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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD BODYGUARD
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
For three years now, every Eid, a Salman Khan movie has become one of the
rewards of the festival. Whereas last year we had Dabangg, which
despite its simplicity had layers into it, this year we are treated to The
Bodyguard which isn`t a patch on Dabangg. Despite this, it has
enough to hold the attention of festive audiences.
Bodyguard Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) is a nice, honest man of steel who is
faithful to Sartaj (Raj Babbar). Sartaj, asks Lovely to guard his daughter Divya
(Kareena Kapoor) day and night.
Lovely does his job diligently, but is unawares that Divya serenades him under a
pseudonym Chhaya over the phone, and has fallen in love with him. Things get out
of control when Sartaj`s enemies try to kill Divya while Sartaj thinks Lovely is
trying to kidnap his daughter.
Bodyguard, conceptually, is based on the type of stories that have
made Imtiaz Ali popular - sweet, gentle love stories, where the underlying theme
being sacrifice for the sake of love. Yet whereas Imtiaz Ali reveals in a
certain quaint subtlety despite the melodramatic nature of his films,
Bodyguard director Siddique does not have that much of skills to
pull that off.
The result is a film that has its few funny, slapstick moments but the problem
area is the surprise twist in the end. It is an end that does not gel with the
pace of the rest of the film and seems cooked up. That is especially true
because director Siddique gives no foreshadowing or inclination before of a
possibility of a character doing what she does in the end.
However, that would be a problem with urban audiences. As far as rural viewers
go, the ending, fantastic as it may be, might actually work for the film. After
all isn`t there enough elements of fantasy in the rest of the film like when
Salman going in the opposite direction in a train, simply jumps on to a running
train in another direction. If one can digest that, one can do the same for the
ending.
A little more effort on the editing table would have eased a lot of things.
Salman fans, however, have much to cheer. They not only get to see their
favourite star beating enemies to pulp, but also get to see his well toned
torso, that in the end is revealed after jets of water blow away his shirt, much
like the subway wind blew away Marilyn Monroe`s skirt.
Debutante Rajat Rawail provides comic relief to the film not just with his
antics but also the funny messages on his t-shirts like `6 Pack Coming Soon`
pasted over his fat belly.
Salman is his well-chiseled self, and Kareena is as good as the script demands
of her, which isn`t much. The music is catchy, especially Himmesh Reshamiya
composed song I Love You.
Overall, Bodyguard may not have the chutzpah of a Dabangg,
but it pulls itself through to entertain viewers during the festive season.
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When it comes to being punctual and doing his duties
perfectly, Lovely Singh is unmatchable. Taking great pride in what he does, he
spares no effort in giving his everything to his profession.
Summoned for an assignment of guarding Divya, the daughter of Sartaj Rana, a
business tycoon. Lovely Singh accompanies her to her campus, but ends up rubbing
her the wrong way with his over-protective nature ...and paranoia about
security. She finds him to be a major obstacle in leading a regular campus life.
To throw him off-track and get him out of the way, she comes up with a
`master-plan`- that of trapping him in a fake love affair. `Once he`s smitten by
the girl of his dreams and is reveling in his new-found romance, he will leave
us alone, and we shall be free to do our own thing unhindered`, says Divya to
her friends.
She becomes an anonymous admirer of his and starts hounding him, expressing her
`feelings` in no uncertain terms. Lovely Singh however proves to be a tough nut
to crack, and it takes quite a bit of doing from her side to penetrate his
fort-like exterior. But once she succeeds in doing so, he transforms into a
completely different person. Divya is triumphant and is all set to relish her
regained freedom.
But things take an unexpected turn when she learns a few things about Lovely
Singh. Things that she could`ve never even imagined! And she soon finds herself
trapped in a dilemma that she`s unable to resolve! And with her, soon enough,
Lovely Singh finds himself ensnared in a web of lies, trickery and deceit!
Bodyguard is the story of conflict- between innocence and mischief, love and
power and life and death!
