JOIN USHindi (U/A)
Director: Ashwani Dhir
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla, Vindu Dara Singh, Mukul Dev
If Bollywood reports are to be believed, Ajay Devgn has reportedly spent 80 crore on Son of Sardaar – a combination of film budget, promotions and its making. That may explain in part why he has taken YRF to court over availability of screens, but it certainly does not guarantee a box-office hit. You can at best try to woo film lovers through marketing gimmicks or use star power, but not expect them to be sympathetic to something that is your labour of love.
None of which is to say that Son of Sardaar does not deliver. It does – in parts, but parts will not make the film run at the box office. Having said that, a look at what the film does offer is an action-packed Ajay (as Jaswinder Singh Randhawa aka Jassi) fighting off a 25-year-old rivalry with his to-be-in-law Billu Paaji (Sanjay Dutt) who has put off his own marriage to Pammiji (an effervescent Juhi Chawla) on hold until he has avenged his Chachaji’s murder by Jassi’s dad. Jassi, meanwhile, predictably falls for Billuji’s cousin Sukh (Sonakshi Sinha) and thwarts all attempts by the former to do away with him.
The plotline is the film’s biggest drawback but what it offers are some great stunts engineered by Ajay himself; fantastic camera work by Aseem Bajaj who does not give you run-of-the-mill shots during chases – especially the one where Ajay is chased through the lanes of the ‘pind’ by Sanjay Dutt’s sidekick Mukul Dev and the climax between the two lead protagonists. Sonakshi is refreshingly chirpy, but fails to exude the polished look.
Manjulaa