Movie Review: BOL BACHCHAN (2012) – A Rohit Shetty Movie That’s Somewhat Watchable

One of the best Bollywood comedies came in 1979 with GOL MAAL. A movie about how a smart ass lies about, of all things, his facial hair, in order to get a job with an eccentric old man. Given that this is Movember’s Moustache Movie Madness… what better movie to review, than a recent hit that takes GOL MAAL and puts a modern day spin on it… BOL BACHCHAN!

Rating: 3 Out Of 5 Stars

BOL BACHCHAN is about a down on his luck Muslim boy played by Abhishek Bachchan, who changes cities in order to make a fresh start with his sister, played by Asin. However, on his 1^st day in the new city, he commits a horrible offense by entering a Hindu Temple that’s been shut down due to a regional dispute. To hide the offense (much worse if a Muslim defiled the Hindu Temple than a Hindu himself) Bachchan has to lie about being Muslim.

This is all fine and good, because no one knows him in the city, but the lie becomes much worse when it’s said to the most respected man in the city, a professional wrestler and someone who has zero tolerance for liars. See where this is going yet?

The badass , yet simple minded wrestler is Prithviraj, played by Ajay Devgan who values truth over anything else in his life. At first the pencil thin moustache clad Bachchan feels guilty about lying, however, after being offered a job which will more than take care of him and his sister, he has trouble consolidating his conscience.

Adding to the even more comedic mishaps, Prithviraj happens to spot Bachchan at an Eid celebration (Muslim holiday) and almost catches his lie about being Hindu. So Bachchan then has to create an even more elaborate lie about his gay, twin, moustache-less Muslim brother who’s a dancer. So then Prithviraj decides that he needs to ‘fix’ this brother as well, he demands to see him to put him to work.

OK… let’s see if you’ve kept up. Basically, Abhishek Bachchan’s character lied to a guy who hates liars, and then to cover it up, has to pretend to be two different people, one with a Moustache, another without. Oh and in the meantime he also falls in love with Prithviraj’s sister.

It’s funny. It’s not witty or clever, but it’s pretty damn funny. Rohit Shetty, who previously did SINGHAM, comes back to his brand of filmmaking with a comedy, and it’s not bad. BOL BACHCHAN is of course highly unlikely, but the actors all do their bits with dedication and enthusiasm, and it all works very well.

Ajay Devgan is the best however, as he’s playing the guy who’s just intimidatingly awesome and clueless to the rest of the goings on in the story. The best thing about Devgan’s performance is that his character thinks he speaks English goodly… so the stuff that comes out of his mouth is to “WTF” worthy, that the rest of the scene ends up being ignored, because, well… you’re on the floor rolling in laughter.

Abhishek Bachchan is a good actor, however, this might not have been his best. His comedic timing needs work, and he tends to more overact than act. His saving grace has to be portraying an out and out gay guy, with all the hilarity that comes with it. The scene of him dancing sexily to a Medley of the best raunchy dance numbers in Bollywood is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

BOL BACHCHAN is a family movie, with lots of action, comedy and above of all, wholesome entertainment. For those reasons, it works very well and ends up being a decent enough watch.

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