Action, reaction, little attraction

Parbina Rashid

Action by the Army high command begets reaction from a friend-turned-foe antagonist! Hanging in between by a thin rope, which is presented in the name of a plot, are us viewers, braving one action scene after another. Action which nullifies Newton’s laws on gravity and motion. For, when Bade Miyan and Chote Miyan join hands, their collective deshbhakti propels them to do gravity-defying stunts and with an antagonist who specialises in cloning people with the best DNAs and Terminator-inspired bodies, the reactions are not necessarily proportionate, but harsher and multi-pronged.

Director Ali Abbas Zafar’s Eid treat is not limited to the laws of physics alone, but explores chemistry too. The chemistry of its main leads Firoz aka Freddy (Akshay Kumar) and Rakesh aka Rocky (Tiger Shroff). Their ‘I have your back’ camaraderie and goofy banter bring some relief and that is the only high point of the film.

Wait, there is more to come. Zafar, riding on some ‘science dopamine’, combines these physics and chemistry formulae with Artificial Intelligence to take the story forward.

We are introduced to the most decorated soldiers of Commander Azad (Ronit Roy) in Afghanistan, where they are entrusted with the mission to rescue hostages. The action begins with bazookas going berserk, bombs destroying everything that has ‘enemy’ written on it amidst puns flying in hordes. ‘Terrorism main bhi nepotism hai!’ comes from Rocky, and it sticks.

Well, the two get stripped of their vardis because of insubordination (what else?), but are soon called back by Azad. The threat is now mask-wearing Kabir (Prithviraj Sukumaran). Empowered with his brain-controlled cloned soldiers, he is hell bent on opening a two-front war, with the Pakistanis and the Chinese, and compromise India’s breakthrough defence technology called Karan Kavach, which can protect the nation from Pakistani and Chinese missiles. Yes, Zafar has gone beyond the tried-and-tested ‘Pak’ formula and brought the Chinese into the Bollywood fold! Will it set a new trend in reel geopolitics? Only box-office numbers will tell.

The narrative soon turns into a battle between greed, ego and grudge on one side, and the Indian tradition of putting conscience ahead of everything else on the other. Never mind that our heroes time and again tell us, ‘Hamara ego hamare talent se bada hai.’ Their heart is in the right place, completely aligned with the Indian moral compass.

And talking about Indianness, Zafar has not given mythology a miss. The shield that can protect India from enemy missiles is named ‘Karan’ and the password is ‘Eklavya’.

Did Zafar leave anything out which modern India represents? Not really. There is an equal-rights angle too. With Captain Misha (Manushi Chhillar) doing quite a few stunts and Pam (Alaya F), the IT whiz-kid who is not afraid to tell Tiger, ‘Biceps ki jagah brains ka istemaal karo’, they are not mere cosmetic props. Sonakshi Sinha, too, in an extended cameo, plays a vital role in the Army operation. However, they fail to make much impact, simply because they are lost in the milieu where everything is larger than life. Be it the mayhem pulled off by Akshay with his fake moustache, Tiger with his GI Joesque body, or Julius Paickam’s throbbing background music.

Even the emotions the characters feel have been magnified and underscored duly so that we can feel for them — when they are fighting for the country or shaking a leg to some easily forgettable songs.

Subtlety is surely not Zafar’s strong point, nor is nuance. And that’s what stops us from saying ‘subhanallah’ to his Bade Miyan and Chote Miyan!