New Delhi: After his phenomenally popular cameo in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Pathaan', Salman Khan returned to the big screen, to the whistling of crowds both on-screen and in the theatre. Given that these formulaic flicks mostly work for the actor, 'Bhaijaan' presumably handpicked a Salman-esque script to treat his fans this Eid. However, 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan's random blend of genres turned out to be an entire realm of madness, confusing the crowd (not Salman’s fans though; kyuki bhai samjh mein nahi aate, par unke dil mein aate hai).
Salman’s latest outing is a remake of a Tamil film titled 'Veeram', which stars Ajith Kumar and Tamannaah. Although the original received positive reviews from critics and became successful at the box office, the same seems to be a difficult feat for the Hindi adaptation. Akin to other Salman Khan-starring 'family entertainers', this movie begins with a lot of violence, including shattering bones and slamming heads—but this time, it's for the family's sake. Self-defence, not violence, is what it's called, as Bhai explained. We have no doubts about it.
In terms of the plot, Bhaijaan, who is still flying solo, devotes his life to looking after his three younger siblings, Moh, Ishq, and Luv (Jassie Gill, Raghav Juyal, and Siddharth Nigam). While they all vow not to get married, the trio eventually finds the love of their lives, but before they can be with them, they must find their elder brother the ideal match.
Interestingly (wait, no! ), bizarrely, Bhaijaan took the decision to sacrifice his love—his ex-girlfriend, Bhagyashree, who appeared in a cameo—because he felt that a woman may destroy the bond between the siblings. At a point in the film, he tells Bhagya (Pooja Hedge), his girlfriend, that '99.9% ladkiyan achi hai, par wo 1% hum bhaiyon ko barbaad kar sakti hai'. I'm still unsure of how to process this hypothesis.
The story changes course, though, when Bhaijaan's siblings are able to pair him up with their new tenant, Bhagya Lakshmi. The ultimate bombshell is unveiled after a few awkward romance scenes and multiple tracks in which Salman struggles to sway. Nageshwar (Jagapati Babu), whom Bhagya's family is unaware of, is their foe and seeks to wipe out their kin.
In the film's first sequence, the bad guy (Vijender Singh) gets introduced before the hero (Salman Khan), and the Indian boxer instantly shows off that he is an ideal pick for the role of the antagonist. Singh made his Bollywood debut with the 2014 release 'Fugly', and he then came back to exhibit his acting chops and stun the audience with his powerful punches. Indeed, we are blown away.
Samji, who is definitely inspired by Salman's Lux Venus ad (watch it to get the context), curated a similar 'hero ki entry' scene for the actor, and that was enough to draw applause from the cine-goers. Then, just to show his dominance and invincibility, our leather-clad saviour takes out the bad guys. But not without uttering the icky yet signature dialogue such as ‘Sahi ka hoga sahi, galat ka hoga galat. Kyuki iss desh mein hai bada dum, Vande Mataram’ (Dora, find the motive behind this).
The film seems more like a walk down memory lane for a 90's kid, boasting an ensemble cast comprising Bhagyashree, Bhumika Chawla, Venkatesh Daggubati, and the late actor Satish Kaushik. The only thing we can't gripe about is that it was a treat to have Kaushik back on screen, even for a brief while, in his element. Despite having an impressive cast, the writers scarcely give the characters any soul, leading to a mishmash of characters and flimsy subplots.
The North-meets-South romance only barely works due to a handful of amusing moments that naturally fall into place. But for the most part, the narrative's dragged humor makes for some intolerably awful bits. The well-choreographed action sequences were the movie's saving grace, despite the plot being similar to that of several other Bollywood movies in this category. ANL Arasu aspired to equal the Hollywood blockbuster 'John Wick' series, where hand-to-hand combat takes the main stage, through his fast-paced action sequences.
When it comes to the performances, Salman Khan does well in the violent, bloody fight scenes but fumbles in the more nuanced ones. On the other side, Pooja Hedge, who serves a little more than merely a prop, does fairly well in her screen time. As 'Rowdy Anna', Daggubati Venkatesh holds the fort for the whole of his screen time, and when Khan's character is in the same frame, he nearly eats him up.
With enjoyable action-packed entertainment, ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ primarily appeals to Salman Khan's loyal fanbase. In a movie that is intended to stir up sentiments within viewers, the carelessly scripted scenes wind up becoming comical. For those few laughs, you could certainly give it a watch. I'm sure you can attempt it for those few giggles. The actor's awaited major comeback in the romance-action film doesn't quite live up to expectations. With that being said, all we know is that "2 rupaye ki Pepsi, humara bhai sexy". Well, we aren't saying this; the makers have legit put this in the film.