Sahnni and Kanwaljeet as the couple’s fathers try to be coic and filmy. They just looke jaded.By the time the Brother walks away with the Dulhan we really have nothing we would like to say to them, except, what took them so long?

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Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Review

Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin, Ariadna Cabrol, Naseruddin Shah
Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Genre: Drama
Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance
Film Released on: 14 July 2011

For the trailer of a movie that earned 55 million views within 48 hours of release, there’s a whole lot to expect! And for the very movie that features stalwarts like Hrithik Roshan, Kalki Koechlin and Abhay Deol, the expectation meter rises even further. Furthermore if the film is written and directed by a filmmaker who has previously helmed quality cinema like Luck By Chance you obviously expect nothing short of the moon from it. With the music already doing well enough on the airwaves and the television promos being an absolute rage due to the realistic conversations between the three male protagonists, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara turns out to be a Hindi movie that one sincerely hopes would be a perfect bang for your buck. And besides, the movie is produced by the likes of Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, who have consistently given us quality such as Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Don: The Chase Begins, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Rock On!! and Karthik Calling Karthik.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. Rumors floating about it being similar to the Todd Philips directed Hollywood franchise The Hangover and Farhan Akhtar’s own debut directorial vehicle Dil Chahta Hai are dampening the spirits of the potential moviegoer. Even so, the hilarious trick of posting a very random spoiler over BlackBerrys as forward broadcast messages has met with diverse reactions and further inhibition toward the film. Now the only question that must be in every movie viewer’s mind would be “Should I watch the film or would I rather go for Harry Potter and skip this instead?”

Set in Mumbai, London and Spain, the movie’s about the one thing that you’ve always wanted to do with your friends ever since you’ve been there for each other. Kabir Dewan (Abhay Deol) has just proposed to Natasha (Kalki Koechlin) after six months of dating, and now that they’re very close to marriage, he wants to badly go on that bachelor trip he’d planned with his friends Imraan (Farhan Akhtar) and Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) four years ago, before unavoidable circumstances made them cancel it. The location is Spain and Imraan deliberately chooses it for personal reasons. In this trip of a lifetime, Arjun finds love in the form of Laila (Katrina Kaif), Imraan realizes things are not always like the movies, and Kabir himself realizes he’s not ready for marriage. The events that unfold will get them to realize themselves, and life as a whole…

Now before some conclusions are hurriedly made, let me clear some things at the very outset. As far as the similarities to The Hangover are concerned, yes, they’re going for that bachelor trip before he marries, but the similarities end right there. And with regards to more similarities in connection with Dil Chahta Hai, the movies are poles apart. Agreed that the male bonding aspect does remind us of Dil Chahta Hai but let’s face it, male bonding as an aspect will be a universally similar thread. The story and screenplay written by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Katgi (of Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. fame) is original, and more so a refreshing take on ‘living life to the fullest’.

Though her story is simple and might have been told quite a few times before, what brings out the best in the screenplay is the development of each character through the journey the three main protagonists walk upon these 2 hours 35 minutes of the film. Be it Imraan’s search for his biological father against his mother’s wishes and his shocking discovery on learning the painful truth, or even Arjun and his mechanical ways of working, inhibited by his fear of not being able to earn more than enough, or even Kabir’s commitment phobia, you can see a bit of yourself in each of them. What impressed me was also Kalki Koechlin’s ever progressive character, even in a short role. Also, Kaif’s beautifully written character makes us root for her throughout.

Zoya Akhtar has handled the execution with utmost maturity, being sensitive about each scene and the authenticity that goes into them, be it the pranks they play in the bar and the toilet, or Imraan’s constant flirting with Laila, or even Arjun’s self discovery by breaking free from the shackles of his fear of drowning, we know we all have those demons, and probably don’t want to deal with them (at least till the time we’re going to deal with them!). And what works is the linear narration throughout most of the film, making us feel we all are going on a journey. Dialogues by Farhan Akhtar are poignant when needed the most (watch out for the scene in which Katrina Kaif looks Hrithik Roshan in the eye and tells him “Mujhe Afsos Karna Nahin Aata” in one of the most romantic scenes in a long time), and hilarious to the hilt when needed (“Meet Bagwati!”, Doordarshan and some more “the mantally the sick” scenes!) when needed.

And it’s not just the scenes on paper and their execution, it’s the strength in the technical department too that makes the movie a complete package. The movie has been brilliantly shot, thanks to the team of cameramen heralded by Carlos Catalan’s stunning cinematography. Watch out for the horses passing by and Hrithik Roshan’s character suddenly feeling alive. We couldn’t agree more. Alongside that we’ve got stunning shots of the landscape of Spain which will be etched in your mind for a long time after you’ve exited the hall. Editor Anand Subaya has observed a very different type of cut for the film, which goes gradual without frenetic cuts and yet never seems to loose pace. The rules of editing have been tightly observed, and yet the movie doesn’t suddenly get fast when needed or vice versa – in fact the movie remains consistent throughout it’s duration and that’s what makes it a good edit.

Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy makes you appreciate it even more as you watch the film; on-screen, it’s “Ik Junoon” and “Khwabon Ke Parinday” that work immensely, and though “Senorita” acts as an unnecessary speed-breaker, the song grows on you. Lyrics by Javed Akhtar are beautifully penned, and after a horror show in Game, I think he’s back in business with this one. Background score is stunning and melds well with each and every scene, and intersperses the poignant “Toh Zinda Ho Tum”, which is more of a soul-searching poem than anything else. Oh, and how can I forget: “Sooraj Ki Baahon Mein” in an epilogue during the end credits makes everyone smile on their way out, and you might just wait for the song to get over before you’re out.

Performance wise, it is difficult to single out an actor who outshines the rest, because everyone here comes up with a performance that’s memorable. Hrithik Roshan as Arjun excels, and the pain in his eyes and the anger and restraint has been well placed out in the portions of the first half. His transformation from an uptight corporate-type to a carefree soul is superb. Farhan Akhtar is brilliant. Be it his dialogue delivery in funny sequences or him breaking down at the stark realization of his abandonment, we’ve got a winner here too. Abhay Deol is a natural as the polite and articulate Kabir. Kalki is a performer, even in her short role, though the one who takes the cake is Katrina Kaif as a strong woman who believes in living and letting live. The chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif is a masterstroke. Deepti Naval and Naseeruddin Shah in short roles work big time.

Overall, this one’s a film that truly deserves to be seen by one and all, ‘cause if there’s any film that teaches you to live life at the fullest after Jab We Met, it’s this one. After heading out of the theatre, I heard one such man saying, “Let’s all go for a crazy trip and do such crazy stuff!” Now I’m not sure if he will ever execute this plan of action, but I sure was as exhilarated as he was…

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Predictions for "Bodyguard" Movie

Eid 2009 – Wanted – Super Hit

Eid 2010 – Dabangg – Blockbuster

Eid 2011 – Bodyguard – ?

Is Salman on a ‘hat trick’ spree ?. Our in-house expert and noted astro numerologist Bhavikk Sangghvi predicts the fate of the much awaited Salman – Kareena starrer:

“The title ‘BODYGUARD’ adds up to Number 30 – this octave of Number 3 is neither fortunate nor unfortunate. It indicates strong mental faculties of a person. But that person will have the tendencies to put all materials things on one side – not because he has to, but because he wishes to do so. This number can be powerful or indifferent depending upon the will or desire of the person” explains Bhavikk.

“Isn’t that Salman for us ? Doesn’t he behave or act the same way most of the times ? Be it friends, fans or media. In that context, ‘Bodyguard’ will once again hit the bull’s eye” predicts Bhavikk.

He continues “Like I have mentioned in the past, the year 2011 which adds up to Number 4 (Rahu) have been proving lucky for most people, places and dates which add up to Numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7 and this one’s releasing on 31st August 2011. The compound number arrived by adding this day is Number 7 (Ketu). So, it’s a double bonanza at the box office this week”.

“First time producer Atul Agnihotri (24th June 1970) is currently running in his 42nd year and his luck is as good as Arbaaz Khan’s when ‘Dabangg’ was released last year. What more can I say?".

“This Eid, Salman will give his fans the best ‘Eidi’ he can give in the form of ‘Bodyguard’ and we shall all rejoice in it” signs off Bhavikk on a positive note.

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Bodyguard -Movie Posters,Pics,and Wallpapers

Bodyguard -Movie Poster

Bodyguard--Salman Khan& Kareena kapoor

Salman Khan In Bodyguard

Salman Khan & Kareena Kapoor In Bodyguard 

Bodyguard -Movie Poster

Bodyguard -Movie Poster

Bodyguard -Salman and Kareena

Bodyguard -Movie Poster

Salman Khan & Kareena Kapoor Photo

Salman Khan & Kareena Kapoor Photo

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Bodyguard -Movie Review

After watching Ready, I had started to lose my faith and trust in Salman Khan films, mainly because most of them have a similar look and feel of this uber-cool dude who always does everything right – right from thetakraar to the pyar ka ikraar to the dushmanon pe waar – in almost all films (save for a terrific Dabangg) that have been South remakes or rip-offs. And when the trailer of Bodyguard (a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name) came along, I had already started to assume there’s going to be a set way the movie’s going to be shot, edited and executed – and I wasn’t liking the kind of imagery I had formed in my head at all.

The only difference that this movie was making apart from all the other Sallu masala entertainers was that they chose a more prominent female lead this time over (Kareena Kapoor), and this wasn’t helping change my mindset in any way, but despite all of this I had decided to watch the movie, if only to check out how much more redundant the Hindi film industry would become, with such movies churning out with immense regularity. And this is exactly where a film like Bodyguard stands out to be pretty different from the rest of the ilk.

Set in Jaisinghpur and Pune, the movie traces the life of a punctual, efficient bodyguard Lovely Singh (Salman Khan), who’s as mechanical and dumb as some robots could be. He is assigned to protect Divya (Kareena Kapoor), the daughter of businessman-politician Sartaj Rana (Raj Babbar), the latter of whose debt Lovely can’t seem to repay. At first, the bodyguard’s over-protective nature irks Divya to no end, and this is when she starts a series of pranks that end up changing her life – and with her, the life of the madly-in-love Lovely Singh.

Yes, Bodyguard is laced with the typical hotchpotch blend of action, romance, emotion, comedy and the likes. Yes, Bodyguard seems to rest on Salman Khan’s star power. Yes, there are a couple of speed-breakers in the form of abrupt songs thrown into the mix. Yes, yes, yes. But there’s one main ingredient in the whole of this film that makes it different from all of the recent logic-defying south remakes and masala films (Bbuddah, Singham, Ready), and that’s the overpowering romantic on-screen chemistry between Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

Realistic, beautifully portrayed and well-etched, this movie ends up being a sensitive love story, with all other ingredients acting like subplots that only make this movie more marketable to a more universal audience. The one thing that hasn’t changed all the way from its Malayalam original to it’s Tamil remake, all the way to this Hindi version is the director – Siddique, and the one good thing about this director is that he’s managed to heavily tweak it to suit the Bollywood audiences.

The screenplay has also been smoothed out for a better narration, though the only disappointment was the fact that when you throw Salman in the mix, you almost alwayshave to show him as the macho superhero, and this is also where the story has changed to fit in Salman’s characterization to make him a true 70’s-80’s Hindi movie protagonist, who will dance, sing, love, fight and the likes – unlike the Malayalam and Tamil originals which showed slightly more realistic male protagonists. But there’s a drastic difference between his performance here compared to the barrage of his films that have ruled the box-office recently. The screenplay also seems to have been tweaked for the better of the end product, and this shows. Dialogues are far subtler for a masala film and the execution makes for a good amount of difference.

And it’s not just the story and screenplay here – the movie has also been technically handled like it’s not a conventional South remake with loud and jumpy editing and annoying camerawork and nothing to speak about the cinematography – in fact, it’s quite opposite to the conventional. Sejal Shah’s cinematography captures each frame deliciously giving the movie a classy feel, backed by strong camerawork that doesn’t move irritatingly, except for in those hardcore action sequences, which also have a certain difference to them. Amazing use of beautifully shallow depth of field, and terrific color-grading with soft, warm colors makes all the difference to each frame. Editing by Sanjay Sankla is consistent, not loud, and makes the pace smooth.

Music by Himesh Reshammiya is passable (save for a mind-blowingly composed and shot Teri Meri) but what brings it up are the music videos! Pritam’s I Love You takes the cake in both the music and the visual portions.

Coming to the Performances, this movie, like all other Salman movies, is a Salman film all the way, but the difference is in his performance. In all other masala films that he’s done of late starting with Wanted, he’s played the bad-boy-with-a-good-heart, but here he holds a more restrained look throughout, and this is why all the people who view the film will appreciate his performance, which is what holds the film from the first frame till the last. This is the first of Sallu’s recent in which the woman plays an equal and important role in the film.

Kareena essays the role with aplomb. Her chirpy attitude, getting annoyed, falling in love and breaking down, all look pretty realistic, and add to that she looks extremely gorgeous, and that tends to be an icing on the cake! Hazel is commendable and has potential. Raj Babbar handles his role efficiently. Mahesh Manjrekar doesn’t do anything new, and I might have just been disappointed with him this time around. Aditya Panscholi proves yet again that he’s the menacing villain he can be, and post Dum Maaro Dum, he manages to make an impact in this cameo yet again. Others like Rajat Rawail (Tsunami? Really?), Asrani and Vidya Sinha are added fillers and don’t have much to do.

Now that I’ve stated some of the extremely positive parts of the film, I’d also like to state the more negative ones:-

• Instead of focusing on the love story, most of the first half is shown to be an ego trip on Sallu’s brawn and his action, his promotional song (even though well-shot, was it even necessary?) and some really insipid humor and subplots in the first half, which makes most of the pre-intermission reels stale and redundant.

• The pre-climax and climax portions look pretty hurried, and the turn that takes Hazel’s character toward a new angle looks pretty convincing at first, but the last scene makes you feel: Hey, that was far too convenient. Despite the drawback, the twist does end up working to a certain extent.

• Karisma Kapoor doing the ADR (dubbing) for Kareena’s phone prank-conversations with Salman – highly illogical for starters. If the love story and the rest of the sequences handled between Kareena Kapoor are subtle, why give this an over-the-top angle?

• The train scene between Hazel and Salman Khan! DDLJ overdrive, folks?

Overall, this movie brings back the romantic in Salman Khan that we’ve seen over the tenure of his acting career with brilliant films like Saajan, Maine Pyaar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, and despite the fact that it does have a whole lot of randomness thrown in the middle, it works largely because of Salman Khan’s towering, yet restrained performance, Kareena Kapoor’s powerhouse presence and the firebrand chemistry between the two, making for a very sensitively woven romance drama amidst all the action and humor.

The twist at the end does take you by surprise, also making for a well-narrated screenplay, but originality rules, and so does Dabangg, which, though having absolute masala in it’s brashness, isn’t a remake or a rip-off by any means! Still, if you can watch Transformers and have fun, or Singham for that matter, this is going to be big bang for your buck! A fun summer-festival blockbuster!

Bodyguard-Salman Khan Kareena kapoor

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