Bodyguard Review

Salman is in top form, every movie he does becomes a blockbuster, even if it is as mediocre as Ready. He is riding high on public grace, but one wonders how long will this grace continue. One may remember that a few years ago Akshay Kumar was enjoying the same grace and he went too far with by doing crappy films one after the other. The audience lost its patience and pulled the rug from underneath him. Salman tested the audience' s patience with Ready, will he finally break their patience with Bodyguard. Let' s see if at least this film has a different story and character, from the usual ' Sallu Bhai' entertainers.

Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) is an ace bodyguard. He is dedicated to his craft and protects his client' s life like his own. He is hired by a big businessman named Sartaj Rana (Raj Babbar) to protect his daughter, Divya (Kareena Kapoor). However, to Divya, Lovely becomes hindrance that is stopping her from living her life. She hatches a plan that if Lovely is busy with love, he will not bother her so much. She starts making phone calls to him and starts sending love letters as his secret admirer. After a lot of efforts the trick works and Lovely starts falling for his secret admirer.

Lovely changes completely and Divya revels in her plan' s success. However, Divya discovers a secret about lovely that shocks her. Lovely too finds out about his fake lover and is heartbroken. What will happen to them? There is also a twist near the ending of the story that will surely shock the audience.

Looks like Salman Khan has realized his folly and has gone back to the genre he started his career with, romance. In his previous films, he was playing larger than life characters that would be unaffected by anything, but in Bodyguard, he plays a humane character that is also vulnerable to an emotion like love. Yes there is action in the film, but it is all in the backdrop of a love story.

The director, Siddique, is also the story and screenplay writer of the film. He has done a good job with the story and has also written the romantic situations really well. Though, this film is a remake of a Malayalam film, also written by Siddique, he has made a few changes and made story to the taste of Hindi audiences. There is also some comedy in the film which works and adds to the story. The best part is the twist in the tale. It is completely unexpected and will catch everyone off-guard. The dialogues are simple and apt, none like the dialogues of Salman' s previous film.

Siddique is an established director. He is making the same story for the third time yet there is no boredom from his side. This Hindi version has been designed differently, for a broader audience, and he has succeeded. Though, the action is still in the south style, that is how the audience wants to see Salman fighting. He has handled all the actors really well and the frames are well crafted.

Salman Khan has acted well for a change. This proves that he is more comfortable in the romantic genre. Kareena Kapoor is solid as ever and has improved leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. Raj Babar is good as the protective father. Rajat Rawail is superb and shows great comic timing throughout the film. Aditya Pancholi makes a comeback to the big screen after a long hiatus and shows that he still has it. All the actors have done a good job.

The cinematography by Ganesh Acharya and Vishnudeva is superb. The trademark of all the south directors is to have good cinematography in their films, and Siddique lives up to belief and hires two good cinematographers. The editing is also good.

The music of the film is another plus point. The album is a combined effort from Himesh Reshamiyya and Pritam. Himesh was once Salman' s favorite music director, but the two had a falling out. Himesh' s career was in the doldrums and he recently made up with Salman which resulted in him being the music director for this film. Both Pritam and Himesh have done a good job and the music of the film has already become a hit.

The production value of the film is also good. The sets and locations are good. The action scenes are very well choreographed, especially the fight sequence between Salman Khan and Aditya Pancholi. Overall, Bodyguard is a good film. This film is much better than some of Salman' s previous films where logic factor was completely missing. The other releases this week aren' t that good; hence, Bodyguard will be a big hit. Also, the fact that this film has released more prints than any other Hindi film will ensure this film gets good visibility throughout the country.

Rating: ***

Verdict: The theatres owners will have to hire bodyguards for the ticket counter as Bodyguard will definitely be a blockbuster.

Reviewed by: Harshal Anand

Hide Editor Review.