Rajkumar Santhoshi has been going through a lean patch for quite some time now. His last couple of releases (Insaaf, Family) were big let downs coming from a director whose creations include modern classics like Ghayal, Ghatak, Damini, Pukar and Khakhee. For all those Raj Santhoshi fans out there, Halla Bol is good news! Definitely, Halla Bol is not Santhoshi at his best. Nevertheless, it is a movie with its heart in the right place and has quite a few moments that are vintage Raj Santhoshi!
Halla Bol is the story of Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan), a highly talented youngster with a lower middle class upbringing. He is the right hand of Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur), a reformed dacoit who bides his time by playing street theatre depicting the various ills plaguing the society. Lady luck smiles on Ashfaque, as he gets his maiden film offer and before he could bat an eyelid, Ashfaque becomes Sameer Khan, the new heart throb of Bollywood.
The honest, upright, sensible and sensitive Ashfaque transforms into the successful, money minded, chauvinistic, spineless, callous Sameer Khan and is riding Bollywood when he witnesses the murder of an upcoming starlet in an upmarket Mumbai club. The guys involved in the murder belong to the upper strata of the society who have people, paisa and politics with them.
Sameer withdraws into a shell and refuses to acknowledge witnessing the murder. But, his conscience pricks him and finally he decides to speak the truth. All hell breaks loose and life is never the same for him again. How truth finally wins against all odds is what the rest of the film is all about.
Halla Bol's strength is its script which is also its weakness. Santhoshi starts well but begins fumbling half way through. As the script writer and director, his confusion is all the more evident towards the end of the film. It is true that such preachy films can end only on an unrealistic note, not everyone can come up with a "Rang De Basanti". But, it is to Santhoshi's credit that he packs quite a punch in a few impressive scenes. Watch out for Devgan relieving himself on the expensive carpet at the villain's place, Vidya Balan (Did I say she plays Devgan's sweetheart turned wife, Sneha) confronting the journalists and defending her husband, Pankaj Kapur molly coddling the villain when he tries to buy him in and Pankaj Kapur breaking down in front of the crowd towards the last reel.
Ajay Devgan underplays Sameer Khan aka Ashfaque effectively. The actor is just getting better with time, but it is high time he changed his stylist and costumer. Vidya Balan gets to "act" for the first time post Parineeta. Her role is not lengthy but she leaves an impact with a sincere performance. Darshan Jariwala overacts. Anjan Shrivastava and Sulabha Arya play Devgan's parents and do a good job, as always. However, the film belongs entirely to Pankaj Kapur. He proves that it is for no reason that he is regarded as the best actor in Bollywood today. Pankaj literally lives as Sidhu and comes up with a performance that clearly rises above the script and everything else!
Halla Bol scores in all the technical departments except editing and music. The film could have been trimmed down a little since it gets quite boring towards the end. The songs in the film are unimpressive and two of them could have easily been avoided.
Halla Bol definitely cannot be counted as Santhoshi's best but it is a movie that needs to be encouraged for having its heart in the right place.
To sum up, this is a clear case of a good concept that suffers from a not so good execution!
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