Brothers

Dear Karan Malhotra,

Your last film 'Agneepath' was an OK film but it managed to pull through, thanks to Rishi Kapoor's menacing role in it, but with 'Brothers' you get caught up with a heavy dose of cliche's and a weak screenplay.

The film revolves around the Fernandez family. Akshay has a grudge against his father Jackie (Not Jacqueline) and he lives away from his father and step brother Siddharth. The enmity in the family and the desperation of the situation leads the family to be involved in the MMA fighting matches. In the end, both Brothers wage war against each other but only one can win.

The film is an official remake of 'Warrior' (2011). Warrior itself was an OK film and had a Bollywood undertone, because it was very filmy. Though Tom Hardy's character (here played by Sid) was extraordinary. But the writer (Ekta Malhotra) has changed the screenplay to suit it to the Indian audiences.The problem lies here in the Screenplay of the film. The film is divided into 2 halves. The first half is the emotional back story while the second half has the action. The audience got so frustrated in the first half that i could see couples making out just to avoid wasting their ticket money (the make out scene in the theater kept me awake as well during the first half snooze fest). There is too much emotional drama in the first half that i once expected a sign of 'Glycerin Kills' instead of 'smoking kills'. Also, the music is bad and even the Kareena item song is misplaced and un-required (not all item songs become chikni chameli). The second half is interesting because it has the action but its too much too fast and doesn't let the audience rest. There is not a single scene which comes out of the arena and the film seems like a live pay-per-view WWE tournament. Hence, the action seems loud after sometime. The solution to this problem could have been a tighter screenplay, where they could have mixed the right amount of action and emotion from the start if the film started directly with the tournament.Also, Akshay's characterization is faulty when after loving Sid so much, he blames him for the problems in the family.

The action in the film is superlative. The cinematography deserves a standing ovation. The director sets the mood right during the fights and its thrilling to see international beef cakes fight our own Akshay paaji. Visually the film is stunning and looks like an international film.

Akshay does well and he uses his martial arts training to the hilt. Siddharth keeps on surprising me. He is a find for Hindi cinema. Jacquiline has nothing to do in the film. Shefali shah is such a live wire emotionally. But, its Jackie (not Fernandez but Shroff) who brings the house down with his portrayal of an alcoholic. His best performance after Parinda and Gardish.

Overall, Brothers could have been a good film but is let down by a struggling screenplay. If you like wrestling then you can go watch the movie after the interval but i suggest one saridon for the first half and one saridon for after the movie. 

Rating - **