Oh Brother!
For no discernable reason, Manoj Bajpayee wants to brand himself a “desi superstar,” and the way to do that, apparently, is to do a revenge film, that kind every action star from Amitabh Bachchan to Sunny Deol to Ajay Devgn have done ad nauseam, not to mention stars from Southern cinema.
Anyway, his latest, Bhaiyya Ji—reportedly his 100th film– directed by Apoov Singh Karki (Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai), with Bajpayee’s backing (his wife is a producer), repackages him as a Robin Hood type of small town Bihari don, Ram Charan aka Bhaiyya Ji, whose weapon of choice is a shovel. He has retired from “goondagardi” (as a character says), and is about to get married, to national shooting champ, Mitali (Zoya Hussain), when he gets news of his brother Vedant’s (Akash Makhija’s) death.
When he reaches Delhi, with two loyal henchmen, he discovers Vedant was murdered by Abhimanyu (Jatin Goswami) the arrogant son of a UP don, Chandrabhan Singh (Suvinder Vicky). Not just that, they cremated his body, so all Bhaiyya Ji gets are his ashes. In a scene so predictable, because it has been seen so often, his grief-stricken stepmother (Bhagirathi Bai) accuses him of not caring enough because Vedant was his half brother.
In a dramatic scene—one of the many that the film throws up and fritters away without adequate follow up– Bhaiyya Ji tears up his no-more-violence pledge to his later father—and decides on vengeance. The family crest –a brass lion—is paraded through the town and slammed on several desks, but fearsome reputation doesn’t mean anything to Chandrabhan. One of his sidekicks, who is literally blown back by an imaginary storm, tells him what Bhaiyya Ji used to be in over-excited words.
Chandrabhan, who is often framed before a giant portrait of a hawk, is astonished to find Bhaiyya Ji in his haveli, followed by all the men of the village, including five senile oldies, whose enthusiasm for the ensuing battle is not utilized enough for its built-in humour. When Abhimanyu is not handed over to him, Bhaiyya Ji promises “narsanghar” (carnage) and then spends a large chunk of the film, lying in bed with a gunshot wound, as his two buddies and gun-toting fiancé protect him from Chandrabhan’s army!
A film with a one-line plot, needed a lot more pizzazz, whistle-worthy dialogue, and a large-than-life, invincible protagonist. Karki makes a Rajinikanth kind of actioner (Bhaiyya Ji fights with a bidi in his mouth) but with a realistic soul, and falls between two boats. There is a lot of slo-mo striding and tossing of gamchhas, but no evidence that this man was born with a “bagh ka kaleja” as the terrific Manoj Tiwari number informs. His past exploits are just spoken of with awe, but not seen enough to build up Bhaiyya Ji to mythical heights. This one is too grungy looking to be properly mainstream, and not down-to-earth like those Bhojpuri entertainers either, the kind that made stars out of Manoj Tiwari and Ravi Kishan.
Bhagirathi Bai, channelling an inner Raakhee, with National School of Drama style acting, actually manages to steal a few scenes. Suvinder Vicky’s talent is wasted in a cardboard villain role. Manoj Bajpayee should have realized by now, that he has a special gift, that should not be frittered on run-of-the-mill films.
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)
