Hero Hindi Movie
Let me confess. I am not quite a fan of the original Hero. The late '80s film had already lost its charm by the time I started watching films as a passion. But when you compare it to the storytelling of that age it stood pretty clear and bore testimony of Subhash Ghai's prowess as a mainstream director.
But Nikhil Advani is no Subhash Ghai. His only successful mainstream film has been Kal Ho Naa Ho, which bore a heavy Karan Johar hangover. D Day, his last film, though critically appreciated, wasn't quite the mainstream potboiler film that Hero aimed to be. What Hero turns out to be is something that fluctuates between wanting to be realistic and a glamorous launch pad for two star kids, the later meaning that the writing defies logic every now and then.
Hero traces the love story of a goon and the daughter of a senior police official. A love story that starts after the girl is kidnapped by the guy on behest of a politician who has an axe to grind with the policeman.
The film starts decently before losing way so bad that it never gets back to track for rest of the duration. You keep wondering what may have happened to the cause behind the kidnapping that actually led to the entire drama. But the director probably had a mandate - focus on the kids. The rest can go fish. So no matter how good an act the Tigamanshu Dhulia puts up as the IG, and how sincere the efforts of Sharad Kelkar and Aditya Pancholi are, there is no way that the focus deviates from the debuting actors. Even if that's for the most unnecessary scene ever! And of course those drop of a hate songs. Picture this - the 'hero' gets shot, gets washed off a river with his girl, wake up a day later with injuries, recover while singing songs and dancing around in picturesque Leh and then make it back to Mumbai after some drama, all in three days. Because the director obviously believed that gun shots heal in two days, wound scars vanish in one and rivers flow backward.
On their part, thankfully, both Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty show spark. Sooraj is introduced in a way that's copied from the opening montage of American TV show Arrow and Athiya's introduction is made to resemble what Karan Johar did to Kareena Kapoor is Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... [Nikhil assisted KJo in that film]. They go through all the irrational shifts in storyline as well as their own characters with as much gusto.
A remake of Hero probably could have been done better. It could have been provided a more noir-feel and made gritty providing the new kids enough scope while keeping the sensibilities in place. Alas, it ends a project so botched up just so that Sooraj Pancholi could show off his body and action skills, while Athiya could present her dancing skills. Hero is an example in irony!
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