Hero Movie Review – Bollywood Bubble

Directed by: Nikhil Advani
Produced by: Salman Khan Films
Cast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty, Aditya Pancholi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sharad Kelkar, Anita Hassanandani
Duration: 2 hours 12 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 2/5

Bollywood seems to have a scarcity of new scripts, so the audience has to go through the same rigmarole that was seen earlier onscreen. Salman Khan Films recent release ‘Hero’ that marks the debut of two-star kids Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty is a rehash of Subhash Ghai’s film of the name that marked the debut of Jackie Shroff.

The story of ‘Hero’ has a villain Pasha (Aditya Pancholi) who orders his foster son Sooraj (Sooraj Pancholi) to kidnap Radha (Athiya Shetty), the daughter of Inspector General of Police Mathur (Tigmanshu Dhulia). The kidnapping is to force Mathur drop criminal charges against Pasha.

Sooraj does the deed and spirits Radha away to a secluded snowbound cottage, soon love blossoms between the star-crossed pair. They have to face the hurdle of Pasha’s anger and also convince Radha’s father, who is very much against Sooraj. Radha finds support in her brother Sharad Kelkar, who tries to protect her from their father’s ire. We also have television hottie Vivan Bhatena playing the villain in the love story.

Will Sooraj and Radha finally meet? Will Radha’s father accept Sooraj? What will Pasha do on learning about Sooraj’s betrayal? All this and many more questions will be answered in Nikhil Advani’s directorial ‘Hero’.

Sooraj Pancholi has made his mentor proud by working hard on his body, that will fetch him quite a number of female followings. On the acting front, Aditya Pancholi’s son has utilised his fathers genes for action sequences. He has displayed his muscles at the drop of a hat, well why not? as he is a Salman Khan prodigy. Athiya Shetty, on the other hand, looks like a younger version of Sonam Kapoor with her tall stature and those chiseled cheekbones, though she displays better acting skills than the Khoobsurat actress.

Together Sooraj and Athiya have tried to deliver the goods but are dragged by the lackluster script. Tigmanshu Dhulia as the hot shot IG has gone over the top with his theatricals. Aditya Pancholi as the deadly Pasha is an apt choice, for the menace he delivers onscreen with just his presence his truly admirable. Vivian Batena looks too chocolatey to fill the screen with vileness that his character has to deliver.

The Nikhil Advani directorial has the sloppiest script that even the talented newcomers are unable to save. The cinematography is fine as it captures the beautiful landscape. Songs, on the other hand, are not on par with the original version that had some beautiful renditions, except Salman Khan’s version of ‘Main Hu Hero Tera’.

The ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ does make an appearance, but that too at the end when the audience is just waiting for the whole rigmarole to end. The Khan’s presence does make it worth sitting through the rehashed version.