Bharat Movie Review: Terrible Jokes And Punishing Length Apart, Bharat Is An Emotional Film That Might Connect With The Audiences

• Reviews
• Updated:June 12, 2019 09:51 IST

• Authors: Avipsha Sengupta (Editorial Team)
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The thing with Salman Khan films are you do not get inside the theater expecting a cinematic masterpiece. Especially when it is Salman Khan and Ali Abbas Zafar, one expects popcorn entertainment through and through.

The problem with Bharat is it is a strange mish-mash of Ali Abbas Zafar’s sensibilities with Sooraj Barjatya’s family drama and the product is somewhat convoluted. The first half of Bharat is emotional, dramatic and engaging in all the right doses. The unnecessary gags could be a major deterrent to some sensibilities, but it floats. You invest into the characters and the partition bits not only remind you of Gadar but evoke genuine emotions. Personally speaking, I cried during those scenes. The emotion and trauma of partition is well captured and Zafar deserves credit for that.

Interestingly, you see a glimpse of all Ali Abbas Zafar films inside Bharat. The partition bit is very akin to Gunday, Salman Khan working in the Gulf oil fields is straight from Tiger Zinda Hai and there is a shot of Salman Khan pulling a heavy wheel-barrow that will instantly remind you of Sultan. But somehow it all works. Yes, it tries to force inspiration down your throat and Salman Khan sings the National Anthem in employment exchange, but even then you let it be. We have come to not expect nuances when it comes to Salman Khan films.

Salman as Bharat taking the responsibility of his family is reminiscent of Prem in Sooraj Barjatya’s family universe. But the character also tries to accommodate Salman Khan in it thus we end up with someone who goes from Prem to Tiger in a matter of scenes. But such nuances can be compromised if the mainstream masala being served manages to hold my attention and in the entire first half, it does so.

The raita spreads in the second half and it spreads real bad. The jokes are not only misplaced and annoying but also incredibly inappropriate and in a particular scene embarrassingly racist. However, there is one bit where you realize how similar Sunil Grover looks to Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and its quite a revelation.

Talking about the performances, it is, expectedly, a Salman Khan show through and through. He performs and emotes to the best of his abilities and is surprisingly good in a couple of emotional scenes. One when he proposes to Katrina for the first time and one during the climax. But the character of Bharat is a little dicey. The man here is so obsessed with the promise he made to his father that he constantly puts his best friend’s life in danger and honestly is a pretty selfish lover. Talking about the love story, it has a bit of layer which is surprisingly mature for a Salman Khan film. Katrina Kaif as the spunky Kumud Raina gets her moments and has had a better deal than most heroines in Salman Khan films. Also, the whole vintage look really suits her and she literally lits up the screen every time she is on it. But there is something weirdly long about her dialogue delivery.

Sunil Grover as Vilayati (yes Bharat’s best friend’s name is Vilayati and he calls Bharat ‘bharatiya’) is bumbling and funny and is a friend we all need in life. Poor things is repeatedly dragged by Bharat into life-threatening situations sometimes despite his protests. But then again he gets to romance a super hot Nora Fatehi so that’s fine I guess.

One of the biggest issue of the film having actors like Kumud Mishra and Shashank Arora who are not even given two proper scenes.

But all of those issues fade into oblivion when the biggest villain of the film comes to the forefront. The length of the film is punishingly long. Even in first half certain sequences are stretched for too long and in the entire second half the pacing is so dismal that by the time you reach the main emotional part of the story, you are too exhausted to care.  It literally felt like we have been sitting in the theatre for 70 years. Honestly, 2.5 hours is not a terrible length but it is the pacing and shoddy screenplay that makes the film feel like its never-ending.

Ali Abbas Zafar sets out to make almost six films together in one and only a couple of them works. The solid screenplay that was needed to hold these spinning tales spanning over 6 decades is clearly beyond the capacity of most screenwriters and definitely, Ali Abbas Zafar and Varun V Sharma are not those people.

There are bits where you see the film that Ali Abbas Zafar probably set out to make but then Salman Khan happens!

It is Eid, there is a  Salman Khan film in theatres and we are Bollywood fans, so not watching Bharat might just give you some FOMO, so maybe watch it but exit after the interval. Honestly, that’s best you can do to the film and to yourself.