Flashback Friday: Bobby Deol's 'Soldier' Is An Action-Packed Revenge Drama In Typical Bollywood Style

Bobby Deol’s 1998 film ‘Soldier’ is a mix of romantic comedy, family drama and heroic vengeance thriller.

'Soldier' is one of Bobby Deol's most popular films of his career.

Source : Screengrab from Prime Video

WHY ‘SOLDIER’ IS THIS WEEK'S PICK

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Lord Bobby has been trending online since the trailer of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's ‘Animal’ came out. Bobby Deol’s glimpse in the forthcoming film has netizens going gaga. As his legion of admirers are eagerly awaiting his return to theatre, we revisited 'Soldier', one of his most popular flicks. The 1998 Abbas-Mustan film also stars Preity Zinta, Rakhee Gulzar, Suresh Oberoi and others.

New Delhi: Imagine a mix of romantic comedy, family drama and heroic vengeance thriller with a touch of slapstick. That’s exactly how one can describe Bobby Deol’s 1998 film ‘Soldier’. Bobby shows an amazingly wide range of emotions, manipulator, lover, fighter and killer.

An Indian guy Vicky (Bobby Deol) goes to Australia to get revenge for an incident that began in his own country. Considering that the film takes place in Australia, you may wonder why the characters speak Hindi and everyone is Indian.

Vicky is the son of an Army officer who was wrongfully convicted of betrayal. His socially outcast mother (Rakhee Gulzar) finds refuge in a shrine. We don't understand why the makeup artist felt the need to make Rakhee seem spectral to convey her grief; she looks harrowing in the last scene.

Vicky's true identity remains a mystery until the very end. While in Australia, he encounters Suresh Oberoi's wealthy and powerful daughter Preeti (Preity Zinta) and develops feelings for her. 

To all the 90s filmmakers out there, I have a real question: why on earth would you choose an actress if they were just going to dance in the film? As soon as Preity Zinta appears on screen, a song starts playing. The filmmakers cast a stunning actress to draw in audiences, even if her character's perspective is completely out of place in the film.

A lot of the songs in the film are basically filler, even if a few of them are memorable, catchy and performed effectively.

Preity Zinta is introduced with a dancing number. Bobby is creepingly watching her using binoculars. To put it simply, Bobby seems to be a stalker. Meanwhile, we can't help but drool over Bobby Deol sporting a leather jacket, black sunglasses, and long hair.

We couldn't help but notice a sexist statement in the film. Bobby reacts with, "kapde rita ki aur baatein sita ki." In response to Preity's "how dare you touch me?" So, when you touch a woman without consent, she can't defend you, can she? For the simple reason that she is wearing Western attire.

Preity utterly bombs in that one scene when she has a chance to showcase her acting chops. Bobby and Preity both look pitiful when they have to act drunk.

The film's suspense isn't high enough, and you can guess the bad guy’s identity before the screenplay ever says their name. There is no originality in Bobby's approach as he kills the villains. Having said that, the film's storyline twists were both clever and astounding. 

Regarding fight scenes, ‘Soldier’ does a good job. Its well-choreographed fight scenes and stunts would want to watch it again. Action movie standards have changed over the years, but ‘Soldier’ is still fun to watch because it makes you miss the action films that were popular in Bollywood in the late 1990s.

The film's positive aspects were the opportunity to see Farida Jalal's acting and to hear her hard-hitting dialogues.

There isn't much to be said about the humorous parts in the film except the OG Johnny Lever, who gets boring beyond a point, and the funny dance steps of Bobby Deol. 

The narrative is unique and atypical in its approach. Still, there are a lot of issues with this film, including an excessively dramatic climax.

Looking back at ‘Soldier’ in the modern day is like opening a time capsule; it takes us to a bygone period when Bollywood action films had captivating protagonists, surprising narrative twists and infectious soundtracks. For those who recall the golden era of Bollywood action cinema with fondness, ‘Soldier’ will always be a classic, even if it doesn't meet the standards of modern filmmaking.