Cinema: Balaji Movieplex, Khoparkhairane Status: 100% Plot: The heart wrenching story of a Don who leaves his bloody past behind and is leading the life of a mechanic. This don even has a younger brother who is the subject of all his affection and love – yes, the younger Brother is in the dark regarding his brother’s past. On the other side of the story there is our heroine, the Don’s love from his previous life.- two souls who could not unite for reasons beyond their control. As fate would have it they meet again after 15 years, to complete their love story with a happy ending. Armed with this completely fresh and novel theme Rohit Shetty embarks on a 3 hour long mission to enthrall the audience and fails spectacularly. What was touted as the USP of the film turns out to be its biggest let down. The romance between SRK and Kajol is so melodramatic, so lame and so fake that unfortunately every time they appear on screen you brace yourself for a boring scene. In fact, Varun Dhawan who has pretty much nothing to do in the movie will actually earn some accolades because the scenes involving him provide some relief, albeit slapstick comedy. I am no fan of SRK, but I do feel sorry for him because he has been given all the crap scenes while the others have at least been given a chance to generate some response from the audience. The movie has some action sequences which have been choreographed well, as is expected from Rohit Shetty - SRK’s first fight, Varun’s fight at the pub; even Kajol has a mass scene. But you do wonder why in the hell would anyone name an underworld don Kaali? Even Sasi or Raju (Anjaan) would have been better. There were giggles all around when Kajol yells “Kaaaali”, as a prelude to SRKs entry for the climax fight. Sanjay Mishra keeps mouthing gibberish which does make you laugh just because of the consistent stupidity of the whole thing. Johnny Lever was ok, but irritating at times – Varun Sharma the same. Kajol was absolutely sexy and I think I will be losing some sleep over her for a couple of nights. Kriti Sanon could well have been cast as a magician, she performs the vanishing act with such consistency. Songs are ok, but other than Manma the rest test your patience with their immaculate placement in the narrative. I don’t know if it is because I watched another long film Bajirao Mastani till 10.45 pm and then rushed for Dilwale at 11.15, but it is a pretty long drawn out affair. Gerua was used by most as a mini loo break before the interval; after all, how long can one resist nature’s call? Rating: A very generous 1.5/5 for Kajol and a couple of action sequences. Verdict: Watch it for Kajol’s cleavage.
