Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty starrer Hero is a dumb, dated, snoozefest. The best thing about the film is its last scene, partly because you are so relieved that the turmoil is over and obviously because you have Salman Khan wooing you with his antics. There is something unusually irresistible about him. His brashness is endearing and his swagger comes naturally to him. He looks easy doing the stuff he does. Parallely, our male debutant in the film, has been instructed to ape most of Bhai's enchanting trademark mannerisms. No wonder, Sooraj looks like a lost parrot, who went wrong in mugging up and now can't remember his lines(from the holy rulebook).Sadly, his face gives away all his nervousness and he looks baffled, trying way too hard. Though undoubtedly earnest, Sooraj has a challenging, cumbersome journey ahead. Athiya is definitely more confident than Sooraj, but suffers from a badly written character which portrays her as a bimbette.
So do we write off these new entrants because of their unimpressive first film? No way! Despite all what's wrong with them and their characters, Sooraj and Athiya are the most appealing debutants of recent times. Sooraj, with his penchant for action and flair for dance, is both flawed and lovable. His precious smile is sure to get girls swooning over him. Athiya is unusually strong, trying to bring out the best from a character that has little merit. You really want to invest your heart in these newbies but somewhere in middle of this mediocre script, you lose your zeal to hoot for them.The film exhausts you with all the nonsense it narrates.
The foremost bone of contention is the archaic plotline where heroes are props for amusement, who indulge in tomfoolery more than daredevilry and are overdrawn, muttering overenthusiastic dialogues which are straight from the days of yore. With a damsel-in-distress in tow, Sooraj (who plays Sooraj) kidnaps a senior police officer's daughter, who (mind you...) for the longest time has no clue that she has been kidnapped. She drinks with her captor, drools at his chiselled body and fantasizes about him. The scenes which are meant to establish and further their chemistry are wasted in unnecessary songs that randomly pop in without context. People are shot, attacked, the lovers stage a monumental bridge stunt, Sooraj literally comes back from the dead, but songs go on and the two dance their way through the chaos. A noteworthy point here would be, that though music is the film's biggest selling point,doesn't necessarily mean you kill your audience with an overdose of it. The memorable music will hardly be remembered as a good recollection from this film.
Nikhil has retained most of Subhash Ghai's plot, giving the press balderdash about how he has 'contemporarised' the film. Our reaction : Hardly... Considering Sooraj sports a gamcha styled bandana on his head and a leather jacket from the 80s, and has a love scene which adopts a holier-than-thou attitude, the film reeks of awkwardness.
The only saving grace is its remarkable action and stunning visuals. Shot delicately, with nifty orchestration of stunts, those are the only two departments that can vouch for Advani's keen sense of aesthetics.
It is one of those all-action, all-music, nothing-else breed of films. When there is no song-and-dance and no-action, there is a lull. And if you are a fan of logic, then there is even more for you to crib about. For instance one of the most crucial scenes in the film is more hilarious than intense. A psycho puts a knife through Sooraj, who still pummels his opponents to pulp, and then survives to give a sappy speech about love and longing. Of course superman doesn't need hospitals to fix dagger wounds. Blimey! There are some things best left to Salman Khan.
Story-wise, the plot is a loopy disaster, illogical with foolish dialogues to salvage its case. At one point, we are thrown back in time when Madhuri gave us a lecture on the commercial phenomenon called Valentine's Day in 1997's Dil Toh Pagal Hai. Advani makes Sooraj do the same but he isn't half as charming at it. Nearly 20 years after we first absorbed the concept of it, using it in a popular film seems like a banal idea. You can't forgive the fact that a man who made D-Day is behind this unimaginative, dim-witted disaster.
Unintentionally funny and sordidly simplistic, Hero is forgettable. Our favourite scene from the film is when we thought Tigmanshu Dhulia is going to kiss Aditya Pancholi. Only if...
We rate the film a judicious 40%. Sooraj-Athiya deserved better.
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