Halla Bol: Loud and Interesting! review

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If you look for subtlety in a film, Halla Bol may disappoint you, nevertheless an interesting drama that could be interesting for all the wrong reasons, writes Bikas Mishra

If cinema is a reflection of reality, this film is a mirror, a magic mirror. Halla Bol is more interesting than several other films I've seen recently, though not necessarily as a film. It bears such a striking similarity to "reality" that it looks "real" in fragments.

The most interesting aspect of the film is its characterization: a spiritual guru who bears visible resemblance to Ravishankar, a liquor baron with looks quite close to Vijay Malya, a film star whose name sounds like Aamir Khan and so on. Apart from the characters major plot elements also seem derived from incidents like Jessica Lal murder and Aamir Khan's much publicized support to Narmada Bachao Andolan and so many that I lost count of after a while.

Halla Bol, gathers almost all of its elements from popular imagination and attempts to brew a magic (reality) potion with a good deal of preaching. The plot goes like this: a small town youngster Ashfaq Khan (to be known as Samir Khan later), a street theatre actor goes to Mumbai with a dream to make it big. And he succeed with a little help of a harmless lie. This is where begins his downfall as a person who believes in truth and justice as taught by his theatre guru. But as the script would have it, while attending to a lavish party of a liquor baron, he witnesses a murder that shakes his consciences and he decides to fight for justice and succeeds with quite a few injuries.

The film begins quite like another self-reflection on Bollywood. A wannabe actress, ready to sleep around with stars, a star threatened by an upcoming talent, poor producer under pressure from the star and all the more poor director with no creative freedom. Thought Rajkumar Santoshi takes complete liberty to have a good laugh at the expense of the everything-endorsing stars and the star-lit-industry. One of the real funny sequences comes here, where the filmi star Samir Khan endorses everything from safety razors to underwear.

Film has some real whacky characters with equally interesting coincidences. Like Siddhu (Pankaj Kapoor) a reformed Dacoit, who fights for people's cause through street plays. Samir Khan, the hero learns acting under his guidance. Equally interesting is Siddhu's reason to become an activist: a play called "Raja Harishchandra" and the way he narrates his story of transformation is anything but funny. The "interesting" coincidence is that he's not the only dacoit in the film, there's another, who is employed by the "bad" politician. More interestingly, they also have a sword fight. And even more interestingly, the good ex-dacoit speaks Punjabi while the bad one speaks a language now popularly known as Bihari.

Wait, there're more interesting facts to note about the film. After Chak De, here you again see a Muslim protagonist, however, he's married to a Hindu girl. Though he visits Haji Ali, a syncretistic place of worship but refuses to cross paths with minority (or communal) politics and announces his faith in the constitution of India.

The major incidences and characters seem more like invocation of public memory rather than a serious attempt to build credible on-screen characters. Look-alikeness is well taken care of in order to suspend disbelief. There're characters who visibly resemble some fancy real life characters while some are rather referential, a rundown of many, created by a mixture of imagination and facts. The same applies to incidents, some we've seen happening or read about them while others sound probable.

Lets take the protagonist for example: Samir Khan, the name sounds similar to Aamir Khan but he isn't Aamir entirely however he could easily be placed in proximity with the popular image of "Rang De Basanti star", who also supported a popular movement (with much regrets). The politician is more of the public imagination mixed with some odd facts about a stereotype of corrupt politician. Similarly, though the plot feeds on Jessica Lal case but also adds things like victim's sister selling her kidney to fight the legal battle and finally succumbing to the pressure of the mighty accused.

As a film, however Halla Bol does sound silly and loud quite a few times. Understandably, director relies too much on references to the "reality" than depicting it or maybe creating one for the film. That's why perhaps what he builds with no haste, goes for a hurried resolution. The climax is equally clumsy and wishful.

If you look for subtlety in a film, Halla Bol may disappoint you, nevertheless an interesting drama that could be interesting for all the wrong reasons.

[rating:2]