‘BHOLAA’ REVIEW | 30 March, 2023

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T-Series Films, Ajay Devgn FFilms, Reliance Entertainment and Dream Warrior Pictures’ Bholaa (UA) is the story of a convict who has been set free after many years and is now excited that he would be meeting his daughter for the first time ever.

Bholaa (Ajay Devgan) is an extremely brave man who is on the wrong side of law. He marries a doctor but is jailed when his past catches up with him. During his jail term, his wife (Amala Paul) delivers their child, a baby girl, but soon dies. Bholaa’s daughter, Jyoti (Hirva Samir Trivedi), is being brought up in an orphanage. Even as Bholaa is so looking forward to meeting his daughter for the first time ever, he is asked by police officer Diana (Tabu) to drive a truck full of police officers to hospital as they have all been poisoned and would die if they don’t receive medical care within a few hours. Even this task is not easy because there is an entire army of villains who want to stop the truck from reaching the hospital and also wants to kill Diana who is travelling in the same truck which Bholaa is driving. Diana has confiscated drugs worth crores of rupees, belonging to the villains, and has also put those transporting the drugs, behind bars. The villains swear revenge, want to secure the freedom of their men and, of course, want the drugs back. The daredevil Bholaa not only transports the truckload of doctors to where medical care is available but also ensures the safety of Diana by fighting and eliminating the army of villains. But does Bholaa survive the ordeal? Does he finally meet his daughter?

The film is the official remake of Tamil Kaithi. The story and original screenplay have been penned by Lokesh Kanagraj. It is an interesting story which has an arresting emotional track of the father and daughter. Even the track of the police officer’s fight against the drug dealers is interesting. The adapted screenplay, written by Ankush Singh, Aamil Keeyan Khan, Shridhar Rajyash Dubey and Sandeep Kewlani, is both, engaging and engrossing. The multiple tracks on which the drama moves keeps the audience hooked. The track of hawaldar Yadav (Sanjay Mishra) and four college students is wonderful. Here, it must be added that the writers have not cared to explain the background of Devraj (Gajraj Rao), who is monitoring the movement of the truck, or things like how Bholaa’s wife passed away, which leave the viewers dissatisfied.

The writers very intelligently switch lanes and move the drama on multiple tracks simultaneously, thereby not letting boredom creep in at any stage. What’s also interesting is that the various tracks are inter-related and hence the story as a whole moves forward, whatever the track. The emotional track of the father and daughter is heart-rending. The action-filled climax, like the rest of the action scenes, is gruesome and very, very violent, and several action scenes are grotesque. This will limit the appeal of the film as ladies and family audience will find it difficult to sit through so much of violence.

Dialogues, written by the four writers, are good but the lack of punch-packed and clapworthy dialogues is felt.

Ajay Devgan lives the role of Bholaa. He is firebrand in action scenes and first-rate in emotional scenes. The scene in which he asks Diana how he should start conversing with his daughter moves the audience to tears. Tabu is outstanding as police inspector Diana. She shines in action scenes as well as she does in performance-oriented ones. Her back story, showing her softer side, is lovely. Amala Paul is good in a special appearance as Bholaa’s wife. Deepak Dobriyal is outstanding in the role of Ashu. His get-up is nice, and his performance is just too good. Sanjay Mishra does a mind-blowing job as hawaldar Yadav. Vineet Kumar is menacing in the role of Nithari. Amir Khan is pretty endearing in the role of Kadchi. He is a very natural actor and provides some entertaining moments along with Bholaa. Tarun Gehlot looks handsome and acts ably as Raunak. Arpit Ranka makes his mark as Bhoora. His physique is lovely. Gajraj Rao springs a lovely surprise in the role of Devraj. His support is terrific. Makrand Deshpande leaves a mark as the prisoner. Mukund Ramesh Pal, Chetan Sharma, Deepali Gautam and Priyank Tiwary lend extraordinary support as the college students who aid hawaldar Yadav inside the police station. Lokesh Mittal (as Deep Singh who keeps giving information from the truck, to the villains) makes a lovely impression. Hirva Samir Trivedi is cute as Jyoti. Kiran Kumar (as IG of police) is good. Bachcan Pachera leaves a fine mark as the guard at the orphanage. Abhishek Bachchan adds star value and intrigue value in a tiny special appearance, suggesting that he would be part of the film’s sequel. Akhilesh Mishra has his moments as the supervising police officer (Arpit Mishra) at the police station in the beginning. Sima Pari (as the teacher at the orphanage), Arzoo Soni (as Rachna), Jyoti Gauba (as Dr. Surbhi), Laxmi Raibagi (as the item girl in the song-dance sequence) and the others are adequate.

Ajay Devgan’s direction is appealing. His narration is convincing. Having said that, it must be added that by showing excessive bloodshed and gore, he has limited the film’s appeal which could’ve otherwise been universal. Ravi Basrur’s music is good but not super-hit. The Nazar lag jaayegi song is very melodious and is the best number. Some other songs also offer melody. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are very weighty. Ganesh Acharya’s choreography is eye-pleasing. Ravi Basrur’s background music is effective but too loud and overpowering, so much so that the dialogues in some scenes become difficult for the audience to comprehend. Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography is extraordinary. Ramzan Bulut and R.P. Yadav’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling and exciting but ought to have been less gruesome (for the women and family audience). Production designing (by Sujeet Subhash Sawant and Sriram Kannan Iyengar) is of a fine standard. Dharmendra Sharma’s editing is sharp.

On the whole, Bholaa is a well-made film with its heart in the right place. But if it still does not do hit business and stops at the above-average level, it will be because it has limitations as far as its appeal is concerned. Womenfolk, children and family audience will not like the film as much as the masses and the menfolk. Also, since it is a remake and because a lot of people have already seen Kaithi, business will be adversely affected on this count also.

Released on 30-3-’23 at Regal (daily 4 shows), Inox (daily 11 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: excellent, quantitatively speaking; fair, qualitatively speaking (the dialogues in the trailer were not clearly audible). Opening: fair at places, dull at others. But collections are bound to pick up as the day progresses. …….Also released all over. Opening ranged from below the mark to fair.