Tubelight

Tubelight, the third movie that comes from the collaboration of Kabir Khan and Salman Khan is officially an adapted version of the Hollywood movie Little Boy. While the juvenile nature of the story that undoubtedly targets the kids as its primary audience remains the same in this adapted version, the melodrama that unfolds in the second half is too much that you sort of end up laughing at the film.

Laxman is this slightly retarded man who only has a brother named Bharath. During the 1962 war against China, both brothers go to the army recruitment, but only Bharath gets selected. So Laxman is waiting for the war to end so that his brother can come back home. And to keep him hopeful about the return of his brother, his mentor/guardian told him that strong belief in something can make things happen. So Tubelight is about the belief of a simple guy and how it created magic.

The movie is almost a remake of the Hollywood film. You call something adapted if the creative interpretations are that fresh. The changes are there like Christianity oriented list became a Gandhi ji related to do list. Father Son equation was changed to brotherhood. And Japan in Little Boy got replaced by China. The representatives of China in the film are characters that I believe were created to capitalize on the Bajrangi Bhaijan soft corner of the audience. The first half of the movie, even after being predictable and simple is a passable part. It is the recurring speeches of goodness and the frequent events that just go on and on making Laxman a messiah that spoils the fun. Little Boy wasn’t an acclaimed movie, but even that film didn’t try to go this melodramatic.

Salman Khan does too much to make Laxman a likeable character. There are certain areas in the movie where his typical style of portraying innocence works. But for a major chunk, where the emotional turmoil on the character is too high, Bhai can’t make us root for the character with his performance. Sohail Khan was okay as Bharath. Matin Rey Tangu may have stolen our hearts with his performance during the promotions but the film offers him very less space to perform. Apart from Om Puri and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub all the other actors are struggling to handle the melodrama in the writing.

Kabir Khan needs to be appreciated for one thing in this film. In a big movie like Tubelight, he has shown the guts to include certain contemporary political issues in an interesting way. The fake patriotic boiling of blood over ones right to live in the country and prove his love for country by screaming Bharath Matha Ki Jai etc. are mentioned in this film. Apart from that, Kabir Khan cant really explore the theme effectively. The concept of one’s might can move a mountain gets an extremely dramatic treatment here. Including the climax shot, there are too many Bajrangi Bhaijan repetitions in this movie. Like I already said, the script reaches the peaks of melodrama towards the end with too many cheesy clichés. Cinematography and cuts are fine. The music is kind of okay.

Melodrama is the antagonist of Tubelight. While Bajrangi Bhaijaan succeeded in creating genuinely innocent characters, Tubelight has caricaturish characters. This movie may have a positive influence on your kid f he or she has seen only a few movies.

Rating: 2/5