Radhe

It seems like there is somebody in the inner circle of Mr. Salman Khan who has made him believe that Dabangg 3 and Race 3 are “good” entertainers. Looking at the way he is pushing the boundaries of “Kuch Bhi?” in his recent releases, it becomes more and more evident that he has no regard for the IQ of the commoner. And with Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, he makes it emotionally difficult for his loyal fans. Radhe is basically the makers saying, why to bother about content and craft as long as a money-minting hero is at the center of it all.

So the youngsters of Mumbai city are now heavily addicted to drugs. The police and even the gangsters in the city don’t have any clue on who is providing the stuff. As the death rate increased, police had only one choice; call Radhe. What we see in Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is Salman Khan, oh sorry, Radhe finding the new drug lord in town and finishing him off.

In the climax of the film, a helicopter is out of control and is about to fall. But our hero and villain are fighting with each other inside it. The helicopter eventually falls from an enormous height, and guess what? The two men are ready for another fight. The insult on physics has always happened in Salman Khan films, but it was entertaining in the “Wanted” days. Now it has the effect of damaging brain cells (if you have it). Radhe has an introduction scene that reminded me of the Minnal Murali teaser. That introduction scene was actually a warning for everyone that what you are about to witness is in the same zone of Race 3. Salman’s version of Race 3 had morals and goodness in it. Here also he is trying to impart that do good, don’t give up kind of philosophy. But the impact was as lame as his social media post thanking farmers.

Salman Khan has done a very solid job here acting like himself. The body language of being a struggling model is impeccable, and when Radhe shouts, it’s a bit difficult for us to control the giggle. Disha Patani’s role in this movie, especially in the dance numbers, should be considered as Prabhu Deva’s depiction of women’s reality in a patriarchal world, doing all the hard work and seeing the man take the credit. The Cred app had revealed that Jackie Shroff likes Zumba and Radhe revealed that he likes salsa too in sleazy mini frocks. I hope Randeep Hooda was paid handsomely for adding this trash to his filmography.

As a filmmaker, Prabhu Deva is one guy who doesn’t believe in evolving. Randeep Hooda’s Rana is running away after a shootout, and Prabhu Deva doesn’t find it odd to follow up that scene with the Seetti Maar song. There is a scene where Radhe saves a boy who fell from a 5 or 6 story building simply by catching him (Just Bhai things). Vijay Mourya and AC Mugil write the screenplay, and Mourya is credited with the dialogues as well. It is incredibly difficult to believe that the same guy wrote dialogues for Gully Boy as well. The cinematography by Ayananka Bose makes sure that the movie looks like a celebration on screen. The CGI work is horribly bad, and the climax jeep chase was hilariously bland. Songs are peppy for sure, but none of it had a smooth entry.

If Wanted was over the top heroism, Radhe is over the top narcissism. Well, they had the audacity to pair a 25-year-old Disha Patani with Salman Khan, and what’s even worse is Jackie Shroff playing her brother. If Kabir Khan had any regrets about how Ek Tha Tiger climax was conceived, he might perhaps get some major relief after watching Radhe.

By Aswin Bharadwaj

Founder and editor of Lensmen Reviews.

View all of Aswin Bharadwaj's posts.