Brothers
“BROTHERS” is pointless but a decent pastime!
With oodles of melodrama, slow proceedings, clichéd narrative and lack of depth, this film suffers from the usual flaws that have infested Bollywood for the longest time. But with a passable plot and some nicely choreographed fight sequences in the second half, the film ends up being an adequate one-time watch, at best.
Gary Fernandes (Jackie Shroff), a former alcoholic and street-fighter, returns home after serving a prison sentence to find that the wounds of the past still haunt his family. His two sons, David (Akshay Kumar) and Monty (Sidharth Malhotra), who parted ways as kids, are grown men now but are still bitterly estranged. As the story unfolds, we see the journey of these three men, as they seek to find redemption and healing. Meanwhile, the arrival of the biggest event in mixed martial arts history is announced in India. Both brothers end up enlisting and finally stand to face off with each other.
Director Karan Malhotra (Agneepath fame) continues with his fetish for remakes and this time chooses the highly acclaimed 2011 Hollywood film “Warrior”. Unlike the original, this film is pregnant with extreme melodrama making it a far inferior product by all means. The original, albeit slow, had the soul that listed it among the finest films of that year. This film, despite adopting almost everything from the plot of the original, fails to carry the emotional depth and narrative heft that’s extremely important in a film like this. In its effort to woo the masses, it puts in all the tricks that go into manipulating the less informed audience. A struggle, a tragedy, some irony and then some high-octane man-to-man action.
But to its credit, the film is never boring. It’s far from fine, but never unbearable. The first half gives you nothing apart from the intriguing you with the back-story of the family, but the second half somewhere makes up for it to an extent with some really impressive MMA fight sequences in the form of the fictitious first formal fighting tournament in India. Technically, this film is as good as Karan Malhotra’s debut film, and even the songs don’t interrupt the narrative. But it’s the soul that’s missing here. It’s superfluous in more ways than one.
The performances are adequate for the quality of cinema that’s at display here. Akshay Kumar brings in his usual fervour to the act, with full-blown drama and top-gear action. He gives just what he’s asked of in every scene. Sidharth Malhotra on the other hand somehow seems to be in disbelief of his character throughout. His dialogues are minimal and he hardly makes up for it with his expression intensity, making his performance totally underwhelming. Jackie Shroff is decent, Shefali Shah shines in a small role and Jacqueline is merely passable. All others, are tolerable.
In all, BROTHERS is a drag in the first half but decently engaging in the second. Without being irksome, this film manages to keep you hooked. Eventually, despite its sub-par content, it qualifies as a one-time watch. Expect nothing more!
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