Planet Bollywood
Halla Bol
 
Producer: Samee Siddiqui
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan and Pankaj Kapoor
Music: Sukhwinder Singh
Lyrics: Mehboob Kotwal
Genre: Social
Recommended Audience: Parental Guidance
Approximate Running Time: 3 hrs
Film Released on: 11 January 2008
Reviewed by: Aakash Gandhi  - Rating: 7.0 / 10
More Reviews and Analysis by PB Critics:
    • Feature Review by Amodini Sharma - Rating: 8.0 / 10
 
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Rajkumar Santoshi is a man who has been led astray by his desires to tread new grounds. The man who brought us such impactful cinema in his initial ventures (GHAYAL, DHAMINI, GHATAK), lost his identity during the latter portion of the 90s. Most recently, critics were mildly shocked with his sup-mediocre performance in FAMILY. However, Santoshi has returned to his comfort zone with HALLA BOL - a film that depicts the murky underbelly of high society, and one superstar's fight to bring justice to a murdered victim, while resurrecting his own self-respect.

Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan) is a humble, down-to-earth thespian who works with his ex-revolutionary guru (Pankaj Kapoor) to put on plays for the local community. Like any other wide-eyed dreamer, Ashfaque too wishes to go to Mumbai to become a big-time hero. Lady luck seemed to be walking alongside Ashfaque, as he soon shoots to fame and becomes the heart-throb of the nation. Unfortunately, the sudden onslaught of fame and fortune went straight to his head, as he begins losing the compassion and humility that once dwelled within him.

Through a series of scandalous and eye-opening events, HALLA BOL aims to touch on issues of inter-political/high-societal corruption, while calling out "superstars" for their unwillingness to utilize their power over the public for good. Rajkumar Santoshi has finally returned!

Focusing on the high-points, the story has been grandly conceptualized by Santoshi. Although we have seen many films attempt to shine light on political insensitivity and corruption, this is the first time we've seen a film that puts the pressures of doing good on the most influential of them all - movie stars, who can open their mouths for pointless endorsements, yet keep them shut when it really matters. Dialogue by Santoshi is also worthy of mention. He writes some very credible characters, which is key when creating a film that deals with GOOD vs EVIL.

Another hurdle Santoshi is able to cross is that his narrative never tends to lose focus, even though he touches on an array of issues, including the power that the media has in projecting the right message to the public. Toss this in the issues of political instability, social corruption, and immoral behavior by influential entertainment icons - and that would spell doom for any novice filmmaker.

There are two major flaws in the film; both of which have to deal with the smoothness of cinema. When writing the story, one wishes Santoshi wrote it from beginning to end. However, there is a very sharp flash-back in the screenplay, which is highly obtrusive to the entire flow of the film. With respect to the angle of the main character, and his degradation of character - you would like to see the natural progression from start to finish and how he resurrects that. However, the jagged movement in the screenplay disrupts this and hampers the overall impact of the film.


Secondly, Steven Bernard's editing is not up to par in the post-interval portions. This is important because it is during these segments that Santoshi aims to make his point and propose a solution to the problem. Yet, the inclusion of time-wasting scenes affects the seamless flow of events, resulting in a greatly diminished impact. The film could have easily been trimmed by 20-30 minutes, which would have augmented the power of the climax.

The rest of the crew is quite competent, which is a given with all Santoshi crews. S. Natarajan Subramaniam's camerawork is crystal clear in conveying the intended visions of Santoshi. Music by Sukhwinder Singh does play a role in the background of the film. One wishes Santoshi had roped in a more experienced background scorer to do the film, as a strong thematic musical presence could have heightened the level of impact to a small degree.

Santoshi has brought together a spell-binding cast, highlighted by Ajay Devgan and Pankaj Kapoor. A lot has been said about Devgan's performances in such quasi-revolutionary roles, yet the man seems to progress each time. His poise and confidence is clearly evident, while he remains within character throughout the film.

However, it is Pankaj Kapoor who takes the cake as the theatre guru with a bloody past. And although he just finished up 2007 in spectacular fashion with beautiful performances in Bharadwaj's BLUE UMBRELLA and Talwar's DHARM, the man conquers versatility with perfection yet again in HALLA BOL. His chemistry with Devgan is scintillating on screen, while his comedic timing (in one particular scene) is absolutely impeccable. HALLA BOL will only help the argument that Pankaj Kapoor is the most polished and versatile actor in the country.

Santoshi has presented us with a film that succeeds in its mission to open eyes and put pressures on those who have the real power to do good, but don't. Although not without flaws, HALLA BOL makes for a satisfying cinematic experience, thanks in heavy part to a pair of exceptional performances.


Aakash Gandhi is Managing Editor and Senior Writer for Planetbollywood.com. He also freelances for the Asian Variety Show at avstv.com.

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