Boss – Movie Review

I’m a little baffled with the superstardom of a few actors. One of them is Akshay Kumar. Barring a few (very few indeed) movies, I have often wondered to my dismay what it must be that draws hordes of audiences to watch his movies. Having said that, let me also admit I immensely enjoyed the typically commercial no-brainer ‘Rowdy Rathore’. More recently, it was great to see him act for a change in the very entertaining con flick ‘Special 26’. I was still apprehensive about watching Director Anthony D’Souza’s ‘Boss’ partly because I thought it would be one of those silly masalathons I rarely enjoy and partly because I still recall that hugely overhyped debacle from the Director – ‘Blue’. The former opinion did come true with a difference. ‘Boss’ is indeed yet another commercial potboiler – it is loud, it has some funny and some unfunny humor, it has some dialogue-baazi… add to that some melodrama, songs and lest you forget the hero bashes up villains single-handedly which has become a necessary ingredient for movies to bring in the crowds these days. But unlike most of these films, ‘Boss’ is slick and if I may use the word – paisa vasool!

A throwback to the Manmohan Desai school of film-making, ‘Boss’ tells you a story (not really) of an upright principled father (Mithun Chakraborty) and his two sons – one goes the right way and stays back with him; the other supposedly takes up the wrong path and is banished by his father. The wrong child becomes a protégé to Bigg Boss (Danny Denzongpa) and grows up to be a contract killer with a heart of gold. He is Boss (Akshay Kumar). Fifteen years later, paths cross when the strict father seeks help from the contract killer (He doesn’t want to call him his son… Sad… Eh!) to save his son (Shiv Pandit) when the young lad is put behind bars by a corrupt and dangerous police officer (Ronit Roy) for falling in love with his sister. Good enough reason… indeed!

Of course, you were not expecting an intelligent plot here and hence, you may not want to crib about it. Surprisingly, ‘Boss’ works. The jokes don’t really fall flat, the music (five composers including Honey Singh) is peppy and fits rightly into the film, the action is bizarre but well-directed and even the baap-beta melodrama doesn’t come across as over-the-top, thanks to convincing performances. What is more surprising is that Akshay Kumar makes his grand entry thirty minutes into the film. The wait is worth it, especially for his fans. Director Anthony D’Souza keeps it slick and even manages to keep it quite crisp though the running time is two and a half hours. Akshay Kumar does what he is best at – this is his kind of cinema and he plays to the gallery, keeping you thoroughly entertained. A few dialogues (most in a Haryanvi accent) will surely bring the house down and his fans will enjoy a lot here. He is in tremendous form as ‘Boss’ and does it all really well – action/stunts which he has always been known for, slapstick comedy which has become his forte, emotions (never mind if I feel he is weak at it). Mithun Chakraborty puts up a convincing performance as the principled father. Newcomer Shiv Pandit doesn’t really leave any impression. Ditto for Aditi Rao Hydari; she is simply wasted here in a meaningless role. Danny Denzongpa is good. But it is Ronit Roy who is menacing as the villain here. He plays the villain so well that the climax fight becomes more impactful. Johny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Shakti Kapoor and the remaining cast are wasted. Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhudeva are in nice cameos in two songs.

Watch it or not: Fans of the superstar will watch it, no matter what the verdict is. And the verdict is – Yes. You may not like it if you have a strong aversion to such movies. If you don’t, you will enjoy it even if you aren’t an Akshay Kumar fan.

At the Box-Office: Reviews will be mixed. Opening Collection will be good because of the star power of Akshay Kumar. Also, it has released on a holiday. Business should be best in North India (belts of Haryana and Punjab) where Akshay Kumar has a very strong fan base. I’m expecting it to be another 100-crore film and this one has the credits to be one. It is silly as well but quite well-directed. Do I recommend such movies now? Not really; unless it is some fun. Audiences did turn sensible and rejected dim-witted awful movies like ‘Himmatwala’, ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana-2’ and the more recently ‘Besharam’ this year and it makes me happy.

• About the Author

About Abhirup Dhar

I don't watch movies... I live them! Let me introduce myself. Abhirup Dhar was born in Kolkata and is still being brought up in India. A banker by profession, he is filmy to the core and is passionate about reviewing movies and writing. He likes to live on his own… he likes to be blunt, sarcastic, famous, infamous, confident, over-confident, moody at times… he likes to be himself. He is imperfect because perfection is boring. His love for movies dates back to his childhood days when he studied in a boarding school. A three-month Winter Vacation every year… and he made sure he watched as many movies then. Parents thought it was a phase... he knew it was Passion and he knew it back then itself. The craziness to watch movies on the Big Screen began during the last two years of school when he literally bunked to town so that he could catch up with the new Hindi Movie releases. Some thought he was plain crazy. He confirmed it was Passion... yet again. The hard fact is that not always can you walk a path you are passionate about. You have expectations to fulfill and Life to be made. But Life gives you chances and you have to grab them. So... here is he... your friendly critic who will be giving you his Verdict every week so that you can decide which release is worth your moolah and which is not! See you at the Movies! Stay connected at Facebook and Twitter!