Fresh from a trio of massive successes that have revitalized his career, Salman Khan is looking to continue his hot streak with Bodyguard. With his box office record breaker Dabangg from last year still fresh on audiences' minds, and his two recent south Indian remakes Wanted and Ready proving that Hindi audiences will buy south Indian style, over the top masala, Khan is going back to the well for Bodyguard. The new film is a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name, in fact, in this case Reliance have brought on the writer and director of the Malayalam original to do the honors on the bigger budget Hindi version. This is not an uncommon practice, Indian filmmakers cross industries pretty frequently, and often remake their own films. The most successful example of this in recent memory is AR Murugadoss remaking his Tamil hit Ghajini, starring Surya, into the Hindi super hit, um, Ghajini, starring another Khan, Aamir.
Much has been made of the recent trend of Hindi films aiming for the south Indian style masala films. In reality, the Hindi film industry is rather fractious right now, with big dollars going both toward films in the older Hindi masala style that had been mostly relegated to the south Indian film industries as well as newer, more progressive films like Delhi Belly that are more likely to push the envelope, relatively speaking. The biggest surprise to me is that it seems both sides are winning. The weekend of July 1st was a prime example, Delhi Belly was opening against Amitabh Bachchan's throwback film, Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap. Delhi Belly won that weekend handily, but Bbuddah took a respectable amount and hit the spot with critics and audiences alike.
Salman Khan has really very little dramatic talent that I've seen so far, but he can look menacing and has a buttload of charisma. He's kinda like Bollywood's Schwazeneggar, he can carry a film on his charisma and muscles, but don't expect him to emote, or you'll be disappointed. Personally, I'm okay with that. The guy has found his wheelhouse, and if he wants to live in it, we as moviegoers are better for it.
As far as this trailer is concerned, it's a bit of a mixed. The first part is all action and ass-kicking with a little bit of bullet-time thrown in, but the second part devolves into the kind of sap that I'm wary of with Salman Khan. He's got a killer smile, but I don't know how the romance is gonna work. Oh, and I'm really NOT a fan of Kareena Kapoor, who is the female lead of this one and my one main hesitation about Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One. I'm going to give it a shot.
Bodyguard opens this Eid (August 31st) worldwide.
Much has been made of the recent trend of Hindi films aiming for the south Indian style masala films. In reality, the Hindi film industry is rather fractious right now, with big dollars going both toward films in the older Hindi masala style that had been mostly relegated to the south Indian film industries as well as newer, more progressive films like Delhi Belly that are more likely to push the envelope, relatively speaking. The biggest surprise to me is that it seems both sides are winning. The weekend of July 1st was a prime example, Delhi Belly was opening against Amitabh Bachchan's throwback film, Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap. Delhi Belly won that weekend handily, but Bbuddah took a respectable amount and hit the spot with critics and audiences alike.
Salman Khan has really very little dramatic talent that I've seen so far, but he can look menacing and has a buttload of charisma. He's kinda like Bollywood's Schwazeneggar, he can carry a film on his charisma and muscles, but don't expect him to emote, or you'll be disappointed. Personally, I'm okay with that. The guy has found his wheelhouse, and if he wants to live in it, we as moviegoers are better for it.
As far as this trailer is concerned, it's a bit of a mixed. The first part is all action and ass-kicking with a little bit of bullet-time thrown in, but the second part devolves into the kind of sap that I'm wary of with Salman Khan. He's got a killer smile, but I don't know how the romance is gonna work. Oh, and I'm really NOT a fan of Kareena Kapoor, who is the female lead of this one and my one main hesitation about Shahrukh Khan's Ra.One. I'm going to give it a shot.
Bodyguard opens this Eid (August 31st) worldwide.
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