Bholaa is a remake of Tamil film Kaithi. Kaithi was known for its action more than its story. Kaithi was far better and had better action than many south no brainer masala films. Bholaa scores high in action but the presentation and storytelling lacks the punch. Bholaa offers nothing much to those who have watched Kaithi.
Bholaa has some minor changes from Kaithi but the basic story remains the same. Additional characters are introduced in Bholaa including a surprising cameo at the end. Ajay Devgn is all set to create his own universe with Bholaa. As compared to Kaithi, Bholaa is better in terms of action but not in terms of presentation. The action which we see in South films don’t work much in Bollywood as most of the times it’s senseless and over the top. Action scenes by Ajay Devgn in Bholaa are well presented and not attempted much before in Bollywood. Each and every action scene has something new to offer and masses are in for a treat. The good thing about Bholaa is that it’s fast paced and doesn’t have major unnecessary scenes in the narrative. Bholaa doesn’t waste time in building the narrative and is full of action which can keep the mass audience hooked, thanks to Kaithi for it. The truck scene, the jungle scene, the temple scene and the climax provide satisfactory action sequences according to the Bollywood standards. There was a good scope for improvisation in story and presentation. Editing and writing could have been better and Bholaa would have turned out to be a better film. Bholaa has some flaws and melodrama added to the narrative. Screenplay could have been better. Bholaa follows the old filmmaking style in some scenes with loud background music and screams. Remaking a south action film in Bollywood should have updated and advanced theories, Bholaa scores in the action but other things fall apart.
IPS officer Diana Joseph (Tabu) along with his team captures drugs worth Rs. 1000 crores and keeps them underground in a police station. The drugs belong to the gang led by Ashwathama aka Ashu (Deepak Dobriyal) who plans to kill the police officers by getting the stuff back. At a party many police officers faint and there is no one to help. Diana seeks help from an ex-convict Bholaa (Ajay Devgn) who was sentenced life imprisonment but gets released early because of his good behavior. After 10 years of imprisonment, the first thing Bholaa will be doing in the morning is meeting his daughter who is in an orphanage. However, his journey is not so simple as he soon faces a pathway full of crazy obstacles, with death lurking around every corner. At the same time Police constable Angad Yadav (Sanjay Mishra) along with a group of college students fights in all the possible ways to stop Ashu’s gang by entering into the police station. How Bholaa fights all these goons and faces all the obstacles forms the crux of the story.
Kaithi lacks the emotional punch and so does Bholaa. Both the films are hardly story driven so the father-daughter bonding doesn’t give you a chance to get emotional. The flashback story in Bholaa which was an addition is left incomplete and will be continued in the sequel.
Performance wise Ajay Devgn as Bholaa is too good. Ajay Devgn in intense roles always sets the screen on fire and in Bholaa also he does the same. Ajay Devgn lets his eyes do the talking. Those killer and scary eyes of Ajay are just enough to make you go gaga over him. Ajay’s dialogue delivery, action sequences and everything performed by him is top notch. It was such a tailor made role for Ajay. Tabu is an actress who never disappoints with her acting. We have seen Tabu playing the role of a tough cop in films like Drishyam, Drishyam 2 and Kuttey and in Bholaa also she nails her part. Deepak Dobriyal as villain is fantastic and looks deadly. It was such a pleasure to see him in villainous role. Gajraj Rao has been wasted and writing is to be blamed here. Amala Paul looks gorgeous in a short cameo. She is only seen during the song Nazar Lag Jaayegi. Makarand Deshpande’s voice is powerful in the narration part, but the narration part doesn’t look that powerful and is in bits and pieces. Vineet Singh doesn’t get much to explore. Sanjay Mishra as constable is decent. And at the end surprising cameo by Abhishek Bachchan is good and will lead to the further story.
Talking about direction, Ajay Devgn has focused more on action than on storytelling. Ajay Devgn can direct any kind of action sequences of big scale and Shivaay and Bholaa prove it. Ajay Devgn just needs a good script and he can do wonders with perfectly balancing action and story. We would love to see Ajay Devgn, the director directing more action flicks in the future. In terms of quality Runway 34 was better than Bholaa and Shivaay.
Music of Bholaa is not that great. It has become a trend to add an item song in a gangster film and Bholaa also follows the trend by adding the item song Paan Dukaniya. Paan Dukaniya disappoints you and is a passable track. Nazar Lag Jaayegi is decent both audio and video wise. An Arijit Singh song was missing in Bholaa. Shivaay had Darkhaast and Runway 34 had Mitra Re to please ears. Dil Hai Bholaa fails to create magic like Bolo Har Har, Ghamand Kar or Singham Title Track. Bholaa needed a powerful title track. Loved the part Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai, Aaj phir marne ka irada hai in Dil Hai Bholaa song. I wished we would have got more of it. Background music disappoints. The scenes which required subtle sound effects had jarring audio which was totally unnecessary and the scenes which were in need of loud background music were found to have low and inconsequential music. The background music of Ravi Basrur was too loud even in KGF2 and Kabzaa. Dialogues are massy but fail to leave much impact as compared to other films. Whistling and hooting will be not seen during dialogues but will be seen during action sequences.
Watch Bholaa for Ajay Devgn the visionary director. Ajay Devgn has designed action sequences which haven’t been performed before in Bollywood. After Tanhaji, Bholaa is a visual treat for action lovers. And watching this film in IMAX 3D altogether gives a totally different experience. Those who love watching mass films will find Bholaa thoroughly entertaining as it’s a fast paced action saga which offers you new action pieces in each and every sequence. If Bholaa would have just been a simple copy paste of Kaithi it would have turned out to be crap. We recently saw Shehzada which had shamelessly copy-pasted the action segments frame to frame from the original. Thank God, Ajay Devgn created something different in action segments. Those who have seen Kaithi don’t have much to see in Bholaa. Watch Bholaa for the high octane action sequences and the director Ajay Devgn without expecting much. Bholaa is an honest attempt to remake Kaithi which turns out to be an average affair.
Rating – 2.5/5*
Watch the trailer of Bholaa below:
