Review: Salman’s Radhe is just the cure for COVID fatigue

Director: Prabhu Deva

Production: Salman Khan, Sohail Khan & Atul Agnihotri and Zee Studios

Main Cast: Salman Khan, Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda, Gautam Gulati and Jackie Shroff

Duration: 1hr 45mins

Platform: Zee Plex, ZEE5 in India, theatrical release outside India

Ratings: 3

Review:

Hum tum ek kamre mein bandh ho, aur Bhai ki picture release ho... How can we not watch it? We are accustomed to watching a Salman Khan film only on the big screen, because only the big screen can do justice to all the gravity-physics-logic defying action going on.

So, watching the premiere show of ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ in my living room, on a 42-inch screen, without the hot tub of popcorn and the company of 500-odd people in a house-full theatre – it was a bit surreal. Of course, ‘Radhe’ is not the first Bollywood movie to have its premiere on OTT platforms, as some Bollywood producers have released their films in the digital space amid the pandemic times throughout last year and this year as well. Yes, I had also watched the shudder-worthy Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Laxmii’.

But Salman Khan’s films have always provided a larger-than-life experience to fans. We are used to all the ‘seetis’ (wolf whistles) whenever Bhai beats up the bad guys, or he does one of his quirky dance steps. Sure enough, ‘Radhe’ has a song called ‘Seeti Maar’ just for the exuberant front-benchers. But alas, at home, it was just I and my parents in front of the screen. And after a point, my mother decided she’d had enough and she walked away. Will anyone be able to do that in a theatre?

Now, coming to the movie’s plot – I am not going to give that away, because Bhai has requested his fans not to give away the plot of the film and not to indulge in piracy. In brief, ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ ticks all the boxes of a typical Salman Khan blockbuster – issme action hai, emotion hai, drama hai, comedy hai, glamour hai and lots and lots of maar dhad.

You may already be aware of this, ‘Radhe’ is a remake of hit 2017 Korean film ‘The Outlaws’. Based entirely in Mumbai, the story revolves around how Mumbai’s youth is getting addicted to drugs and Mumbai Police brings in a special officer Radhe (Salman Khan) to clean up the streets and catch hold of the boss of the drug mafia, Rana (Randeep Hooda). But between beating up the bad guys and saving lives, Radhe also finds the time to flirt with his boss’ (Jackie Shroff) sister, Diya (Disha Patani).

This film has eye candy element for both the genders, while for the guys there are Disha Patani and Jacqueline Fernandez, for the ladies there are Randeep Hooda, Sang Hae and Gautam Gulati, and of course, Salman himself.

For the cynic, it could be a case of watch one Salman movie and you’ve watched them all – ‘Dabangg’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Kick’, ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’...

‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ was originally scheduled for launch on Eid last year. But Salman, who is also the co-producer of the film, decided to postpone the release as movie theatres remained shut due to COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown. A year later, the situation has not changed much, and in fact has even worsened amid the second COVID-19 wave.

Ample noise was created around ‘Radhe’ in this one year, which gathered momentum closer to the movie’s premiere on Zee Plex and ZEE5. The movie is seeing a multi-channel release, as the producers are also releasing the film in theatres outside India.

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