Brothers – Movie Reivew

Yesterday evening I went for a Bollywood movie, but unlike how I usually do, this time I did not proclaim it through an FB status message. Maybe, because this time I was supposed to write something more about the movie, a review perhaps?

The promos told me that this was a movie about mixed martial arts, vengeance and estranged brothers fighting to win prize money. However, as I found out, it was not so.

The movie I watched was, the Akshay starrer ‘Brothers’. No, you cannot call it just an Akshay starrer; there are lots more to this movie than just Akshay. Although, he played the role of elder bro ‘David’ and rocked as usual, Siddharth Malhotra playing the younger bro ‘Monty’, who is shown entering into the fighting cage to grab his respect and make name for himself, rocked harder.

It is a men's movie, and both brothers are shown struggling with a mixed array of emotions ranging from anger to sadness to despair to vengeance and that is evident from the first shot you see of them. A mix of emotions, that reminds you of the lead character in Agneepath, although not to that extent, but somewhere around there and no doubt, enough to remind you that the director is the same guy, Karan Malhotra. The only time you see them happy and playful is when they are shown as kids. 

If the lads managed to set the screen afire with their anger and brute force, there is our good old Jackie Shroff who plays the role of their father, a strongman whom time has broken down and someone who manages to leave the screen moist and melancholy with his sadness and guilt. Then there is Pasha, played by Ashutosh Rana, who brings in the much need romance into the fighting cage with his couplets and poetic one-liners.

Albeit there are a few women in the movie, but they do not really grab your attention that much. Kareena comes in for an item number, throws a few thumkas and jhatkas, but does not manage to even give you a goose bump. Jacqueline plays the role of ‘Jenny’, that is, David’s wife and unlike the item girl; she does manage to get a few scenes to her credit. Somewhere midway the movie, there is a long flashback scene where Karan shows us how David and Jenny fell in love. It is boring. This is the time you guys must target to go for your middle-of-the-movie washroom visit. Then, there is a cute six year old girl who plays the role of David’s daughter and who herself is a fighting a war of sorts, and the main reason why he is forced to get back into street fighting.

Someone told me that this was the remake of a Hollywood movie named ‘Warrior’, but I knew that this would not be just another copy as it is, it would have its own Indian masala and Bollywood flavoring in it. My guess was right. This movie too had its own cliché bollywoody moments:

1. Men from Mumbai’s coastline are strong, they love violent sports/activities, they have a bad temperament, they drink, and they cheat, they make babies outside the home, they destroy their families and drown themselves into a cesspool of guilt.
   
   
2. A younger brother, however strong he is, he cannot beat his elder bro. He could use the vengeance he has towards his elder bro and channelize it to beat the pulp out of guys much stronger than his brother, but he never will be able to beat his elder bro.
   
   
3. Cute girls dig serious angry young men.
   
   
4. Mothers are strong people. Irrespective of all odds, they tie the whole family with an invisible chord and keep them bundled as one, and when the leave, they leave the whole world in total disarray, and all relationships fall apart.
   
   
5. No Indian man would ever enter a cage and fight his brother merely for money. Either he should have a genuine want, like money to treat someone ailing in the family or he should be a real villain, a real bad man.
   Now, Monty is not a bad man, and so he had to have a reason that is stronger than you can imagine, having this extent of vengeance for this elder brother. If you were a Bollywood movie freak, you would get the inkling well as the movie proceeds, and that is where Shefali Shah comes in. She plays the role of their mother, and what a wonderful job she has done at it.

So, unlike what the promos tell you, this movie is not about mixed martial arts, vengeance or estranged brothers fighting to win prize money. This is about a mother and her two sons. This is about family. This is about sticking together even when everything seems falling apart. This is about how callous men can be. This is about making mistakes, mistakes that are fatal. This is about making amendments for those mistakes. This is about forgiving and being forgiven for those mistakes. This is about reclaiming your family. This is about wiping your tears from the past and smiling at the future with moisty eyes.

Watch it, because, never ever has it happened that you have been moved to tears watching two men fight in a cage in a professional event.

Watch it, because as the punches are thrown and as you hear the bones crack you will feel an adrenalin rush but eventually when the hearts meet, your tears will flow, and you will start melting from the inside.