Bang Bang Movie Review: Rides On Strong Action

A popcorn affair that gives a wholesome fun ride with cars, guns, chases, dance, music and some exotic locales abound, Bang Bang delivers exactly what it promises. The film was widely publicized as an unabashed action tale and this is what one gets to see, what with an item sequence set every 15 minutes.

This means if Hrithik steps out for a lunch break, he encounters criminals. If he sets his foot on a blind date, even if by a coincidence, it has to conclude with broken furniture. If he takes a ride on a road of Shimla, there are bound to be car blasts on the way. If he is near an island, he would shoot while jumping in and out of water, if he is being dragged on a road, he would settle for nothing less than a F1 car to beat the folks around.

Heck, if he steps into a Pizza Hut outlet, expect even the man behind the counter to feel threatened.

That's the story of his life, and unlike Knight and Day where there was some suspense element around the central protagonist's true self, there is nothing like that for Hrithik Roshan. It is all plain and simple; he is out to catch hold of the bad guys while figuring out if there is anyone worth his trust. Well, there is one person he finds, a-Bettie-who-could-be-Veronica, in the form of Katrina Kaif. She is a sort of girl who is okay for a blind date to be set, as long as she doesn't have to put her picture on the website, share her hobbies only as singing and dancing while explaining her work profile as Bank Receptionist.

Plain and simple!

Well, this is how Katrina's characterization too plays on the screen and while it is always an eye candy to watch the young woman on the big screen, courtesy her picture perfect look, the build up towards her meeting with Hrithik takes its own sweet time. So unlike a supremely exciting Tom-meeting-Cameron sequence set at an airport in the very first few minutes of the original, there is a Bollywood twist to the proceedings with the characters discovering love a la Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where there is a role reversal of sorts with Hrithik explaining the relevance of living life 'aaj' rather than 'kal'.

Well, this is no Aashiqui 3 and hence one really wishes to move on with the film. Especially when the start was perfect with Danny Denzongpa getting some 'deshbkhati' dose, courtesy Jimmy Sheirgill (in a cameo) before getting on with the evil business. It is just that you wish Hrithik to get on with the job but quite some time is spent in the likes of 'Tu Meri' and 'Uff' - both well picturised/composed songs though, which makes one a little restless in the wait for some Bang Bang.

Thankfully, after around 30-40 minutes of Bollywoodisation of the original, the core of the film - action - takes over entirely and from this point on there is no looking back. With the likes of Pawan Malhotra and Jaaved Jaaferi (I wanted to see more of him) running after Hrithik's life from warring ends, there is some unrelenting action that sets in which makes the film speak loud for what it is worth. Each and every action set piece is good to watch and the interval point is set well too.

Moreover, what works is the fact when in the second half, director Siddharth Anand doesn't meander at all and keeps the action quotient uninterrupted. This is also the time when Katrina ceases to be 'boring' (as she calls herself as a character), hence enlivening the proceedings. The banter exchanged between them is good fun while the bits around some true-blue family moments (courtesy Deepti Naval and Kanwaljit Singh) are sweet, simple and short as well.

With the graph of the film going up on this side after the interval, the pre-climax and climax prove to be further highlights as some never-seen-before action takes over. This is what makes for a big screen watch as it is an experience indeed with the perfect combination of sound, visuals and style.

As Hrithik and Katrina have stated in many a conversation before, Bang Bang was meant to be a fun film that was also one of the easiest to be done. Well, this is indeed true because the film doesn't quite require any of its characters to bring on some massive histrionics on screen (by virtue of its 'let's-just-entertain' quotient). Still, the film has its popcorn-cola element to it which makes one enjoy the ride while it lasts.