Salman Khan has done it again. Like a magician he has pulled
a rabbit out of the hat. ‘Bodyguard’ is Salman Khan’s third consecutive Eid
release, which had a record-breaking opening.
In a village called Jaisinghpur, there hails a rich man,
Sartaj Rana [Raj Babbar] who strives on to give justice to his fellow
villagers. Years ago, this person had saved his faithful bodyguard’s wife from
an accident in the state of pregnancy. Thus, the bodyguard’s son, Lovely Singh
[Salman Khan] who also grows up to be a bodyguard is highly indebted to Sartaj
Rana. Years later, Lovely Singh gets an opportunity to pay-back, when he gets
an assignment to work as a bodyguard to Rana’s daughter Divya [Kareena Kapoor],
as Rana suspects threat to his daughter’s life. Divya’s best friend Maya [Hazel
Keech] also stays with her (however it’s not clear if she is being abandoned by
her family).
Divya and Maya are annoyed with the bodyguard constantly
following them, and with his tough work-out schedules. Hence Divya plays a
prank and begins a fake love story by anonymously calling him on his cell
phone. Eventually bodyguard Lovely Singh falls prey to the prank and falls in
love with this anonymous girl. Needless to say what happens next?
The movie starts like a typical ‘Salman Khan’ film, with Salman’s
entry executed through a song, a weird dance step (this time flexing his
biceps) and a punch line. The action scenes are a visual treat, and look to
challenge Rajni Kant and Spiderman. Pritam as the guest music director in ‘I
Love You’ is great. Himesh Reshammiya’s music in ‘Teri Meri’ is superb. Rest
all songs can be easily chopped off.
Majority of the movie is quite predictable, and thankfully no
slapstick comedy. The mood of the story is action and romance with light-hearted
comedy. The climax of the movie is a notch better than the rest, which brings back
the memories of DDLJ and KKHH.
Raj Babbar was the most appropriate actor to play Sartaj
Rana, and plays the role well. Kareena Kapoor as Divya is also good, even though
she had no scope to show any exceptional performance. Rajat Rawail as Tsunami brings in a few laughs. Rest of the cast is passable. The soul of the movie is
Salman Khan. Salman Khan as Bodyguard Lovely Singh is macho, stylish and a
larger-than-life character. In the majority of the scenes, the ruthless aggression
in the eyes is portrayed to near perfection.
The verdict: don’t have high expectations. As an entire
package, the movie is average with a mass appeal (and not class). The action would
entertain you if you are blessed with the ability to keep your brains at home. Slightly
a better effort as compared to other Salman Khan movies like ‘Ready’.
Highly recommended if you are a die hard Salman Khan fan.
My Rating: **1/2
My Reality Check: *
