Now this could be nostalgia for a lost
world when popular cinema went by the name of Deewar,
Zanjeer, Trishul and Kabhie Kabhie. When the big screen
experience with its blown up characters, its exaggerated
conflicts and its magniloquent verbal exchanges worked
like Viagra for the marginalised millions. But the
first-day-first-show applause that greeted Major Saab's
grunts and grand expositions on courage, discipline and
desh-bhakti were real and too recent to dismiss the actor
as a has been with a long-lost appeal.
In fact, it is merely the Major's charisma
which carries the film through, despite its ridiculous
story-line and its bizarre situations. For the film's
story, written by Santosh Saroj and Robin Bhatt, happens
to be the corniest joke of the year. When, oh when has
the Indian army brought out its entirestate-of-the-art
weaponry to wage a war against a local Bihari dada (Mohan
Joshi) who is hell bent on marrying the cadet's lady love
to his evil son? "You bloody civilians!" yells
the Major who perpetually roams around in the ceremonial
uniform. He then takes out his missiles, builds up a
secret force, steals through the gutters of the National
Defence Academy and storms the fort-like haveli with his
war cry: 'Don't mess with the army!" Obviously, it
doesn't matter if the 'bloody civilians' carry on their
sundry crimes, as long as they allow the marriage -
almost a national issue - to transpire. A bloody mess of
course.
But remember, there's Mr Bachchan who
tries to add a touch of old world charm and dignity to
this major scripting disaster. And yes, he succeeds.
Specially when the camera looks up at him lovingly and he
looks down at the viewers majestically, declaring :
"Main Chahta hoon ke har Hindustani sher ki tarah
jiye nahin to paida hote mar jaye!" (I want all
Indians to live like lions or else perish at birth). When
he cracks the whip at his rebellious cadet (Ajay Devgun)
or sees his dead son in him and grows silken soft. And
when he dons the pagri and breaks into a foot-stomping
wedding number 'Sona sona', he is absolutely riveting.
Not quite the best from the Bachchan
factory, but we can't really blame this on the Big B.
Obviously, the towering inferno needs a bit of backup
support from the rest of the team too. While Devgun and
the duo of baddies (Ashish Vidyarthi and Mohan Joshi)
adequately stand up to him and the music (Anand Raj Anand
and Adesh Srivastava) is fresh and vibrant, the plot lets
him down pathetically. Nevertheless, watch it for old
time's sake.
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