Story: Lovely Singh (Salman Khan), the ace bodyguard has a new assignment. He must protect MBA student Divya ( Kareena Kapoor) from her prospective assailants (Mahesh Manjrekar and co.). Now Divya madam happens to be the daughter of his benefactor ( Raj Babbar) and inadvertently falls in love with her brawny bodyguard. But can the rich-poor, mistress-servant divide be bridged?
Movie Review: A Salman Khan film almost always defies all logic, simply because it follows its own norms at the box office, irrespective of the quality of the product. All that the film needs to have the crowds milling, cheering and growing nearly hysterical is the trademark Salman touch. This essentially means a high-on-testosterone Salman, a pelvic-pushing Salman, a devil-may-care Salman, a can-do-anything Salman, a human tornado Salman, a goofy-in-love Salman, and yes, above all, a shirtless Salman. Stir up this cocktail and rest assured, the box office will jingle, story be damned.
Once again, Bodyguard opened to an uproarious crowd, but all the din could not drown the fact that this one's mostly a non-happening film with a first half that gets extremely repetitive and boring. The romance between Kareena and Salman transpires in a juvenile manner through endless phone conversations, as Kareena tries to masquerade as the mysterious girl from nowhere. And when the romantic track has almost bored you to death, you have an equally lame comedy track to frustrate you. The whole sub-plot about Tsunami Singh, the servant and his antics is dull and distracting.
The film sparks up only in the action sequences which showcase Salman as the essential action hero who can perform the most impossible stunts -- dodge bullets, leap across walls, crunch bones, sky dive -- with impeccable ease and finesse. The fights have been excellently choreographed, specially during the climax. The music by Pritam and Himmesh Reshammiya has the usual chartbusters which include Katrina Kaif's split second appearance in the much touted item number. Performance-wise, the film doesn't have much to boast about. While Salman is his usual self, minus the Dabangg chutzpah, Kareena has seen better days. After all serenading a mobile phone for most of the length of the film isn't a very challenging role, is it?
The film, a remake of a South Indian hit, may end up as another blockbuster, like most Salman films have been doing in the recent past. Yet, sadly, this one's mostly bluster.
Tip Off: Only for diehard Salman Khan fans, Bodyguard has nothing to offer to the fastidious cineaste. |
