3 Stars (out of 4)
Buy the DVD at Amazon
Buy the soundtrack at Amazon
I try not to prejudge a movie before I see it, but I was sure I wasn’t going to like Bol Bachchan. Based on the trailer and promotional poster, I expected nothing but tacky gay jokes and dumb, goofball comedy. I was pleased to discover that my fears were unfounded. Bol Bachchan is genuinely funny.
Mistaken identity comedies seem to be a dime a dozen in Bollywood, but few are executed as well as Bol Bachchan (which translates to “A Bundle of Lies,” according to the title track’s lyrics). It helps that the film has a good template to work from. It’s a remake of 1979’s Gol Maal, which is unrelated to the three Golmaal movies from the last decade, all directed by Bol Bachchan‘s director, Rohit Shetty.
Bol Bachchan‘s story concerns the unlucky fate of Abbas Ali (Abhishek Bachchan). When Abbas and his sister, Sania (Asin), lose their house in Delhi, a family friend named Shastri (Asrani) offers to get Abbas a job with his employer. The employer is Prithviraj (Ajay Devgn), the richest guy in a small town.
While on a sightseeing tour of town with Shastri’s actor son, Ravi (Krushna Abhishek), Abbas sees a boy fall into a walled-in reservoir. To save the boy, Abbas — a Muslim — breaks open the locked gate to a Hindu temple.
When Prithviraj arrives and demands details of the boy’s rescue, Ravi panics and introduces Abbas with a made-up Hindu name: Abhishek Bachchan. Since there’s nothing tough-guy Prithviraj hates more than a liar, the lies about Abbas’ identity snowball until he winds up with multiple fake mothers and a pretend identical twin named Abbas Ali.
Some background knowledge of Hindi cinema is helpful for understanding some of the jokes — such as the fact that the Abhishek Bachchan is the name of both Abbas’ fake identity and the real actor playing him — but it’s not essential. References to the original Gol Maal are woven in nicely to the new film as a way to move the action forward, not just for nostalgia’s sake. For example, Prithviraj’s sidekick, Maakhan (Neeraj Vora), becomes suspicious of Abhishek after he sees a pertinent scene from Gol Maal on television.
The film’s PG rating is well-deserved. The kids in the audience at my showing laughed in all the right places, particularly at Prithviraj’s repeated mangling of English sayings, such as: “A brother in need is a sister indeed.”
I read an interview with director Shetty in which he said that he includes car-stunts in his films because he knows kids like them. The reactions of the kids at my showing prove that quality writing is just as important. There are plenty of movies with better stunts than the ones in Bol Bachchan — a van full of people is suddenly (and obviously) empty when it launches over a ramp — so they only serve to pad the film’s runtime unnecessarily.
The song-and-dance numbers are similarly forgettable filler material. The songs themselves lack pep, and the choreography suffers as a result.
Only one dance number stands out: Bachchan’s performance as Abhishek’s pretend gay identical twin, “Abbas.” In his audition to be the classical dance instructor for Prithviraj’s sister, Radhika (Prachi Desai), Abbas writhes mock-seductively, repulsing — and in one case, enticing — Prithviraj’s henchmen. It’s really funny, and not as tacky or offensive as I feared it could be.
Bachchan’s performance on the whole is very strong, as is Devgn’s. I think both actors are at their best in comic roles, and their performances in Bol Bachchan confirm my feelings. Neeraj Vora and Krushna Abhishek are also entertaining in their supporting roles. Sadly, there’s little for either of the female leads to do apart from act virtuous and mildly annoyed at Abbas’/Abhishek’s antics.
Links
- Bol Bachchan at Wikipedia
- Bol Bachchan at IMDb
- Gol Maal at Wikipedia
- My review of Golmaal Returns
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Good to know my review gave you hope and very good to know you liked it as well 🙂 Well written, as always. And I fully agree with your opening para. I had the same feeling. Due to this, I commented in your previous post that I am not watching. I am so glad I took a chance.
Cheers 🙂
You had even more reason to fear, Keyur, because you’re such a fan of Gol Maal. I’m glad things worked out well for both of us!
Hahaha! Yes, I had more reasons to fear. You said it right – it worked out well 🙂 But many people over here have hated Bol Bachchan because they feel it has insulted their favorite Gol Maal.
By the way, this song promo of Ek Tha Tiger was released around 2-3 hours back – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4BiCOIWNC8 Not bad.
Cheers 🙂
That song promo is great! I love the distinctive costumes for all of the backup dancers. Again, I’m trying not to prejudge, but Ek Tha Tiger looks awesome.
Yes, it looks very promising. But still I am not excited for this one due to the acting skills of the lead pair. Let’s hope for the best 🙂
surprise surprise… Kathy liked bol bachchan. My prediction gone wrong this time. U didnt like action in this movie? I like rohit’s action. No cgi real stunts n cars n buses blowing. Ya one thing, he uses too much slow motion in fight scene. The movie is colorful like his previous movies n ajay is superb . All my frnd loved ajay. ‘boy under armpit n hyper city noise pollution.’
I’m glad we finally found a comedy that we both enjoy, TS! I know you give me a hard time for expecting comedies to make logical sense, but Bol Bachchan proves why it’s important. It’s funny and silly without being stupid. Ajay’s deadpan expressions and theatrical dialog delivery are so much funnier than if he spent the whole movie running around and screaming.
You’re right, the fight scenes used too much slow motion. The car stunts were okay, but I didn’t like that they just rolled empty cars over ramps. At one point, Maakhan and two other henchmen are in a van. When it launches over a ramp and flips, the van is empty. In the next shot, the van is laying on the ground, and Maakhan and the henchmen climb out. Rohit Shetty needed to put stuntmen in the van when it went over the ramp, or at the very least, crash dummies or mannequins. His movies make a ton of money, so why be cheap in a scene that is supposed to be so impressive?
hmm. U r rite. I remember one more funny dialogue ” Necessity is the mother of Discovery Channel” But rohit has shot better action scenes in earlier movies. have u seen All the best?? It has one has one of the best car stunts. I will post youtube link of the video later. anyway next is cocktail. U know today i read a funny tweet by someone about cocktail. Its ” Cocktail looks like such a cute movie about two daughters and their dad” . I think its true. Saif with his beard n those actresses half his age certainly looks their dad. He is good looking he should shave. What r ur expectations from cocktail?
“Cocktail looks like such a cute movie about two daughters and their dad.” That’s so funny! Since Aamir Khan and Salman Khan are still playing college students even though they’re almost 50, Saif wooing women in their mid-twenties doesn’t seem so outrageous. I’m looking forward to Cocktail, though I won’t be able to see it until Monday.
Reader TS pointed out this Hollywood Reporter review of Bol Bachchan:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bol-bachchan-movie-review-bollywood-films-346234
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