New Delhi: 'Bholaa' starring Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Sanjay Mishra, Gajraj Rao, and Deepak Dobriyal is a well-rounded action-thriller. 'Bholaa' has enough material to keep you hooked throughout despite its obsession to make action sequences right. Sometimes, the Ajay Devgn directorial looks and feels like a hardcore video game where two players overcome varying fight sequences to emerge as winners. This is what 'obsession' in 'Bhola' looks like. It is Ajay Devgn, Tabu against the world; against all odds, battling goon armies one after the other with no resources but sheer might and 'honsla'(an overexploited term pumped throughout this adrenaline pulsing action-thriller).


However, 'Bholaa' does nail a few things right. For instance; its dense thematic universe, dialogues, choreographing action sequences, performances etc.


Ajay Devgn portrays the titular role Bholaa in the film which he also directs. Tabu plays the emblem of truth and justice; the police officer while Deepak Dobriyal, Gajraj Rao play the arch nemesis.



Now, let's understand why Ajay Devgn, Tabu starrer Bholaa works?


1. Action


'Bholaa' is a complete 'paisa-vasool' film. From intricate action sequences choreographed to bring into reality unreal moments like a panther backing away after seeing wrath and righteousness in Bholaa's( Ajay Devgn) eyes or the unreal opening sequence where the classic police-robber chase sequence on a highway is made frivolous with the way it is shot. There is also a sequence where Ajay Devgn hits an army of body builders and everytime he lands a blow on them, a broken bone appears from under the skin. It's almost gruesome. 'Bholaa' in 3D is not recommended!


As mentioned earlier, there is an almost video game-like staging of action sequences in the film where Ajay and Tabu fight off goons to reach another level of security.


Ajay by all means is presented as this deus ex machina, all-powerful, almost like a hand of an obedient devotee of God bringing justice to this corrupt landscape of UP where drugs, corruption, murder prevail. 


This brings me to another reason why 'Bholaa' works.


2. Theme


'Bholaa' is riddled with references from Hindu mythology like Shaivism,drawing from Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata in the way it's arch nemesis is named Ashwathama or the five policemen( five pandavas)and even the way Ajay Devgn is introduces and later narrates his backstory to Kadchi at a Shiva temple.


To layer the film with all the references mentioned above, Ajay Devgn does mix and match to suit his screenplay but the complex interlacing of varying mythical syntax might raise a few eyebrows.


3. Performances


'Bholaa' works because there is Tabu in it. Ajay Devgn portrays himself in the film; this brooding, silent, no-nonsense OG action hero he has been playing all these years. It is Tabu's intervention and cameos of ace performers like Gajraj Rao ( who seem to be driving the plot up until a certain point), and Deepak Dobriyal that the film feels like it also has something to tell.


At some moments, unfortunately, 'Bholaa' also begins to feel like a figment of imagination from Ajay Devgn's head which translates into celluloid and can show all that the action star can do and embody in a Hindi action film. It's like a film by Ajay Devgn starring himself, for Ajay Devgn. 


However, the performances by Gajraj Rao, Deepak Dobriyal( who looks like a goth hero from a Tim Burton film)and a small role with quite some powerful entry by Vineet Kumar ( as Nithari Bhaiya), and Sanjay Mishra are all excellent.


4. Screenplay


'Bholaa' has been adapted from 'Kaithi' by Aamil Keeyan Khan, Ankush Singh, Sandeep Kewlani, and Shriidhar Dubey. And, all four writers manage not to make 'Bholaa' something more than an adrenaline-pumping action thriller. So, by sticking to this idea, they manage to create a meticulous screenplay that rests a moment too long in action sequences, forcefully inserts opening sequence song, a love song in post-interval film to tick the boxes of the formula mass entertainer film.


Despite this itch to conform to familiar tropes of a formula film, their dialogues deserve a special mention. Laden with current socio-political-cultural context and mythological references, 'Bholaa' has a rich dialogue universe.


There is also the use of voiceover for a character like 'Bholaa' who does not talk alot and thus needs a backgrounder telling the audience what he is, how he is and why he is like that etc. Likewise in the first half, Gajraj Rao is also heard as this omnipresent, all-powerful voice of action which gets lost as Bholaa takes centrestage. Though not much of a fan of voice overs in films, Bholaa's looked organically linked to the film.


5. Cinematography


Aseem Bajaj does a commendable job with cameras. Interesting camera angles for hero, villain intros, action scenes and the use of montage to create intent all deserve a special mention. However, a stable camera in filming minor action scenes in general would have served the purpose better and kept the subject matter in focus.


Despite a poor choice of shot locations, most of 'Bholaa' is well shot and has its moments to keep you reeling under for some time after you step out of the theatre.


Besides these, there are also a number of reasons why 'Bholaa' does not work. 


The over the top action which gets monotonous and unreal as we wade through the film, or the background score with a bad title track which compliments a death dance number ( Ajay Devgn killing bad guys with a Trishul), and the length of the film.


Ajay Devgn tries to tie all the loose ends in the post-interval film where there is an assured sense of pace, never a hurry and yet a feeling of  watching an overly loaded pot which is brimming with water. In the post-interval film, there is Bholaa's backstory, Abhishek Bachchan and Amala Paul's cameo, Nithari Bhaiya intro, Tabu back story, too much establishing characters, too much action and the orphan girl angle coming full circle to land just the right tone of emotion to close the film.


In all, 'Bholaa' is a mass-entertainer film and worth a weekend watch. Ajay Devgn's attempt as a director is earnest and despite the film's problems manages to keep you hooked.


PS: 'Bholaa' is a remake of the Lokesh Kanagaraj film 'Kaithi'( 2019) though the only change in the script is the character of policeman, played by Narain, a man in the original and by Tabu in the remake.