Remaking old classics is the latest trend to hit Bollywood. This week will see the release of HERO (directed by Nikhil Advani), which is a remake of the Subhash Ghai’s 1983 cult film by the same name. Will Nikhil Advani’s HERO match the expectations that have been set by Subhash Ghai’s HERO or will it turn out to be a villain at the box-office, let’s analyze.
HERO starts off with a normal day in Mumbai, which is followed by the ‘heroic’ entry of Sooraj (Sooraj Pancholi) who is an extremely ‘large hearted’ ‘gunda’ who cannot see pains and sufferings. So, when the villainous Changezi (Chetan Hansraj) and his henchmen torture the helpless, Sooraj stages a heroic entry and beats the henchmen black and blue. Sooraj’s friends aka his ‘partners in crime’, who are dead against his large heartedness, convince him to go clubbing to celebrate. That’s when Sooraj meets the free spirited Radha (Athiya Shetty). It is in the club where Sooraj picks up a dance only in order to prove Radha that they are in no way ‘Losers’. He also lands up fighting with Radha’s ‘pile-on’ boyfriend and saves her from being dragged along with him. All of this impresses Radha very much and she almost falls in love with him instantly! On the other hand, Radha’s father (Tigmanshu Dhulia), an Inspector General of Police, is on a war path and loggerheads against Pasha (Aditya Pancholi), who has been imprisoned for being the mastermind in the killing of a journalist. Despite repeated attempts of requests and tortures (in that order), when Pasha refuses to budge, the IG declares that he has hardcore evidence against Pasha which will nail him forever. That’s when Pasha tells his ‘protege’ Sooraj to kidnap Radha, but keep her safely. Not the one to negate his ‘Baba’s’ (as Sooraj fondly calls Pasha) words, Sooraj immediately sets into action and disguises himself as a ‘police-escort’ and kidnaps Radha, takes her to a snow clad area. As time passes by, Sooraj and Athiya fall for each other. And when Athiya comes to know about Sooraj’s background, she convinces him to reform his life using the ‘Control+Alt+Delete’ formula and ‘Enter’ into a new life. Does Sooraj listen to his ladylove and surrender himself before the cops or will he listen to the call of his duty towards his ‘Baba’, does IG become successful in nailing Pasha forever, what ultimately happens to the lovebirds Sooraj and Radha and their love story is what forms the rest of the film.
Nikhil Advani, who had been handed over the responsibility of remaking the 1983’s cult classic film HERO (which was directed by Subhash Ghai), lands up making a irreparable remake in the form of his version of HERO. And the biggest and the main problem with HERO is its absolutely lame screenplay. While Subhash Ghai’s writing kept you interested right till the end, Nikhil Advani-Umesh Bisht’s screenplay in the remake is so convoluted (especially in the second half) that you are befuddled as to what exactly the objective behind making the film was. The story is more or less similar to the original. Without mincing any words here, it has to be HERO’s director Nikhil Advani who needs to shoulder all the blame for making an almost mash up of the original classic. Nikhil Advani’s last film D DAY was a highly critically acclaimed film. HERO is no patch on his last film. It is obvious that there were multiple minds working on cooking up this tasteless drama and the end result isn’t appetising.
In the acting department, even though there’s nothing much to appreciate; debutante Sooraj Pancholi has a nice screen presence and a solid physique. Though he carries only one expression throughout, he is reasonably good in the action scenes. One does notice that, in the film, his transformation from a local ruffian to a nice guy is totally missing. Athiya Shetty too is decent in her part but will need more time to find her comfort zone. Having said that, to be fair to the debutantes Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty, the duo have a nice screen presence but they have their limitations. Tigmanshu Dhulia, on the other hand, in an attempt to reprise Shammi Kapoor’s tough-dad-cop persona, is gloriously miscast. We all know that he is a fine actor, but he falters big time in the film. Sharad Kelkar as Athiya’s brother is decent. Aditya Pancholi as the villainous Pasha is average. Vivan Bhatena does a Shakti Kapoor and he holds a magnetic appeal.
The music of Subhash Ghai’s HERO was truly memorable. Each and every single song (even music pieces) are part of the collective consciousness of the movie loving audience. Music of Nikhil Advani’s HERO is a total let down. The only saving grace in the music department is the much publicised ‘Main Hoon Hero Tera’ sung by Armaan Malik, which is reasonably good, but is mostly used as a filler. And, then there’s the much talked about Salman Khan’s version of the same in the end (for his fans of course).
While Tushar Kanti Ray’s cinematography is good, Ritesh Soni’s editing is average. Ravi Varma and Dave Judge’s actions are one of the positive highlights of the film. Umesh Bisht’s dialogues are boring. The only dialogue that stands out is ‘Pyaar karne vaale kabhi darte nahin, jo darte hain vo pyaar karte nahin’ (which was anyways a part of the song in original HERO).
Nikhil Advani’s HERO has been aggressively marketed and no corners have been cut to ensure that the promotions reach all across. If only the same amount of passion was invested in writing a nice dramatic entertainer. All the hype may result in a somewhat decent start at the box office, but the word of mouth isn’t going to be flattering at all.
On the whole, HERO fails the litmus test of rehashing a classic for the Generation Next. It appeals in very small measures and is not an ideal weekend entertainer. If you are a die-hard Salman Khan fan, you may want to patronise, else avoid.
courtesy :http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/
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