Salman is "Lovely" in Bodyguard
By Varinder Rathore
August 31, 2011
Well Salman Khan may be north of 45-years-old but recent years have seen a reemergence in his career graph with the success of Dabaang and Ready. So the question is, “Can he score a hat trick with Bodyguard?" (Opens worldwide today- 8/31) Well the answer is…sort of.
Bodyguard is actually at least two movies in one. Unfortunetly the first hour and a half is wasted on “the Salman Khan Formula” in which Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) plays quite a mascaline bodyguard with quite a feminine name. Never shy to throw vanity in our face, Lovely overdoes it with intense stares, bulging biceps and “the customary shirt ripping exposing pecs and 6-packs” to the point that one just has to crack up. There is also some hurtful humor in which Lovely makes fun of a flaming homosexual, an overweight guy named Tsunami and a midget. Not exactly high art! At times Bodyguard feels like it is insulting your intelligence with Lovely Singh making jokes in rhyme, “I'm not a fool. You think i'm in nursery school?” and after killing a bunch of goons at a nightclub he chimes,” This club is dead, let’s go.” Not exactly Shakespeare and after a while you start feeling sorry for Lovely Singh, Divya (Kareena Kapoor) and the rest of the cast- that have to be a part of a series of disjointed scenes that are supposed to add up to a movie.
Then in the last twenty minutes of the film - something miraculous happens..Divya the daughter of rich landowner that Lovely Singh is supposed to protect actually falls in love with him. Mother of all surprises! A beautiful song sang partly by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, “Teri Meri” appears and the entire theme of the film changes. The emotions Divya feels for Lovely and the quick time decision she must make leave the viewers with a surprising twist reminiscent of Kuch Kuch Hota Hain but actually done much better. Some emotionally felt dialogue, glycerin tears and we actually have redemption!
Bodyguard is actually at least two movies in one. Unfortunetly the first hour and a half is wasted on “the Salman Khan Formula” in which Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) plays quite a mascaline bodyguard with quite a feminine name. Never shy to throw vanity in our face, Lovely overdoes it with intense stares, bulging biceps and “the customary shirt ripping exposing pecs and 6-packs” to the point that one just has to crack up. There is also some hurtful humor in which Lovely makes fun of a flaming homosexual, an overweight guy named Tsunami and a midget. Not exactly high art! At times Bodyguard feels like it is insulting your intelligence with Lovely Singh making jokes in rhyme, “I'm not a fool. You think i'm in nursery school?” and after killing a bunch of goons at a nightclub he chimes,” This club is dead, let’s go.” Not exactly Shakespeare and after a while you start feeling sorry for Lovely Singh, Divya (Kareena Kapoor) and the rest of the cast- that have to be a part of a series of disjointed scenes that are supposed to add up to a movie.
Then in the last twenty minutes of the film - something miraculous happens..Divya the daughter of rich landowner that Lovely Singh is supposed to protect actually falls in love with him. Mother of all surprises! A beautiful song sang partly by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, “Teri Meri” appears and the entire theme of the film changes. The emotions Divya feels for Lovely and the quick time decision she must make leave the viewers with a surprising twist reminiscent of Kuch Kuch Hota Hain but actually done much better. Some emotionally felt dialogue, glycerin tears and we actually have redemption!