The strength builds up slowly

Jasmine Singh

Strength doesn’t mean rippling muscles, chiselled body, bulging biceps; strength also means a smart brain... and well, this is the message that this week’s release Bhalwan Singh brings along.

Ironically, the film itself could not play on its real strength, the story. Director Param Shiv could not tightly knit the first half of the movie. Bhalwan Singh comes with an interesting story, written by Sukhraj Singh, which means the director had the ‘right’ material to show his skill, something that does not happen, at least not in the beginning of the film.

So much so, the lead character of the film, Bhalwan Singh, also lacks conviction. It starts to build only after the interval, when the film actually starts to move! The dialogues of the film are hard-hitting, but only in parts and same can be said about the screenplay. From scene one till the interval, everything seems to come and go without leaving an impact or impression.

The entire game for Bhalwan Singh changes after the interval, where not only the story catches pace, the director Param Shiv too shows his master strokes. Though somewhere, for a fraction of a ‘minute’, Bhalwan Singh too has the ‘toying with mechanics’ plot like earlier Punjabi films Bambukat and Bailaras. This, however, does not harm the interesting ‘second’ half.  It is pertinent to mention that after the interval, the audiences get to see the actor Ranjit Bawa. Ranjit has already showed his acting prowess in Vekh Baraatan Chaliyan, so it is interesting to see him hit the comic scenes with his right timing. The same can be said about his subtle romantic scenes, he does a good job here as well. If only the director could establish Ranjit Bawa from the beginning of the film, it could have worked as a real strength. Ranjit has done a fine job with his character, nailing it to the tee.

Another actor, who doesn’t leave any loose ends in his work, is Manav Vij. In his short role with limited dialogues, he does his job well again. Now, this was another ‘strength’ that was wasted though. Karamjit Anmol and Mahabir Bhullar have done justice to their roles as well. Navpreet Banga plays the love interest of Bhalwan Singh. Now, where was the need to create a Kareena Kapoor Khan of Hindi movie Asoka or Tamannaah Bhatia of Bahubali? Showing Navpreet Banga as a part time warrior and part time coy love interest has definitely added nothing to the film.

In all this though, a pat on the back for the firang artiste and also for the director for making a wise decision to pick up artiste who could pass as the British in the film! The music of the film is interesting, a mix of romance and subtle vigour.

Bhalwan Singh is definitely a film with a different yet an interesting concept that sadly could not play on its strengths!

jasmine@tribunemail.com