Bharat Film Review: It may confuse audiences

Gulf News

Bharat Dubai Cinema timings: https://gulfnews.com/cinema-listing#cinema/movie/HO00006839  Full Article here: https://gn24.ae/82178e29f2aa000  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos  The millennial brigade got a glimpse of Bollywood’s glory days as Salman Khan and co. rolled out the red carpet for a star-studded ‘Bharat’ premiere that harked back to the 70s and 80s, to a time when the industry cruised and schmoozed in celebration of a guaranteed ‘golden jubilee’ production. #Bharat #SalmanKhan #KatrinaKaif

Transcript

00:00There's something unsettling about a pulpy patriotic drama.

00:03And Salman Khan's Bharat chokes you with that emotion and sentiment

00:08and then shoves some more into your face if you didn't get the pot.

00:16This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News Tabloid and I'm reviewing Salman Khan's

00:21Eid release Bharat directed by Ali Abbas Zafar.

00:25Here we have Salman Khan playing the title role of Bharat.

00:28Now he's the poster child of post-partition India and what you have is a portrait of angst,

00:35trauma and the kind of bereavement that you feel when one a part of your family

00:40is back home in Pakistan whereas the majority of your family is back home in India.

00:45Salman Khan is on call to be a devout guardian to his fractured family back home in India.

00:50He made a promise to his father who could not board the train from Pakistan to India

00:56and he makes a promise to look after his family till his death.

01:00As far as premises go it's a very interesting film about duty,

01:04obligation and leading your own life when there's a lot happening in your own country

01:09and how the tumultuous history of your country is intertwined with your personal life as well.

01:15As far as ambition go this one is a steep one but the only problem with this film

01:20is that though the scope is large it somehow does not translate into riveting film.

01:26This film goes on and on and just when you think it's over it goes on for some more.

01:31This is one of the films in Bollywood where it's stuffed with events.

01:35In fact it's one of the rare instances where the

01:38hero goes through so many tumultuous periods in his life that it almost becomes difficult

01:43for us to wrap our head around it.

01:45There is the sequence where Bharat joins a travelling circus.

01:48There's a sequence where he goes to the middle east when they discover oil in the 60s.

01:53There's also a sequence when he's a part of a cargo ship which gets pirated by Somalis.

01:58Now these sequences when they come together don't make much sense

02:01and the movie is all over the place.

02:04As a viewer you might find yourself lost at some of the episodes that are unravelling in the film.

02:09As far as casting goes I think Katrina Kaif is largely miscast in this movie.

02:14During the promotions of the film you knew there was a lot of conjecture about

02:18why Priyanka Chopra a global icon now rejected Salman Khan's film at the last minute

02:23and the role then went to Katrina Kaif.

02:25Finally this is one movie where you totally understand

02:28that Katrina Kaif is not suitable wholly suitable for this role.

02:32Maybe she stepped in to save her best friend or to help out her friend Salman Khan

02:37but somehow she does not fit into the role of an Indian employee who's a job recruiter

02:44who comes into Salman Khan's life when he applies for a job

02:48to be a part of the Middle East oil company.

02:51While Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan may not have much chemistry between them

02:55his role and his camera drive with actor Sunil Grover a comedian with excellent comic timing

03:01is amazing.

03:02In fact they have more chemistry than Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan.

03:06When it comes to also good acting you have to take a note about Tabu.

03:12She's a national award-winning actress and within less than seven minutes

03:16she's in an extended cameo within less than seven minutes

03:18she kind of communicates the angst and the trauma attached to a child of partition.

03:24What happens when you have a displaced family

03:26and when you're trying to make amends for your past.

03:30So her role is really small but it's fleshed out and makes a lot of mark

03:35where Salman Khan what he does is he makes up with tubs of glycerin.

03:40If Tabu was a great actress then there's Salman Khan

03:43who just latches back or falls back on his studied histrionics to come to his rescue.

03:50Actors like Disha Patani and Jackie Shroff are just players on this very large canvas

03:55that is designed to make Salman Khan look good.

03:59Even as a 70-year-old he seems to be this age-defying hero.

04:03He can bash up at least four men strapping young lads

04:06who are fully armed on a motorbike bashing him up

04:09yet he can actually smother them and get them out of his life in a swift action.

04:15So it's not wholly believable.

04:17So in terms of even the physicality somehow playing a 70-year-old Salman Khan

04:22just does not bode with this actor who always clutches onto his youth in his movies.

04:27There's Katrina Kaif as well who ages alongside alongside Bharat's character.

04:33Somehow even she's not very convincing in the role where she's supposed to look a bit elderly.

04:37She looks a bit too glamorous.

04:39As far as casting and the story goes it's a bit of a disappointment.

04:44As far as ambition and scope goes this is a big one.

04:48But somehow director Ali Abbas Zafar and Salman Khan

04:51they're not able to translate it into riveting cinema.

04:55I've gone with two out of five.

04:57For my full review go to gulfnews.com slash tabloid.

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