Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ronit Roy, Lloyd Owen
Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
What’s Good: It’s a good looking film but as they say beauty doesn’t last forever, background score that keeps you awake at times when there’s a lot of nonsensical chaos happening on screen & every performance is good in parts
What’s Bad: Ever known a beautiful person who’s hollow from inside? Thugs Of Hindostan is one such person, there are a lot of things happening which try to intrigue you but the story is so done-to-death you just can’t connect with it
Loo Break: Definitely more than once! It’s like that used chewing gum whose all the sweetness is absorbed (By the films of 90s) and now it’s just out there because someone has packaged it nicely
Watch or Not?: If you can watch a movie just for its visuals and don’t care anything about what’s happening around that artwork only then you might sit through this
User Rating:
Set in 1795, Thugs Of Hindostan is the story revolving around a revenge of a daughter for British had killed her father. Zafira (Fatima Sana Shaikh) – the daughter is a master-archer trained under Khudabaksh aka Azad (Amitabh Bachchan) and 11 years later, somehow they intersect their path with Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan). As Aamir himself said recently, Firangi is someone you adore but can’t be friends with him.
His jade colour coat is an indication that he’s a chameleon & you can’t tell when he’s lying. He gets hired by the Britishers’ head John Clive (Lloyd Owen) to capture Azad and his army of rebellions. Firangi demands a hefty amount of money and the release of his friend Chawani Prasad (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub). From now it’s all about the chameleon-like trait of Aamir and whether or not is he on the side of British.
Thugs Of Hindostan Review: Script Analysis
This movie had every ingredient of being a blockbuster apart from a good story. ‘Baap ki maut ka badla’ is so 90s but revenge thrillers could of this scale could work well if written well. There’s a scene in which Aamir Khan’s Firangi says, “Hume hamesha dhoke ki umeed rakhni chahiye” (We should always expect to get backstabbed) and that’s the hint of how they already had planned to fool us. “Dhoka dena swabhav hai Bollywood ka aur (as Indian audience) bharosa karna hamara.”
After Dhoom 3, Vijay Krishna Acharya does something similar – visually brilliant but technically a sinking ship. The whole Firangi being a backstabber is so overdone that after a point of time you know he’s not as bad as the makers are trying to show. Cinematic liberties are taken as grandly as its budget and it just gets annoying with every scene. An Eagle is used as an metaphor for Khudabaksh’s bravery and Aamir starts talking to him; it doesn’t stop here, the Eagle in the end delivers a locket to Amitabh. These weren’t spoilers, these were just hints why you can skip this movie.
Thugs Of Hindostan Review: Star Performance
Amitabh Bachchan seems a miscast at some places but nails some scenes. He’s restlessly active for the man at his age but for the amount of action he’s doing on screen, someone younger could’ve created a different impact. Not at all saying he was bad, he was indeed good but there were times when it was visible that he’s used as a gimmick.
Ghajini, 3 Idiots, PK, Dangal and even Secret Superstar – we’ve seen Aamir Khan in roles no one can replace him but here it’s just disheartening. Firangi in one such character he can act while he sleepwalks. Partly entertaining, this isn’t we expect from Aamir Khan who has outstanding body of work (excluding Dhoom 3).
Katrina Kaif, apart from couple of songs is just for an extended cameo. She adds nothing valuable to the story but is surely a treat for the eyes. Doing nothing, she just comes on screen and captures your attention. Fatima Sana Shaikh, again, has very few dialogues but she’s good. She has looked like an archer and is very smooth while performing the action sequences.
Ronit Roy in his cameo is just about okay and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub fails to impress because of poor writing. Lloyd Owen as John Clive is boring and not at all gives the villainous feels.
Thugs Of Hindostan Review: Direction, Music
Vijay Krishna Acharya as a director is good, it’s the story and screenplay that ruins the party. Actions sequences are very well choreographed at some places. VFX is nicely arranged but there were times when its shoddiness comes right on your face. It’s a well directed film aimlessly roaming till the end.
Ajay-Atul’s songs are situational and as I said in my music review, they’ll be of no value minus the visuals. Suraiyya and Manzoor-E-Khuda is saved by Katrina’s hotness & Vashmalle by the quirky presence of Amitabh and Aamir.
It’s John Stewart Eduri’s background score that has been the biggest takeaway for me from the film. It’s up there with the best and supports many dull scenes.
Thugs Of Hindostan Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Thugs Of Hindostan is no Race 3 or Veer but it’s an awe-inspiring disappointment. At this stage of his career, Aamir Khan should be extra cautious of not slipping towards the projects and act in the movies he’s known for. Thugs Of Hindostan will do nothing but steal your ticket money giving nothing memorable in this barter.
Two stars!
Thugs Of Hindostan Trailer
Thugs Of Hindostan releases on 8th November, 2018.
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