Review of Jai Ho (2014) by Bindu C — 15 Apr 2014

Please watch Jai Ho (?? ??) only if you are a die-hard fan of Salman Khan. Otherwise, this movie is a great disappointment as far as the plot of the movie, direction, story, screenplay are concerned. It is a fact that Salman has been a great mass puller with his Dabbang / Bodyguard / Wanted moves, but he may probably not be able to repeat his success. Salman Khan is playing the role of an ex-army officer, Jai Agnihotri. He wants to create a better nation. The effort was to convey that even an ordinary single human being can be a change catalyst and create a national stir for positive change. But the whole message gets diluted with the way it has been handled. I wish, atleast a particular social issue could have been focused upon. There were lot of instances of Salman being a good Samaritan, but it seemed too superficial, it is tough to identify with the character. It lacked the flavor of country's present political scenario. We have seen enough of Salman's one-man action sequences which are there in this as well, added with Salman's bites or roars.

Riya Agnihotri (Salman's Sister played by Tabu) is unconditional in her love towards her brother and has got good amount of screen time. It is always a pleasure to watch Tabu perform, but she doesn't have to do much. Daisy Shah has definitely given some good dance moments, and also, she has screen presence, but her role has not been sketched out properly. And there are a list of actors (get breathless): Nadira Babbar, Danny Denzongpa, Daisy Shah, Sana Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Aditya Pancholi, Mohnish Behl, Mukul Dev, Ashmit Patel, Yash Tonk, Nauheed Cyrusi, Bruna Abdullah, Genelia, Vikas Bhalla, Sunil Shetty, Santosh Shukla, Pulkit Samrat... and many more...They come and go without actually being able to make a remarkable impact upon the audience. Too many characters are introduced.

Background score by Sandeep Shirodkar is good. 'Tere Naina maar hi daalenge' is also good. Other songs by Sajid-Wajid are average. Sets during the dance sequences are huge and presentable.

Is this going to be a 'Jai Ho' at box office ?