Director Farhad Samji had initially sought to remake the 2014 Tamil film ‘Veeram‘ as ‘Bachchhan Paandey’ with Akshay Kumar. However later, Samji tweaked Veeram’s story and pitched it to Salman Khan who accepted the film and decided to make the film under his banner Salman Khan Films.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan had a decent plot which could have been made into an entertainer with Salman Khan leading from the front. As mentioned in one of the dialogues that Bhai has OCD, seems to be the case in real too. An uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (“obsessions”) and/or behaviours (“compulsions”) that Bhai feels the urge to repeat over and over! He knows that his fans love him.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan plot
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan is about Bhaijaan (Salman Khan) who lives in a ‘basti’ with his 3 brothers. These brothers have fallen for their love but cannot reveal it to their bachelor Bhai, who once had a love life too with Bhagya (Bhagyashree, of Maine Pyaar Kiya), but did not marry to prevent any disharmony amongst his loving brothers. Now the brothers are on a hunt to find love for their Bhai.
In comes Hyderabadi Bhagyalaxmi, a South Indian researcher studying antiques looking for a rental abode. The three brothers Luv (Siddharth Nigam), Ishq (Raghav Juyal) and Moh (Jassie Gill) plot to setup Bhai with Bhagya, knowing very well that the resonating similarity in the names would work and it does. What they do not know is that Bhagyalaxmi’s family down south have their own mysterious dark past.
While the first half tests once patience, is laced with nonsensical storyline and a chapter re-visiting Maine Pyara Kiya (that still creates nostalgia) with an added masala involving Himalaya and Abhimanyu – Bhagyashree’s real life husband and son. It also reveals that Vijender Singh who plays an MLA wants to eliminate Bhai.
Well, the story moves ahead with Bhai and Bhagyalaxmi decide to meet their family and tie the knot. The rest of the story revolves around what happens when Salman Khan and his family reach Bhagya’s family – Gundamaneni / annayya (Venkatesh), his wife Bhumika Chawla, mother Rohini Hattangadi and many more. Bhai comes face-to-face with Rowdy Anna (Jagapathi Babu) who wants to finish Annayya.
It is so disturbing to see that week after week, the now so helpless Hindi film industry is dishing out films remade from south plots. It seems the Hindi filmmakers have lost interest in thinking out of the box and pick up ready made plots. In that sense Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan is one step ahead. It appears to be a bollywood movie it the first half and transforms into a south fest in the second with Salman even dressing up in a lungi to justify the folly.
It’s a ‘true amalgamation’ with the major characters being south actors – Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh, Jagapathi Babu, Ram Charan. Also the chemistry between the lead pair of Salman and Pooja looks too shaky, both don’t seem comfortable romancing.
With an insubstantial narrative, one waits to sink into the story but Farhad Samji brings in too many things and ends up with none that a Salman Khan fan would take home except – the replay of MPK dialogue and some over-the-top action sequences turning gory at times. Salman Khan pumps in all his muscles literally, to make Bhaijaan look lovable but he looks too bulky. However, Salman still packs a punch as an action hero. Venkatesh and Salman pull out all stops to create high impact with their heavy-duty action scenes.
Venkatesh (as Gundamaneni) uses his personality for a family patriarch, who will do whatever it takes to keep his loved ones safe. Pooja Hegde has a meaty role, which she tries to pull off confidently, but could have toned down her over-the-top filmy antics. It is Telugu actor Jagapathi Babu as the antagonist who impresses the most.
The songs/soundtracks for a Salman Khan starrer are below par here and just add up to the runtime with forgettable numbers.
The biggest problem with the film seems to be its title, which reflects that either Salman himself or his influencers are too obsessed with Salman’s catch phrase word ‘bhaijaan’, which suits him in real life but could not pull off a masala entertainer and is completely wasted. It could be a let down even for his die-hard fans.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan could have been a larger-than-life action entertainer had the makers spent more time on creating memorable moments. Instead it just entertains briefly. Too many characters, an unimpressive soundtrack, and most of all a weak screenplay that doesn’t match up to Salman’s star power is what pulls the narrative down.
Movie: Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan
Director: Farhad Samji
Cast: Salman Khan, Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh, Bhumika Chawla, Jagapathi Babu, Raghav Juyal, Jassie Gill, Siddharth Nigam, Shehnaaz Gill, Palak Tiwari, Vinali Bhatnagar, Bhagyashree, Himalaya, Abhimanyu Singh, Vijender Singh, Aasif Sheikh, Rohini Hattangadi, Ram Charan,
Duration: 144 Mins
