Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – The eldest brother refuses to marry since he believes it may create disharmony in his big family. His brothers, who’ve already found partners, come together to find a match for him.

My Take – After skipping last year’s Eid theatrical release, megastar Salman Khan is back with his latest, and looking at the promos one could have easily guessed how this one would play out.

For the past decade or so, with a few exceptions like Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Sultan (2016), and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), Hindi cinema’s most commercially successful actor, has been raking in big box office numbers by playing it simply to the gallery particularly for his die-hard fans.

Fans who expect him to embark on only mindless, senseless, action-entertainers, armed with nothing but his superstardom. A superstardom that sees him take on unlimited number of goons, defy gravity and physics, romance a simpering young girl, showcase his dance moves, while throwing around whistle worthy catchphrases, with some towards the patriotic side and of course showoff his chiseled chest and ab work.

And this Farhad Samji (Housefull 4, Bachchhan Paandey) directorial is no different. As the only thing the film seems to be interested is idolizing Salman Khan’s star power. A remake of the Ajith Kumar and Tamannaah starrer Veeram (2014), the film is molded as a larger-than-life family film with tons of drama and brutal action, however, for non-Bhai fans (like myself) the film manages to entertain only briefly.

Marred with too many characters, an unimpressive soundtrack, and most of all a weak screenplay, the film is a struggle to sit through for 144 minutes. In an attempt to cash in on the current wave of Pan India successes of Telugu, Tamil and Kannada mass entertainers and the trademark Salman Khan Spectacle, it fails to become even a decent experience.

Nevertheless, looking at the box office numbers, it seems like Salman Khan will continue to support their star, irrespective of the damage his mediocre films cause to the potential of Hindi cinema.

The story follows Bhaijaan (Salman Khan), a good-hearted samaritan, who has dedicated his life to raising his three brothers – Ishq (Raghav Juyal), Moh (Jassie Gill) and Love (Siddharth Nigam), and taking on any villainous soul who dares to disturb the peace within his neighborhood, but in that hustle, he took a vow to remain a bachelor forever to ensure no woman upset the family dynamics.

However, unknown to him, his brothers are romantically involved with Sukoon (Shehnaaz Gill), Muskaan (Palak Tiwari) and Chahat (Vinali Bhatnagar), and are very keen to settle down with them. An opportunity comes knocking when Bhagyalakshmi aka Bhagya (Pooja Hegde), a conservator-restorer, moves into the neighborhood, who along with sharing the same name as Bhaijaan’s ex, also shows a romantic interest in him.

Though everything seems to be going well for Bhaijaan, he finds a new purpose when he and his brothers head to Hyderabad, to protect Bhagya’s brother Balakrishna Gundamaneni (Venkatesh Daggubati), a non-violent person and his family from the very violent Nageshwara (Jagapathi Babu), who is determined to settle old scores with bloodshed only. All the while swerving attacks from Mahavir (Vijender Singh), a notorious MLA, who is out to kill them for a piece of land where everyone worships Bhaijaan.

The wafer-thin plot tries to achieve a lot but doesn’t really end up going places. Here, director Farhad Samji picks on the real-life image of Salman Khan being the beloved ‘Bhai’ and tries to transcend that on-screen but while doing that he forgets to focus on anything else.

Along with co-writers Sparsh Khetarpal and Tasha Bhambra, he throw in a lot of bloody action with little semblance to logic and normalcy. The first half is mostly pointless with filler scenes, with the story not kick starting until the interval. Even if you overlook the flaws, you can’t get over the poor writing, especially with the dialogues that makes everyone look so juvenile.

The less-than-average soundtrack adds to the runtime with one forgettable number after another, with the saving grace being ‘Naiyyo Lagda’ (composed by Himesh Reshammiya), that is picturized well, despite being a trending meme. Sure, no one promised you logic or even a cohesive plot or even sound reason behind the angst of the two big baddies, and after all it has a truckload of Salman Khan, who does what he does best.

Pumping all kinds of muscle literally, Salman manages to be immensely likable, even when he is packing a punch. He is soft, vulnerable and kind in some portions, and turns outstandingly violent in some. Being the best performer of the cast, Venkatesh lends heft to his character of a family patriarch, who will do whatever it takes to keep his loved ones safe, and commands a strong screen presence. His scenes with Salman are endearing and even on his own, he steals a scene.

Pooja Hegde manages to shine in a meaty role, which she pulls off confidently. In supporting roles, Jassie Gill, Raghav Juyal, Siddharth Nigam, Shehnaaz Gill, Palak Tiwari and Vinali Bhatnagar aren’t given much scope to perform, despite good screen presence.

Jagapathi Babu too is impressive, while Vijender Singh struggles. It’s a delight to see the late Satish Kaushik in one of his last roles. Bhumika Chawla is wasted. On the whole, ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ is the same old loud Salman Khan entertainer made specifically for his fans.