Bajrangi Bhaijaan Review

3 years after ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, Salman Khan and Kabir Khan reunite for the biggest release of the year so far ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. The film promises to be an emotional drama that promotes friendship between two religions and neighboring countries.

Story: ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is a story about a young Pakistani girl (Harshitha Malhotra) who comes to India with her mother for treatment. While her mother is asleep, the girl slips out of the train and misses it as it crosses the Pakistani border. She then boards another train and bumps into Bajrang Bali ka Bhakt a.k.a Pavan Kumar Chaturvedi a.k.a Salman Khan. The rest of the film is about Bajrangi and the young girl Munni’s journey back to Pakistan and the hurdles they face.

Review: ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ has a fantastic first half and slightly over-the-top second. Kabir Khan has taken plenty of cinematic liberties and the story gets highly unrealistic at times. The ease with which Salman crosses the border and the scenes that follow are hard-to-digest. Also, every character in the film is a hero, who eventually has a change of heart and helps Bajrangi and Munni.

However, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ has several applaud-worthy scenes:

  • The scene in the first half when a grown up Salman Khan lookalike is shown. It’s hilarious.
  • The scene just before the interval when Bajrangi saves Munni. It takes the film to an altogether different level.
  • A lot of people might remember the ‘Karachi Se Log’ funny video featuring reporter Chand Nawab. Nawazúddin’s character in the film is named after the journalist and he does the exact same scene in the film. Watch the video below, if you haven’t already. You’ll enjoy the actual scene in the film a lot more!
  • The scene in the second half when Nawaz makes Salman his begum.
  • The climax may not work for a lot of people, especially the multiplex audience. Way too over the top, but we liked it for its message.

One other department where ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ doesn’t quite live up to expectations is the music. None of the songs are pleasing to the ear, except ‘Zindagi’ in the second half. The cinematography is top notch, Kashmir has been beautifully captured.

Acting: The star of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is Harshitha Malhotra, who looks adorable in every scene and doesn’t get a single expression wrong. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays a news reporter, a funny character inspired from a Youtube video that went viral on the internet. He is terrific. Kareena has limited screen-time. She has two songs and a couple of scenes in the first half.

And finally. The superstar himself. Salman Khan underplays his role and shares excellent chemistry with both Harshitha and Nawazuddin. ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ isn’t a typical Salman Khan film, but the makers have included a couple of fan-pleasing scenes – one shirtless scene and a couple of action scenes.

Overall, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is a good commercial entertainer that should work with the youth, family audiences, the masses and the classes. It has a bit of everything – comedy, romance, action, friendship, love and religious harmony.

At the box office, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is set for a strong start. The film should collect Rs 100 crore in its first weekend itself and then build from there depending on the response it gets.

Rating: ★★★½☆

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128 Comments

  • Just 3 and a half stars. Less then happy new year. That’s a surprise from indicine. How did you even watched this movie indicine? You did not mention it

  • It’s far better what u have written……ending is simply terrific…..yes agree scene of the decade will be when bajrangi saves munni before interval is treat to watch…..I will go 4 out of 5

  • It seems to me Salman Khan just cant get out of his mold. If you act well and people praise you, you are an actor. But if you have to take off your clothes for getting applauded…well…you are a stripper.
    I really expected more. really really did.

  • good review..thats why i always prefer indicine’s review over others
    you guys are honest and always like to keep up things simple without any biasedness
    will catch it this weekend
    @indicine i wanna know your take on kabir’s direction. Did he live up to expectations?? ( i will always have had a sky high expectation from a kabir khan film)

  • It will earn lower than Salman’s last release Kick…And also gonna affected by bahuubali in other circuits..So it gonna be blockbuster..but cannot cross kick..
    I heard that Salman gave his carrer best performance…Is it true @Indicine???

  • Haha good rplly indicine..gonna comment same thing..i mean whenever you review big movie the coments alwys are comparing with other movie review ..the choices are differ from people to people..there might be a different reviewer for hny..dont compare reviews yaar go watch and enjoye movie..and if you like tell others..btw good review indicine..seems like one time family entertainer ..will not able to watch this wk bcoz some other cometment hope next wk ..

  • it means bb has more appeal to masses, not to multiplexes due to unrealistic reasons.. Btw, may bb run well in both audience i.e, single n multi..

  • Salman khan’s performance is unblvable..

    From every corner it is getting extremly positive reviews.. Plz indicine post critics review..

  • Will Watxh it Today ..!
    Surely A Good Movie cos Indicine reviews are always Bang on .

    A small garl completely overshadowed Karina kpur Khan.. Lolz ..! indicine didn’t even complimented karina on anything Hahaha …! goOd review

  • Just watched the movie in Dubai as it released on thursday itself. To be frank, this movie is by far SALMAN KHAN’S BEST!!!. I always doubt why people praise bodygaurd or ready or kick or dabanggg series…IT IS A REAL LET DOWN…ANY ONE CAN DO SUCH MOVIES and also those were successfully tested down south..

    But Bajrangi bhaijaan is an excellent movie…I really give my rating as 5 out of 5 because it is Salman khan’s response to SRK’s My name is khan or Chak de india …I mean Content driven movies. I know this movie will become the biggest grosser of Salman khan may be until next 5-10years!!! write it down!!. I am a very big fan of SRK and really appreaciating Salman khan’s movie atlast!!!

    This movie teach about Humanity…neither of the people of india or pakistan hate each other..it is just instilled by the politians or army personnel (in higher cader and not referring to the Jawans of both the countries as they are genuine and kind hearted people..they are just doing the command they receive from higher authorities).

    There is a scene where Salman khan’s father says ‘what !! salman khan went to pakistan??? they will make him suffer…they are very bad people who kill our jawans…’and immediately the next scene they show that Salman is being helped by Maulana and nawazudding(reporte)…TRULY HEART TOUCHING SCENES..

    Really people want to have more kind of movies like My Name is Khan (Message: All muslims are not terrorists) , PK (Message: to come together and worship one GOD who created all of us!!) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Message: To bring together the people of Pakistan and India and to teach our children to Love and not to Hatred)!!!!

  • The difference between srk and aamir is that srk makes a movie for his fans ( Fan )
    while aamir makes porn for his fans ( pk )
    I am aamir biggest hater even hate him
    more than Satan … yohoooooooo…!!! ?

  • I somehow feel Indicine is not consistent in reviewing the movie. Sometimes they tend to be too strict and sometimes they just give 3.5 to a film like Happy New Year. So to a general audience like me, this review wont help much. Coz I am sure BB is much better than Happy New Year even at the worst case scenario. @Indicine why dont you guys just keep critics review like you always do. Or, you can just review the movie without rating it.

    A suggestion from your site’s regular visitor

  • sorry indicine, first time i m not agree with you….this movie is much better than your review…it should be min. 4.5* movie.. please refer my & others review:

    Bajrangi Bhaijaan starts off with a Bang with the story set in Pakistan. While most of Salman Khan films begin with Salman Khan and end with Salman Khan, Kabir Khan takes his own sweet time to establish the heart wrenching plot of the film. The director establishes the character of Munni (Harshali Malhotra) and the entire backdrop of Pakistan before introducing Salman Khan which sets the tone of the film. The first scene of the film will be a treat to watch for Shahid Afridi fan’s and this comes out as a master stroke from Kabir. As we all know, the plot of the film is about how, Munni a girl with no voice from Pakistan, lost in India, meets the man with golden heart Pavan (Salman Khan) and Pavan goes on a mission to make Munni reach Pakistan.

    With getting much into the story of the film, we move on to Kabir Khan’s direction which is undoubtedly outstanding. The director has complete hold over the plot of the film and his style of introducing each and every character at significant point of the film is praiseworthy. Be it Journalist Chand (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) or Maulana (Om Puri), the director has given special attention and a human touch to each and every character. As promised by Pritam, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is one of those rare albums where each and every song takes the story forward. Even a song like Selfie Le Le, Tu Chahiye, Bhar Do Jholi Meri takes the story forward. Special mention to the beautifully shot and choreographed “Chicken Song”, watch Salman Khan doing all his trade mark steps in the song. Salman Khan’s last blockbuster Kick had some great action sequences, however there was no build up around the grand action sequences. In Bajrangi Bhaijaan, action comes in as the need of the script. Kabir ensured that the action sequence has a terrific build up to move the people emotionally.

    The action is extremely less which was the need of the script. Salman’s “SHIRTLESS” scenes comes in a very emotional moment in the scene. KUDOS to Kabir Khan for this. Cinematographer Aseem Mishra has always presented some breath taking visuals in all Kabir Khan films starting from Kabul Express and Bajrangi Bhaijaan is no different. Be it Delhi, Kashmir, Mandava – Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a visual treat. Despite 2 hour 39 minute run time, there is not a minute where Bajrangi Bhaijaan seem to be dragging.

    Performances — SALMAN KHAN IS SHEER – SHEER MAGIC IN BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN. YOU FEEL FOR SALMAN’S CHARACTER AND THE EMOTIONS HE GOES THROUGH IN EACH AND EVERY FRAME. YOU HAVEN’T SEEN A SALMAN KHAN LIKE THIS IN AGES. NAWAZUDDIN IS HILARIOUS IN THE FILM AND COMES IN SECOND HALF. SOME FABULOUS DIALOGUES BETWEEN SALMAN KHAN AND NAWAZUDDIN ARE THERE IN THE SECOND HALF. THEIR CHEMISTRY IS MUCH BEYOND KICK. KAREENA IS VERY GOOD IN HER ROLE. LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST – HARSHAALI MALHOTRA IS A BORN STAR AND A FABULOUS ACTOR. SEE THE FILM TO BELEIVE IT

    To sum up, Bajrangi Bhaijaan delivers a strong message with a lot of entertainment. The film is undoubtedly Salman Khan’s finest film of last 10 years and no one but Salman Khan could have pulled off the character of Pavan with so much innocence and aggression. The breath taking visuals, beautiful Harshali Malhotra, Heart touching story, Hilarious Nawazuddin Siddiqui are the reasons over and above Salman Khan to watch the film.

  • @indicine the review is not what actually the film is.. u said over the top for multiplexes.. actually it is more 4 the multiplexes.. single screen audience wld luv it lesser!!

  • @Indicine .. It is absolutely clear now that u have a soft corner for SRK and Hrithik.
    When the whole world was criticizing Happy New Year, u came out praising it to the core.
    Now here is the opposite case with the best Salman Khan film of the decade. Anyways that is your personal opinion, so we respect that.
    But the plus point of Salman fans is – the review is on the same lines as Indicine review of PK. 2nd half could have been much better and 3.5 stars are common between the 2 movies. And mind you, the lifetime gross of both the movies is going to be the same as well.

  • To Salman Khan fans who question SRK’s stardom.We are tired of DON vs Jaanemann, Chak De India vs Mary Gold.. Make sure Sultan release vs Raees… even the Raees posters along have overshadowed the whole bajrangi bhaijaan film, so on EID next year Bhaijaan will cry once again after Jaaneman bec of SRK’s Classic Film Raees.

  • Wahi hua jiska darr tha …. Munni n Nawaz bhaijaan overshadowed our bhaijaan.

    Bhaijaan there was no need to play this same old trick of going shirtless to please us fans . No , we dont need such lukkhagiri in otherwise beautiful content driven film.

    Nice review @Indicine , it feels BB is a good film inspite of our Bhaijaan trying to ruin it with his usual antics

    Will catch it this weekend ..

  • Indicine restricted itself in praising BB coz of obvious reasons.. this site is mostly followed by blind srk fans n a true actual n unbiased review which happens to be no less than awesome wld displease a lot of followers of this site.. so if you read the review carefully u’d understand indicine has tried to play safe mixing words n yet giving 3.5 althgg it says too much cinematic liberty n over the top climax n too much for multiplexes yet the film is 4 the classes!! .. very interesting indicine!!.. have watched the movie n it deserves a lot more praise than u’ve tried to give!! Anyway gud try to ve neutral!! ..

  • Quite sure, it will be another crap like Bhai’s previous films, same reviews i read about jai ho, kick but it became craps later. no expectations at all.

  • t,his is haters for you who said Salman can not act and make crap films
    so now not spread negativity about bajrangi bhaijaan because it,s good film go watch and enjoy and hope you like this movie
    Salman sir just win everyones heart including srk fans

  • bb is nt a typipal salman entertainer.i hope it collect 28-30 cr on day 1.day 2 will be huge may break hny 1st day collection 45 cr.oh sry nt 45cr(manipulated).actual 37.50cr.becoz salman dont manipulation lyk srk and hrithik.

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