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.
