Jai Ho movie review

Story: A braveheart commoner stands up against injustice and spreads a life-changing mantra of the circle of goodness, giving and generosity.

Review: There is nothing ordinary about this aam aadmi. He rips, roars and ravages theraavans with a single blow – like a Stallone on steroids. Jai (Salman) is an ex-Army officer, who runs a garage part-time and plays incredibly good (looking) Samaritan fulltime, beating up baddies to bloody pulp with anything from hockey sticks, chains, scaffolding and even a mighty pen. During one ‘good-deed’ demo, he’s hit by a brainwave – a thought that can change the world! His funda seems profound but is simple. Goodness is redeemable. If someone shows you a random act of kindness, you pay it forward to three people. And they’ll pass on the ‘act of kindness’ to three more each. A multiplier effect on millions – snowballing into a mass juntamovement of goodness.

The film has the heart and the haath (read: fist) in the right place. But there’s more than just ‘do-gooder’ drama in this potboiler with purpose. Jai gets embroiled with a nefarious neta, Dashrath Singh (Danny) and his heavy-weight hooligans, who’re a ‘pain in the rear’ of the aam aadmi. It sparks a raging war between the udaas aam aadmi and khaas politicians.

‘Jai Ho’– A remake of Telugu film ‘Stalin’ (inspired by Hollywood film ‘Pay It Forward’) resonates with the current mood of the country. Sparking an optimistic hope of a Utopian world. Sohail presents our ‘Hero of the Masses’ fabulously – with all Salmanisms perfectly in place. The premise pompously alerts us of cliches and trappings of a commercial masala fare. The screenplay is not as inspiring as the noble message, the story cuts into too many episodes and the underlying idea is repetitive.

Tabu and Danny leave a decent impact. Debutante Daisy grooves well and shows impressive confidence. The bone-crunching, blood-splitting scenes are a delight for action addicts. The story is laced with light-hearted humour and massy music. Like most Salman Khan films, this one too rests solely on his undeniable superstardom.

There is one explosive moment of revelation in the film – when Salman tears off his shirt to show off his greased, stabbed, scarred and sensational sinews. Nothing else matters for ‘bhai’ fanatics. It’s ‘the’ paise wasool moment. Rest assured, they will ‘pay up’ and ‘take it forward’.