Bajrangi Bhaijaan review
India fascinated me even as a child. I remember the first film where I saw Salman Khan. Back then I thought I couldn't understand how the main character could push him aside and choose the other one... Even if it was Shah Rukh Khan.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Brother Bajrangi) is an Indian comedy drama from 2015. So what is it about?
It's the story of Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi, a devotee of the Hindu god Hanuman, who sets out on a journey to take a mute six year old Pakistani Muslim girl, Shahida, who got separated from her parents in India, back to her home village in Pakistani Kashmir.
Original title Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Country India, 2015
Genre Comedy, Drama, Adventure
Written by Kabir Khan, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad, Parveez Sheikh
Directed by Kabir Khan
Cast
Salman Khan as Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi, also called Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Harshaali Malhotra as Shahida "Munni" Aziz
Kareena Kapoor Khan as Rasika Pandey
Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Chand Nawab
Meher Vij as Razia Aziz
Kushaal Pawar as Kamil Yusuf
Mir Sarwar as Rauf Aziz
What is it about? Contains SPOILERS
At the very beginning there's a nasty accident. A little Pakistani girl falls off a cliff in a picturesque village in Pakistani Kashmir and catches hold of a branch. Since she has no voice, she can't call for help, and they only find her at night. Her parents wonder how to help her and decide to take her to the shrine of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, India, in the hope that it will bring back her speech.
On the train ride back with her mum, the train stops at night for repairs, and while everyone is asleep, the curious little girl sneaks out to help a lamb. But the train starts moving and Shahida is left behind.
Trying to get back to her mum, she climbs onto a freight train she thinks is going the same way, but she ends up in a town full of celebrations, where she meets Pawan. He lives in the house of his fiancée Rasika, and when he can't find out where Shahida lives, he nicknames her Munni and takes her with him, which isn't greeted with much enthusiasm by his fiancée's father. When it comes out that she's Pakistani and Muslim, Pawan is ordered to take her to the embassy.
Protests are going on at the time, so of course he leaves empty handed and almost gets caught up in a conflict along with Munni. Completely miserable, he takes her to a travel agency, where an agent promises to take Munni to Pakistan. Pawan leaves her there, but something doesn't feel right and he goes back for her. When he gets there, he finds out the agent wanted to sell her to a brothel. Furious, he wrecks the agency and promises himself that he'll take Munni to Pakistan himself, even without a passport or a visa.
In the end they get into Pakistan fairly easily, but they're caught and Pawan is labelled an Indian spy. During the interrogation they manage to escape, and they're spotted by Chand Nawab, a journalist working for a Pakistani TV channel. Nawab follows what's happening and at first also thinks Pawan is an Indian spy, but he discovers that Pawan is a victim of circumstances on a noble mission to take mute Munni home. Moved by his story, Nawab joins him on his journey. They then meet an Islamic religious scholar, Asad, who helps them avoid the police and points them towards Kashmir after Munni recognises an area that looks like her home village.
Nawab documents their whole journey, but his boss refuses to broadcast it because he thinks it's nonsense. Then comes identifying Munni's home village and the journey there. On the way, though, things go wrong, and Pawan ends up shot, captured and brutally tortured. Meanwhile Nawab takes Munni to the place where she's reunited with her parents.
Thanks to Nawab's work, uploading the videos from the journey to YouTube, the whole story soon spreads across both India and Pakistan.
An officer who verifies his story realises Pawan is innocent and has him released, defying orders from above to keep him in prison. Nawab calls for support, and thousands of Pakistanis and Indians gather at the border crossing where Pawan is supposed to return to India.
As Pawan crosses the border, Nawab reveals that Munni's real name is Shahida. And then comes a beautiful scene where Shahida shouts Pawan's name. It's the first time she ever speaks.
The official trailer for the film
My verdict
The film is lavish, it tugs at your heartstrings and the story itself is truly charming. There are moments when I just shook my head, but the film describes itself as a comedy drama, so we can't really be surprised. As for the cast, I have nothing to criticise. The stars Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan are well known and fairly experienced actors, and I doubt there's anything they couldn't do. Add the amazing Nawazuddin Siddiqui and that's it. For Harshaali Malhotra this was meant to be her first big film and her first lead role. She took it on with all the grace in the world and absolutely charmed me. The plot never stagnates, on the contrary, the film unfolds and moves forward beautifully, which I appreciate, and the wonderful Indian music only underlines its magic. My favourite song is 'Tu Jo Mila'...
Overall score 10/10
Character development 9/10
Plot development 10/10
Cast 10/10
Soundtrack 10/10
Enjoyment 10/10
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Mimosa Confiante
By day, I work somewhere between marketing, copy and campaigns; by night, I usually end up somewhere between fanfiction, cosplay and yet another “what if” that refuses to leave me alone. I write mainly in the Harry Potter and Mo Dao Zu Shi fandoms, most often Snarry, Snamione, HarryLu and WangXian. My healthcare background means that anatomy, medicine and far too much research occasionally find their way into my stories. Cosplay is another way for me to play with the characters I love, whether I stay close to canon or turn them into my own fanfiction and AU versions. In Diary of a Slytherin Girl with ADHD, I write openly about life with a brain that usually has far too many tabs open at once.
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