Mindless entertainment
Son of Sardaar
Movie name:
Son of Sardaar
Cast:
Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla, Sonakshi Sinha
Director:
Ashwin Dhir
Rating:
If mindless, rumble-tumble entertainment is your cup of tea, then you just might be curious about Son of Sardaar. Just for the record, it’s a remake of S.S.
Rajamouli’s Telugu hit Maryada Ramanna, which itself was “inspired” by, believe it or collapse, Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality (1923).
Now you’re transported to the ever-camera-friendly Punjab for a slug-out between Jassi (Ajay Devgn) and a clan topped by Billu Paaji (Sanjay Dutt). Jassi jaisa koi nahin really, he wants his family property back, sell it and return to merry old London. Not that easy, of course, because Paaji and Company are baying for his blood. Oye oye, they keep oye-ing.
So why don’t they just throw Jassi out? Simply because, they believe in good, old-fashioned hostility. Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? (Guest When Will You Vamoose?) was the title of a Devgn chuckle-raiser, and here everyone’s taking it ultra-seriously.
As long as Jassi stays within the precincts of Billu Paaji’s home, they can’t raise a little finger on him.
Funny? Occasionally, yes. Devgn’s deadpan face combined with cool comic timing, and way-out stunts (on horses, bikes, the works!), get you grinning. But the scenes are stolen by Paaji’s moonh-boli biwi (Juhi Chawla). Seems the feud with Jassi has to be sorted before she can become the legally wedded Mrs Billu Paaji. Absurd? Quite.
Here’s a low-concept idea, then, which is stretched beyond the viewer’s endurance limit. Salman Khan shows up to add to the star value, goes “Po po po”, and draws wolf whistles from the audience instantly.
Okay, so this purported entertainer may be a notch above Rowdy Rathore and Ready but that’s it. Excellently photographed by Aseem Bajaj, SOS, however, has a sound design which blasts the viewer’s ear buds. And the costumes are excessively blingy.
As for the music score by Himesh Reshammiya, it’s nothing to hum about.
Of the cast, Sonakshi Sinha in a decorative role, continues to be vapid. Sanjay Dutt seems to be stifling his yawns. Devgn is reliably inspired, but it’s Juhi Chawla who makes SOS worth a glance, if you’re up to a brain-basher that is.
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