Reliance Entertainment, Eros International and Phantom’s Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (ua) is, as the title suggests, a superhero film. However, the superhero does not have superpowers as in many other superhero films.
Siku or Sikandar Khanna (Harshvardhan Kapoor), Bhavesh Joshi (Priyanshu Painyuli) and Rajat (Ashish Verma) are close friends who decide to raise their voice against corruption. They post videos of theirs on the Internet, with their faces covered, uncovering corrupt government officers. Soon, they begin to unearth the manipulations of the water mafia. Private water suppliers, working in cahoots with the authorities, fill their coffers by selling the water meant for the public for free, after creating a water shortage.
Soon, the corrupt police officers, department officers and the water mafia people have Bhavesh Joshi killed because he is at the forefront of the expose. Guilty about being a silent spectator towards the end, while his friend, Bhavesh, fought to expose corruption, Siku now takes it upon himself to avenge his bosom pal’s murder and expose the rot that has spread in the water mafia scam.
Masked to hide his identity, Siku operates under the name of his dead friend and spreads terror amongst the water mafia. The mafia kingpin, Rana (Nishikant Kamat), and the other corrupt officers are at their wits’ end to understand who this Bhavesh Joshi is who is exposing their evil deeds and themselves. By the by, Siku alias Bhavesh Joshi realises that the water mafia is planning something terrible.
What is the mafia’s plan? Is Siku able to abort it? Does he succeed in exposing the water mafia?
Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Koranne have penned a story in a fashion which makes it appear childish. Besides, the concept of water mafia will not be understood universally. The audiences in the big cities will be able to comprehend the concept of water mafia but the same may not be true for other places. Again, the issue of water mafia has been dealt with in a way that it would appear as if the water mafia is capable of exploding nuclear bombs and annihilating all living beings on earth!
The trio’s screenplay is as shoddy as the story. There is not a single scene which offers thrill or excitement to the viewers. Besides, the pace of the drama is so slow that it actually gets on the viewers’ nerves and tests their patience. Another major drawback is that the one playing the superhero (Harshvardhan Kapoor) is yet to be accepted as a hero by the public! After the disastrous fate of his debut film, Mirzya, to cast Harshvardhan Kapoor as a superhero (never mind that he has no superpowers in the film) is rather ridiculous because it rests on the belief that the paying public would accept as a superhero, someone who is yet to be accepted as a hero!!
The audience’s sympathy never really goes to Siku because his character is far from endearing. The screenplay only complicates matters because despite the noble work of the three friends, the public is shown to be against them – never mind if this public sentiment is manipulated by interested people. Of course, there are no genuine well-wishers visible because nobody knows who the three friends are, due to their hidden identities. This kiddish behaviour of the three friends is one more example of the kiddish scripting by the trio. A film with this kind of a subject ought to have inspired a feeling of pride and patriotism in the viewers but that simply doesn’t happen. Even the climax fails to give the audience a feeling of achievement or purpose. The trio’s dialogues are dull. There’s one scene between Siku and friend Rajat, in which the latter reminds the former that he (Siku) is not a hero; and Siku replies that he knows it that he (Siku) is not a hero. This dialogue rings true for the actor playing Siku, in real life – because, as mentioned above, Harshvardhan Kapoor has not yet been accepted as a hero, by the public.
Harshvardhan Kapoor is a fairly good actor and acts reasonably well but his performance just does not have any impact because the character and role needed an actor with a fantastic hero image. Also, Harshvardhan Kapoor should understand that he needs to look good, handsome and desirable for him to become a darling of the masses. Like in his debut film, he looks unkempt and often unclean in this film, which will prove detrimental to his own career. Realistic looks, with cuts and knashes on his face, can wait till after he finds acceptance! Shreiyah Sabharwal gets hardly any scope in the role of Sneha. Her performance is ordinary. Priyanshu Painyuli is good as Bhavesh Joshi. Ashish Verma shines as Rajat, with a supremely natural performance. Nishikant Kamat, as Rana, makes an impact in a long speech he makes towards the end. Pratap Phad has his moments as Patil. Chinmayee Mandlekar leaves a lovely mark as Jadhav. Hrishikesh Joshi (as Mhatre), Pabitra Rabha (as Thapa), Suhas Palshikar (as Barve), Harsh Vardhan (as the passport policeman), Ganesh Divekar (as the constable), Ashish Warang (as the beat chowky policeman) and the rest provide fair support.
Vikramaditya Motwane’s direction is below the mark. He has simply failed to bring the thrill element into the superhero story. Also, his narration is slow-paced when it should’ve been racy. Another flaw in his direction is that he has not made a single protagonist’s character so endearing or likeable that the public would root for him or feel bad in times of his misery. Music (Amit Trivedi) is a mixed bag. The ‘Chyawanprash’ song is appealing whereas the other songs are ordinary. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are nice. Uma-Gaiti’s choreography is fair. Amit Trivedi’s background music is ordinary. Siddharth Diwan’s cinematography is okay. Action scenes, composed by Cyril Raffaelli, Sebastian Seveau and Vikram Dahiya, are alright but not very thrilling. Aditya Kanwar’s production designing is so-so. Bunty Bhansali’s editing is loose.
On the whole, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero is such a disastrous fare that it will be rejected outright by the audience.