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Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Shefali Shah, Jacqueline Fernandez, Jackie Shroff
Director: Karan Malhotra
What’s Good: For those who are fans of a good mix of emotion and action could love Brothers for its nature to shuttle between the two. Also, if you haven’t watched Warrior, this could be a novelty for you!
What’s Bad: I don’t know what I disliked more, Sidharth’s incompetency to perform in a role that Tom Hardy completely nailed or the extremely loose plot that is a shoddier version of Warrior.
Loo Break: First half is a good time!
Watch or Not?: Call for a DVD of Warrior and watch it! Unless over-the-top drama is your scene, you will not enjoy Brothers and if you still plan to, doze off in the first half, at least second is like watching WWE!
User Rating:
The story takes off with the release of Gary Fernandez (Jackie Shroff) from prison who is a ex-fighter. In a senile state now. Gary is received by his younger son, Monty (Sidharth Malhotra) while his eyes keep searching to see the elder one David (Akshay Kumar). What follows is a flashback of how Gary landed up in jail and how after their mother Maria’s (Shefali Shah) death, Monty and David fall apart. While David pursues education and becomes a school teacher who is now married to Jenny (Jacqueline), Monty grows up as the notorious one whose anger is beyond his control thanks to his alcoholic nature. Monty has inherited Gary’s fighting skills and even enters the ring to show his father the same. David who has an ailing daughter is struggling with means and participates in street fights to make money resulting in him getting suspended of his job. While there is an emotional upheaval in the lives of Gary and Monty, R2F – Right To Fight, a popular mixed martial arts tournament is to be held in India which promises the winner a huge sum. David in order to save his daugter enters the competition and Monty too who wants to make his father proud. Soon the Brothers are pitted against each other in a finale which will not only shed blood but also their emotional distress.
Brothers Review: Script Analysis
Brothers is an official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film Warrior and to start with let’s accept the Hollywood version itself was’t perfect enough except Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte’s performances. Thus, the script at hand was already a average one. Brothers goes wrong thanks to its attempt to make it emotionally challenging. What it misses out on is a detailed carving out of its characters. David’s character is developed decently in the first half but completely loses the grip in the second and its as if he has dual lives. Monty’s character on the other hand remains the most disappointing. The writer’s at no point try to justify his angry-animal nature with any sort of backing. Its as if Monty is having a bad day everyday for no reason, exactly opposite to what Tom Hardy’s Tommy goes through in Warrior. With what the entire first half dwelling on developing the characters and their emotional hang-ups, the action is saved for second half which is not enough. With tear-jerking moments that actually don’t make you reach for tissues, the first half is so sluggish that you completely lose interest in watching the second one. Also even though we are well aware of what would be served as the end ,there is no attempt to create any enticing moment around it.
Brothers Review: Star Performance
Jackie Shroff as Gary Fernandez does a compelling job. In a scene where he has an emotional outburst, he truly makes an impact. He may given a set of white hair and ragged clothes to show his despair but his act definitely works more than his look.
Akshay Kumar is the perfect choice for the role of David. He is convincing as the forgiving elder brother and is of course a treat to watch when it comes to action.
Sidharth Malhotra once again fails to make gold of his opportunity. As Monty, he may have worked hard on the physicality but mentally, the actor fails to emote with the right turbulence for his role. His beefed up body is a work but the wooden expressions that go along with it are not very praiseworthy. Especially if you have seen Tom Hardy in Warrior, one feels sad about Sidharth playing the same part.
Jacqueline Fernandez as Jenny is quite a delight. She looks pretty sans make-up and taking the role of a mother is a good plunge for her. In the emotional scenes, she performs decently.
Shefali Shah moves from one dysfunctional family to another. After Dil Dhadakne Do’s classy wife, in Brothers, she is restricted to a middle-class life. Only an actress of her stature can both perform and underperform in a film. She is brillaint in the tear-jerking scenes but in some, she goes a little overboard.
Ashutosh Rana as David’s coach does a fine job. He is one actor who slips into any character with ease and we wish he had a role with more substance.
Kiran Kumar plays the role of the R2F organizer and its as if he stepped out from a 90s movie. His colorful suits and punchlines are unintentionally comic.
Kareena Kapoor’s item song brings the glamorous quotient in the film that could have been avoided altogether.
Brothers Review: Music, Direction
After watching Agneepath, I was very sure it was one of the best cases of remakes in Bollywood. Director Karan Malhotra had got it all perfect from casting to the script and hence there were high expectations from Brothers. This time with a Hollywood film at hand, Karan seemed to try hard to make it palatable for Bollywood cine-goers and that is where it falls flat. He fails to build up pace in the first half and hurries towards the end with a abrupt finish. The agile camera work required for fight scenes is missing and hence you don’t feel each jab they plant on their opponents. The scenes where we see David and Monty working out for their tournaments are good.
A tighter editing could have worked for the film better. It stretches too long in the first half.
Background score and music by Ajay Atul is quite decent. Sapna Jahan makes for a good hear.
Brothers Review: The Last Word
Brothers is a remake that gets lost in the way since it is neither a complete rip off nor a refined Bollywood version. If you are looking for kick ass action, watch Warrior and if you are looking for a teary-inducing family drama cum action then watch Brothers. I am going with 2.5/5 for this.
Brothers Trailer
Brothers releases on 14th August, 2015.
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