Deepanjana Pal
A Salman Khan Eid release has no aspirations of being a mere film. It’s an entertainer, an aspiring cultural reset and having chucked minor details like logic out of the window, what KKBKKJ essentially ends up being is a 144-minute long striptease.
Allegedly a remake of Ajith-starrer Veeram (2014), KKBKKJ feels in part like director Farhad Samji’s ode to Mohabbatein (2000). This is a Farhad Samji film. Stop expecting logic. Or storytelling, for that matter.) Instead of a Shah Rukh Khan, we get Pooja Hegde as Bhagyalaxmi, who is tasked with softening up Bhaijaan.
While all this is happening, thugs and bad guys pop up every few minutes to ensure there’s a fight scene that the audience can get behind.
With a little help from Jesus and the Bhagavad Gita — Bhaijaan and Bhagyalaxmi’s idea of flirting is to toss quotes from the Gita at one another — love at its most insipid blooms in Bhaijaan’s life.
In all fairness, this might actually be more plot than Khan’s films have had in recent years. Samji packs KKBKKJ with many gags and some good action scenes, but the film doesn’t come together.
It lurches from plot point to plot point awkwardly, weighed down by performances that are both unconvincing and uncharismatic.
Bhaijaan (like Shah Rukh Khan’s titular hero in Pathaan) has no name that will give away his religion, caste or any other identifying detail. The implication is that his entire existence is dedicated to being what the audience expects him to be — their Bhaijaan.
Perhaps the best cameo in KKBKKJ comes from Bhagyashree and Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). Wittingly or unwittingly, the scene provides a commentary on stardom when it shows Bhagyasree as someone who has gone on with her life while Bhaijaan is stuck in a limbo of static sameness for more than 20 years. Maybe it’s time Bhaijaan grew up a little?