Jai Ho
Direction: Sohail Khan
Actors: Salman Khan, Daisy Shah, Danny Denzongpa
Rating: **1/2
In all honesty, I’m confused about how to evaluate Jai Ho. Because it’s not a film. It’s a cartoon. So, to point out that the story is laughably ridiculous or that the characterisation has no depth seems churlish. After all, you can’t go to see a cartoon and then complain about its disconnect with reality.
Since Salman Khan is his own franchise, all you can do is ask — is this a worthy installment in the cult of the star who functions as the archetypal angry young man, without any of the complexities or nuances of his 1970s predecessor?
Read: Jai Ho is strictly for Salman Khan fans
He is the superman aam aadmi who, despite a bullet in his shoulder and a knife in his back, rips off his shirt, shows us his rippling muscles, and then pulverizes the bad guy. And we applaud, grateful for his super-sized presence and the comforting knowledge that no matter how difficult or miserable our lives are, at least on screen, he will fix everything.
Jai Ho is better than Bodyguard and Ready but nowhere close to Dabangg. An official remake of the Telugu film, Stalin, Jai Ho has Salman playing Jai, an ex-army office and all around do-gooder. Tabu is his upright sister. Jai’s big idea is to pay it forward — that is, when someone does something good for you, you do the same for three more people who do it for three more, thereby creating a chain of good deeds. Of course, standing in Jai’s way is an army of assorted villains. There are so many actors crammed into this film that you almost start playing a game of guess who will pop up next.
Read:After Jai Ho, Arbaaz and Sohail to direct films sans Salman
Jai Ho is better than Bodyguard and Ready but nowhere close to Dabangg. An official remake of the Telugu film, Stalin, Jai Ho has Salman playing Jai, an ex-army office and all around do-gooder. Tabu is his upright sister. Jai’s big idea is to pay it forward — that is, when someone does something good for you, you do the same for three more people who do it for three more, thereby creating a chain of good deeds. Of course, standing in Jai’s way is an army of assorted villains. There are so many actors crammed into this film that you almost start playing a game of guess who will pop up next.
Read:After Jai Ho, Arbaaz and Sohail to direct films sans Salman
But make no mistake — Jai Ho is wholly and solely powered by Salman. He romances, roars, sings songs, gives speeches, wipes tears and, of course, eventually takes off his shirt.
Does his Incredible Hulk-sized charisma falter? No. Was I expecting anything different? No. Is this a film? No.