Heropanti – Movie Review

“Heropanti Karega?” asks one of the many goons to our debut hero of the week. He replies – “Kya Karoo… sab ko aati nahi… meri jaati nahi” with a certain kind of earnestness that could be seen in a school-boy having asked to mug up a dialogue one night before a play.

Evident from the trailer itself, Producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s intention must have been to showcase Jackie Shroff’s son, Tiger (Jai Hemant Shroff) to be an upcoming star in ‘Heropanti’ – one of those masalathons in which the hero is larger than life and can beat up a bunch of villains single-handedly while doing whatever else he is supposed to do – romance, dance, tear open his shirt (or get his shirt torn by the villain) to show his chiseled physique and well… act… try to act… okay… not important… he can just emote at times. 1983- Director Subhash Ghai (now no more the ‘Showman’ and you have to watch all his movies post ‘Pardes’ to agree) launched a local rowdy living in a chawl and a star was born. Jackie Shroff and his leading heroine, Meenakshi Sheshadri shot to fame with the huge hit – ‘Hero’. Shroff Senior may not be considered as one who could keep his success consistent but we still remember him for a few stellar performances – ‘Kaash’, ‘Parinda’, ‘Gardish’ among many others, ‘Angaar’ being my pick of the lot. 2014- With ‘Heropanti’, Director Sabbir Khan (‘Kambakkht Ishq’) introduces Tiger Shroff.

A remake of the Telegu hit ‘Parugu’ (also made in Bengali as ‘Shedin Dekha Hoyechilo’); one wonders and rightly so if there is any need to remake a movie which hardly had any decent plot in the first place. Probably, it’s a tried and tested formula – if the movie works somewhere, it will work with a wider audience as well. ‘Heropanti’ begins in ‘Jat-land’ where a local Haryanvi don, Chaudhary (Prakash Raj) is a happy father that his elder daughter, Renu (Sandeepa Dhar) is getting arranged. It turns out that the girl elopes with her lover that night. A furious family which is against love marriages and believes in honour killing if it so happens in the community – Chaudhary with his bunch of people track the guy’s best buddies in Delhi and lock them in his house. Why? The friends for some reason have to know the eloper’s whereabouts. Babloo (Tiger Shroff) is one of his friends and also picked up but not before he makes an impressive entry bashing up the villains and darn… someone hits him on his head from the back. It is love at first sight when Babloo sees Dimpy (God knows where!) and he sees her in the village too. As luck (and the so-called plot) would have it, she happens to be Chaudhary’s younger daughter. Love blossoms between the two… they sing and dance… some drama happens… some action… oh yes, our hero and heroine live happily ever after with the ending reels heavily inspired from DDLJ.

‘Heropanti’ is a poorly directed mindless film and even the heart doesn’t seem to be at the right place. Director Sabbir Khan hasn’t really understood film-making even after that blunder called ‘Kambakkht Ishq’. He seems to be confused between taking sides – Prakash Raj is gradually portrayed as a helpless and distressed father who later on agrees with his elder daughter that he is a dog who has been following her. A lot of melodrama takes place and you are manipulated to understand a father’s point of view when he is against love marriages, this being set against a place and amidst a community wherein honour killings are the order of the day. The story-telling is either very confused or it is regressive to a point. Okay…

it is a commercial no-brainer and you shouldn’t think much while watching such movies but movies have the power to influence minds. Khan stretches his movie to two and a half odd hours and there is no story to keep you engrossed and neither is there any movement till the interval. In fact, the hero comes to know who his love is at this point and it is too late for us to remain interested in the happenings because there is hardly any. The Director doesn’t even succeed in extracting decent performances from his cast; Tiger’s acrobat and dancing skills aren’t exploited well too. Had he focused on it and made this an out-and-out action flick, ‘Heropanti’ could have been an entertaining watch. Music by Sajid-Wajid is okay. ‘Whistle Baja’ is the only hummable track; has the ‘Hero’ theme tune in it which also plays every five minutes probably to remind you that Tiger is Jackie Shroff’s son.

Tiger Shroff is excellent in action and does his stunts all by himself (Akshay Kumar followed by Vidyut Jamwal are the others who have been doing it). Sadly then, because there isn’t much action as there ought to have been and Tiger has to attempt acting which he fails at. Dialogue delivery is the kind even a kid can do better. Ditto for expressions – and when he probably knows he isn’t getting it right, he just smiles. He dances well and is very agile. Tiger’s effeminate looks will meet with mixed reactions and this because, his physique and his looks don’t really complement well. Having said that, let me state the good news is that he has it in him to be a star and has a good screen presence which is rare among most debutantes. The other newcomer, Kriti Sanon looks quite pretty and makes a confident debut. She should do well if she can bag the right films with good scripts. Prakash Raj enacted the same role in the Telegu movie; he is okay here. Somehow, you feel he has been repeating himself and should explore his talent. The supporting cast is mostly loud and irritating. Sandeepa Dhar is okay in a cameo.

Watch it or not: To give its due, ‘Heropanti’ is like one of those dim-witted lazy Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan movies. The difference is – they are huge superstars and this one has a star in the making. Watch it for Tiger if you have to – he isn’t great but has the right trappings. Worth a miss and you won’t regret it at all!

At the Box-Office: It will start well… business from single screens should be better. I’m expecting it to recover costs and be a tad above average. Business in South should be a little low as it has a major competitor – Rajnikanth in ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ and nobody messes with him! The next biggie – ‘Holiday’ releases on June 6^th so there is ample time to make some bucks till then.

• 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!