BOLLYWOOD | Film Review
Chaotic Dash: Bullett Raja
Directed by: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Produced by: Rahul Mittra, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Tigmanshu Dhulia
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Shergill, Chunky Pandey, Ravi Kishan, Gulshan Grover and Vidyut Jamwal
Music by: Sajid-Wajid
Review by: Joginder Tuteja
Rating: ** (Mediocre)
(Above): Saif Ali Khan in “Bullett Raja.”
Bullett Raja is a classic case of two movies rolled into one. If first half of the film is as close to Sholay as it can be while establishing camaraderie between two friends, the second half turns into an extended revenge tale that goes into all sorts of tangents.
This turns out to be surprising, as filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia had so much to play around with, but somehow all the interesting characters aren’t really explored to the limit despite being fleshed out so well.
Eventually, the culmination isn’t the kind that had seemed like the end goal to begin with.
(Above): Sonakshi Sinha in “Bullett Raja.”
Bullett Raja proceeds like a bullet indeed which doesn’t really slow down despite making a ‘killing’ at multiple junctures. There is so much happening in such quick time and the narrative is relentless. You enjoy the play of the game with dosti, dushmani, wafaadari, aur pyaar being served in good doses. You nod in agreement as a dozen odd characters, each one interesting enough to hold your attention, is introduced in as seamless manner as possible.
(Spoilers ahead) Right from Saif Ali Khan meeting Jimmy Sheirgill, an interesting dosti that develops, the enmity between Sharat Saxena and Vishwajeet Pradhan, the betrayal of Chunky Pandey, a cross-dresser killer Ravi Kissen, the predicament of senior politician Raj Babbar, the crossroad situation of senior cop Deepraj Rana and the business demands of Gulshan Grover makes Bullett Raja one of the most interesting collage of characters since Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkaar.
(Above): Sonakshi Sinha and Saif Ali Khan in “Bullett Raja.”
Oh yes, Vipin Sharma is around too and knows well enough how to eat up everyone around him in the shortest possible scenes.
Meanwhile, Sonakshi Sinha, despite the unbelievable character manages to hold on to a scene.
So far so good, as the drama continues to soar even as Saif and Jimmy keep the smiles on with their bandook-goli jugalbandi. However, when possibly 20-30 minutes more could have resulted in a satisfying culmination of Bullett Raja, the interval card flashes with over an hour being spent to bring the film towards end credit rolls.
(Above): A scene from “Bullett Raja.”
Political conspiracy, though interesting in principle, doesn’t quite cover the distance while introduction of a new character, a dabangg cop (Vidyut Jamwal), hardly adds anything to the plot.
Right from a forced Chambal sequence, to Saif and Sonakshi’s visit to Kolkata, to the song that follows, to the badla (revenge) on the ghats (waterfront), to the encounter that follows — none of that really adds up to what Bullett Raja stood for at the beginning.
As for the climax, it is the kind that Abbas-Mustan would have liked to pass on to their students many moons ago.
(Above): Saif Ali Khan and Jimmy Shergill in “Bullett Raja.”
This is the reason why one’s heart goes out to the dosti saga where Saif got into a quintessential U.P. avatar with ease and Jimmy played his natural act in yet another well understood and enacted character all over again.
While for Sonakshi, a role like this could well be a walk in the park, every other character plays their part to perfection with Vipin being the best of the lot.
The right measure of each of these characters would have been optimal enough to make Bullett Raja a much more satiating affair than it eventually turns out to be.
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