It’s a movie with a social message but it’s the first time I’ve seen a movie with so many messages! Halla Bol, which means Raise your Voice/Shout Out (against injustice) is about the terrible, corrupt and apathetic society we live in and the movie tackles all these problems. Problems ranging from police corruption, political corruption, a voyeuristic media and a passive society to crime against women, the hollowness of Bollywood, of advertising, and the debauchery of high society…

That should make this film a hotch potch of various elements - right? Surprisingly, no. It wasn’t bad at all. The director, Raj Kumar Santoshi, manages to weave in the various elements quite skillfully and the story proceeds in a coherent though cliched manner.

The movie opens with Ajay Devgan, who plays Sameer Khan, a top Bollywood actor. He is a small town boy who wants to become a Bollywood star at any cost. His real name is Ashfaque, but he changes it to Sameer Khan and this is supposed to convey that his Bollywood persona is not his true self. Well, Khan is quite a cad and that’s a mild word! He is unprofessional, sleeps with his heroines, doesn’t keep to his commitments, squashes new talent, does too much advertising (these scenes are hilarious!) and likes to roughshod over the director’s vision. Worse, he lies. Good to see Bollywood laugh at itself! For once Bollywood hasn’t just trashed police officers, politicians and the media - it has trashed itself as well! There is this recurrent mockery of the Bollywood ‘hero’ who is a coward in real life.

So is Sameer Khan an anti-hero? That’s what I thought at first….but as the story unfolds we realise that there are depths to the character. If I write more about this it will give away the story. Suffice to say that there is a murder and that is what sets Sameer Khan off on a quest to find his real self.

The movie is a harsh indictment of Indian society because policemen and politicians are shown as very very evil and ofcourse- filthy rich.

Devgan acted quite well but unfortunately the acting of most of the others in the film was unimpressive. I did like Pankaj Kapoor who a plays Sidhu, guru-cum-ex-bandit. Darshan Jariwala is the villain of the piece (corrupt politician) and he does a good job. Actually both Jariwala and Kapoor plays caricatures rather than characters. This technique of the director’s makes an exaggerated point and adds humour. To some extent almost everyone in the film is a caricature.

What I really liked about this film (what moved me) were the scenes which showed the apathy of the public. In this sense the movie reminded me of Rang de basanti. But I liked this film better than Rang De (though Rang De is a better made film) as it was less violent and the ending not as tragic as in Rang De.

The scene where Ashfaque performs a street play (Halla Bol) to raise awareness of an issue central to the movie (the murder of a young innocent girl) is very moving. There are thousands of people watching but when Ashfaque is attacked, no one comes forward to help him. And his play is sending out the very same message! That people are apathetic and if don’t shout out, one day they themselves will become victims.

While this scene was going on I couldn’t help thinking of the recent molestation case at Juhu where scores of men stood by and watched the fun. And now this gang of men who were roaming Juhu in a big gang are protesting their innocence, giving all sorts of excuses as to why they did nothing! Ofcourse to my mind the fact that these men were in the centre of the mob, right next to the women makes their claim that they are innocent a suspicious one, but even assuming that they did not molest the women…what sort of people would stand a foot or two away from a woman being stripped and molested and watch? Do these type of people enjoy watching women being stripped against their will? In Halla Bol too the victim is a woman and in a way this movie is well-timed. While watching the movie I was reminded of the Jessica Lal murder case as well, where almost all witnesses turned hostile in the beginning.

I think every Indian living in India will be able to relate to the happenings in the movie as we all see this first hand and to some extent we are all guilty for not speaking out.

Vidya Balan does nothing in the movie except play the devoted wife. Not much scope or screen time for her. But she fits the role. The director wasted no time on her emotions and how she comes to terms with an unfaithful husband…the movie was devoted to societal issues.

I thought the editing of the movie was good. I liked the way the flashback scenes were done. I detest movies where the viewer is constantly taken into the past as it can disturb the flow of the movie. The director had just one long flashback scene, inserted at the right time and it was perfect. Even otherwise, the editing work was of a high quality.

Overall, this film is watchable. Not top class cinema certainly but a film with a strong social message presented in an entertaining way. If only I liked Ajay Devgan a little more! But he is certainly not on my list of favorites…but well, I still thought the movie was alright. But don’t expect too much. It’s a Bollywood masala film, but serious. It’s got a happy ending though. ... More ... Collapse

No matter how well intentioned Halla Bol is, the film, at the end of the day, fails to stir you up.

Rajkumar Santoshi is back with another film that raises pertinent questions and tries to prick your conscience through a story that has a Santoshi stamp all over it. At the centre of the story is a protagonist who dares to raise his voice against injustice and, in doing so, makes himself the target of powerful people (a corrupt politician and a liquor baron) whose sons are the perpetrators of the crime.

What


mars ‘Halla Bol’ is Santoshi’s unsubtle and stale treatment of the subject. Even though the director raises a new issue in this film, he gives it the same garb as we have seen in his films like ‘Damini’ and ‘Ghayal’.

Among the villains we have a corrupt politician who twists the system to his convenience in full connivance with the police force. And then there are those seen-a-hundred-times sequences of the protagonist’s family being threatened, his car being run-over by a truck at night, his house being attacked by hooligans and many such obvious clichés of Santoshi’s past films.

In a nutshell, ‘Halla Bol’ offers nothing fresh, even though it deals with an entirely new and much relevant subject. You will see what I mean when you get an overview of the story.

Sameer Khan ( Ajay Devgan ) is a film star corrupted by stardom. He feels no pangs of conscience in sleeping with girls willing to be couched for a Bollywood break. A disloyal husband and a selfish actor, Sameer gets his rude awakening when he witnesses the murder of a girl at a party.

Even as the killers walk out of the party with their heads held high, Sameer, like other celebrities, prefers to turn a blind eye to the murder. But there is something good in Sameer that provokes him to do soul searching. That good comes from his past.

Superstar Sameer Khan once used to be a small town theatre artist called Ashfaque. Along with his guruji Siddhu ( Pankaj Kapur ) he used to perform street plays dealing with social issues. Ashfaque was a simple but ambitious man whose passion for acting just about surpassed his love for Sneha ( Vidya Balan ), whom he eventually marries. However, with his first big Bollywood break, Ashfaque becomes Sameer Khan. Fame changes not just his name, his character too. Stardom goes to his head. And his selfish ambition alienates him from his wife, his guru and his parents.

Sameer lives his lonely, depraved and debauched life until his conscience wakens after witnessing the murder at party. He decides not to be a mute spectator to injustice. He decides to testify as a witness and bring the culprits, however powerful they be, to justice.

What follows reminds you Santoshi’s past films. A sweet-talking corrupt politician (whose son is one of the accused) threatens Sameer with dire consequences if he does not retract from his statement. When cajoling and coercion fail, the politician has his goons terrorize Sameer’s family. Sameer is ditched by his peers in the film industry. His effigies are burnt by public. And just when it seems to be becoming one man’s fight against the whole system, enters Siddhu, Sameer’s guru and a reformed dacoit.

Gradually, Sameer’s fight becomes the fight of avam. The public’s conscience is awakened and the good emerges triumphant over the evil in the end.

More than the impact of the story, you carry home with you superb performances by Pankaj Kapur, Darshan Jariwala and Ajay Devgan. Kapur’s portrayal of Sidhu is so powerful that you cringe in your seat when he stares fixatedly at the camera. Darshan Jariwala plays the sweet-talking corrupt politician with such conviction that you love to hate his character. Ajay Devgan brings a natural seriousness to his role. It is one of those roles that suit Devgan’s natural flair. Vidya Balan is mostly reduced to the margins, but she does get a few meaty scenes.

Rajkumar Santoshi’s intentions are noble indeed. But he keeps falling back on his old style of filmmaking in which a corrupt system goes to dangerous extents to muffle a rare call for truth and justice. ‘Halla Bol’ also exposes the hypocrisy of the elite and takes indirect potshots at Bollywood stars who know little else than to dance at marriages and endorse brands.

The film required a hard-hitting end, but the writers contrived the screenplay to suit their convenience. As a result, what should have been a riveting, evocative and enlightening end turns out to be a hurried and unconvincing conclusion to the story. ... More ... Collapse

Raj Kumar Santoshi's Halla Bol, arrives with quite a bang at a very apt moment in the history of this city. The most heartening thing about this film is that the director has given a heartful treatment to the subject of public apathy and the corruption in the higher echelons of society. It's not a subject which is novel to commercial cinema, but what is novel is the manner in which Santoshi's treats the same.

Halla Bol tells the story of an aspiring actor, Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan), a small-town lad, who works in a street theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur). He has aspirations of becoming a Hindi filmstar, and soon his dreams do come true. He becomes the hot superstar Sameer Khan and gets entangled in the trappings of success. He gradually moves away from all that was once close to him and his loved ones, including his wife Sneha (Vidya Balan), his parents, and his mentor Sidhu. The jaded superstar's conscience is jolted by a murder that he witnesses at a party. The rest of the film goes into exploring how he responds to the call of his conscience, joining hands again with his mentor to bring the guilty to the fore.

One cannot help but think of the Jessia Lal case when one looks this movie and there are certain superficial resemblances to the incident as well. But those resemblances apart, the film excels in the first part, where it deals with the rise of Sameer Khan the actor and the fall of Ashfaque the man, till the point when the fateful party happens. Being a part of the industry, both Santoshi and his lead actor Devgan, are able to get all the details absolutely pat. Very early in the film, right in beginning in fact, the director manages to establish the deceit which has become a part of Sameer's mental makeup. He has absolutely no qualms about fudging the details of his past so that it makes a good story. His relations with his wife have reached a nadir. That fateful party makes him face himself and he realizes that he and his present existence is nothing but a sham. What makes it even more galling for him is the fact that he knew the victim. The victim's young sister is big fan of his and like all fans, finds it difficult to look at the man and the actor as two separate personas. All his friends and acquaintances present at the party refuse to confess to the murder and he does the same, fearing that it will spoil his image. When Sameer finally comes out and changes his statement at the police station, the outcome is expected but it is perhaps more than he bargained for as the two guilty men happen to be sons of a politician and a high flying lawyer.

From here onwards, the film moves towards a predictable conclusion, but not before Sameer and his family have been terrorized, his reputation torn to shreds by the media and finally, he is battered in broad daylight, with not a word of protest uttered. Halla Bol moves at a very decent pace and keeps the viewers hooked right till the end. But one fears that it is not the screenplay so much in the second half, as the brilliant acting by Pankaj Kapur, Devgan and Balan, which takes one's breath away. Even Anjan Srivastav in a cameo, is excellent. The only problem area, if at all, is the manner in which Devgan tackles the goons, or for instance, the manner in which he barges into the politician's house and breaks his glass window. These are very Hindi filmy reactions and one guesses that Santoshi could not do away with them, seeing that his lead actor has honed his reputation in action films as well.

Kapur gets another opportunity to hammer home the point that he is one of the most accomplished actors that we have around. It is Hindi cinema's loss that they have not managed to use his talent appropriately. He blends in perfectly into the commercial format of this film and shows how through a mere look or a seemingly casual action, one can portray better and more intensely than through reams and reams of dialogues. He has the his ‘dialogues' as well to deliver, specially when he addresses the crowd after he comes out of the hospital, but it is the manner in which he does so, which makes it so effective. Devgan is another actor who is known for the intensity with which he imbues his performance and Halla Bol is no exception. With a solid author-backed role, the actor is able to play the jaded superstar as well as the idealistic Ashfaque, in his inimitable understated style of acting.

Balan may have a very minor role in terms of screen presence and dialogues, but she manages to make very good use of what little she has. She has an extremely intelligent and extremely sensitive face and uses it well. This is not her film, but still, in a certain manner of speaking, is her film as well. Darshan Jariwala as the powerful politician and Anjan Srivastav as Ashfaque's father, too come up with very good performances. What helps most in a film like this is that the dialogues, for the most part, have been intelligently penned and are devoid of useless clichés. The film's music rightly takes a backseat but full marks to Sukhvinder Singh for making the two devotional numbers, one a Gurbani, and the other a quwali, the high points of the film's music.

In all, Santoshi is to be credited for making a film on such a topical subject. He manages to exercise full control of his film in the manner in which he lets the story take precedence over any starry egos. The action is never diluted by any so-called commercial compulsions, and the end result is a film that works well. Even though Halla Bol moves towards its conclusion in a somewhat predictable fashion, it does not take away from the honesty of the film's approach or its integrity. And its impact should be no less than – Halla Bol! ... More ... Collapse