|
Release
date:
|
November 8, 2018
|
|
Director:
|
Vijay Krishna
Acharya
|
|
Cast:
Language:
|
Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif,
Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sharat Saxena, Ila
Arun, Lloyd Owen, Gavin Marshall, Ronit Roy
Hindi
|
Amitabh Bachchan,
Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh – this is the order in which the
lead cast’s names are placed in the credits of Thugs of Hindostan. The ranking is representative of their star
stature combined with seniority in the industry. A more truthful list
reflecting the substance in the roles they play would have read: Khan,
Bachchan, Shaikh, Kaif. And if you want to know which of these stars scores in
terms of quality of performance and conviction, this is my list: Aamir Khan,
Aamir Khan, Aamir Khan, Aamir Khan.
Vijay Krishna
Acharya’s third directorial venture (the others being Tashan and Dhoom 3) might
have been a lifeless parade of spectacular visuals without Khan. Whenever
he is on screen though, the film develops a pulse. Khan is Thugs of Hindostan’s heart and soul, breath and blood.
The story is set in
an India
overrun by the British, and revolves around an
unscrupulous rascal called Firangi Malla who serves only one master, himself,
until he encounters the freedom fighter Azad (Bachchan). Torn between
self-interest and patriotism, Firangi keeps his associates guessing about where
his loyalties lie, swinging back and forth between the British led by Clive and
his own people. The road he will ultimately take maybe obvious to the audience,
but how he takes it is unpredictable enough to keep the film going.
If the mention of a
Clive suggests that Thugs of Hindostan
is historically accurate, then let it be placed on the record: it is not. “What’s
in a name?” as that most famous of Englishmen once wrote. A white man by any
other name would have smelt just as rotten. So yeah, in all their
confrontations here, the Brits are made to look like incompetent, gullible
asses, forever suffering defeat at the hands of Indians. Since India is the
wronged party in the imperialist equation, it could be argued that taking this
sort of liberty with the past can hardly be treated as a crime especially since
this is nothing compared to Western cinema’s casual portrayal of true thugs of
the colonial era, most recently Winston Churchill, with affectionate
indulgence. In any case, Thugs of
Hindostan is unapologetically commercial, characteristically masala-filled
Bollywood fare, that does not ask to be taken seriously. It is an action adventure in the mould of Hollywood’s Pirates of the Caribbean series, and does not pretend to be
anything but that.
Acharya’s actual
crime lies in the weak writing of every character other than Firangi Malla.
Azad is a pallid creature, and Bachchan invests nothing beyond his towering
personality and baritone in his uninspired performance.
The women are
laughable asides in the screenplay. Kaif as the courtesan Suraiyya gets to look
sexy and dance mechanically, displaying technique but little grace in two
lavish song and dance sequences on elaborate, eye-catching sets. She has a
third scene but disappears for the rest of the proceedings, which is just as
well since she seems unable to move even those few facial muscles that she has
exercised in her earlier films.
Shaikh, who made a
mark as a skilled wrestler and rebellious daughter in Dangal, is not required to act at all.
As Zafira who is part of Azad’s band of warriors, she barely has any lines, and
most of her screen time is spent running across battlescapes, firing arrows and
throwing punches. She is fair enough doing all this, but not outstanding, and
since she lacks charisma it is hard not to wonder why she landed the job. She
also has less chemistry with Khan than Lloyd Owen who plays Clive.
It is thus left to
Khan and the technical departments to save this film, and they do. Thugs of Hindostan’s production
designers (there are four) and DoP Manush Nandan ensure that the film is never
short of pretty and grand. John Stewart Eduri serves up a throbbing background
score and Ajay-Atul’s songs are all hummable.
Given the only
well-written character in Thugs of
Hindostan, with an abundance of mischievous dialogues and credible
motivations, Khan throws himself into his role with gusto, summoning up Munna
of Rangeela and Siddhu of Ghulam, imbuing Firangi with a
relentless zest, and switching from good to bad to inexplicable to exasperating
to lovable within a twinkling of those delightful kohl-lined eyes.
Thugs was promoted as the first film ever to pit him
against the great Bachchan. The legendary superstar is a pale shadow here of
the best he has been. Khan, on the other hand, crackles, pops and sparkles as a
swashbuckling scoundrel. The writing of his character and his
performance are the only reasons why Thugs
of Hindostan does not turn out to be a stylishly produced but disastrously
dreary repeat of Acharya’s first film, Tashan.
Despite all its minuses, Thugs is
light-hearted fun.
Rating (out
of five stars): **
|
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
|
|
Running time:
|
164 minutes 30 seconds
|
This review has also been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/TOHTheFilm/
No comments:
Post a Comment