Being once again a South remake of a Malayalam Hit POKKIRI RAJA (2010), the fact gets proved repeatedly that the Regional Cinema in India is much ahead than the Hindi Film Industry by miles, when it comes to pure commercial, action packed entertainers promoting the filmy heroism. BOSS also follows the same focused vision and despite all the negative speculation before its release, the film turns out to be a fairly enjoyable fast paced entertainer, particularly for the viewers loving the good old 80s cinema revolving around its big hero.So in case you are not a keen follower of Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra or Subhash Ghai kind of cinema entirely based on various commercial elements of comedy, action, music and emotion defying the logic factor, then you are not going to appreciate this ‘so called illogical entertainer’ a lot. But in case you are one of those energetic viewers, who love to clap, whistle and laugh like a true Bollywood enthusiast, along with the hero performing on the screen, then in all possibilities you are going to enjoy BOSS more or less, since it does have the necessary essential ingredients of entertainment in its more than 2 hours of duration in sufficient dosages.
Beginning with an impressive action packed sequence featuring Danny and the new kid (playing the young Akshay), the film sets the mood in with some quick scenes, but then takes too much time to introduce the real BOSS. However once Akshay enters the screen after almost 30 minutes like a storm, the pace returns back and his entry (with the credits) just remind you the old school pattern followed by Manmohan Desai and Subhash Ghai, who also preferred bringing in their Hero after a while with a killer sequence. Having a seen before yet engaging story to tell, BOSS offers a fine build up in its initial hour with enough material for the single screen regions full of comedy, action, emotion and music. The interesting clashes between the characters keep the energy moving and the viewers are just eager to see Akshay meeting the cunning Police officer Ronit Roy in the next scenes. Therefore the moment it comes “Interval” written on the screen with Akshay promising more to come later, one feels like having largely enjoyed, looking forward to what’s next.
Now usually a Hindi film drops hugely post intermission which is thankfully not the case with BOSS. The film keeps offering many above average entertaining sequences in its second half which basically save it from falling into the same usual trap of south remakes. No doubt it all becomes predictable and routine in its final hour, but the narration doesn’t let the pace drop and the songs add in to the flowing energy immensely in this crucial hour. Plus the execution keeps serving your with a mishmash of entertaining moments along with the well handled emotional quotient quite surprisingly. So though it all ends exactly like we have already seen several times before in Hindi films, still you don’t mind watching it once again due to its noteworthy presentation (the last fight) and then feel like having mostly served what was promised while walking out of the theater.
Actually many impressive sequences in the film don’t let you rate it as an average film, like the first fight introducing the young Akshay, engaging entry of the real boss, his ‘Truck Jogging’ scene, emotional interactions between Akshay and Mithun Da, the visit at the Dargah, the shocking revelation about the childhood murder and the final well conceived fight sequence, shot beautifully. The screenplay doesn’t let any dull moment to be there spoiling the whole game and the dialogues try do provide the support wherever required along with the emotional touches in the father-son sequences. Cinematography captures the fun & light feel of the movie well (with some great locations) and so does the background score which plays a major role in keeping you excited.
In the musical department as required the title track “Boss” becomes a perfect song for all Akshay sequences running in the background and “Hum Na Chhoren” has full energy in its choreography performed well featuring cameos by Prabhu Deva and Sonakshi Sinha. The major hit “Party All Night” (with the controversial word muted) further lifts your spirits up in the final hour easily and you can clearly hear the cheers once the current musical sensation Honey Singh comes on the screen, delivering his famous rap. Other than these Hits, there is a downer too in its soundtrack, which is a pathetic version of famous “Har Kisi Ko Nahin Milta Yahan Pyar” from JANBAAZ (1986). And I really fail to understand, why they try to recreate these old musical gems when they don’t exactly know how to treat them with any similar kind of love, care and emotion.Anyway, apart from the already famous songs, the greatest contribution of BOSS’s soundtrack in my opinion is its rare, well thought of and soulfully penned song on “A Father” or “Pitaah”, soulfully sung by Sonu Nigam. A song talking about a person, on whom you don’t find many songs made in the history of Hindi Film Music in the recent past. And for this, the makers surely deserve some extra brownie points unarguably.
Looking at the project from the direction point of view, it’s a surprise comeback film for Anthony D’Souza after his last huge debacle. May be the reference point of the original worked here in his favour but the way he shaped up this film with the right insertions, it seems that he has positively moved on and has learned his lessons well.
In the performances, here is a new, fresh or rather good old Akshay Kumar back in form as an all rounder entertainer doing almost everything on the screen with an immensely likable ease. A rare Hindi film wherein the main hero doesn’t have a heroine to romance is not an easy attempt to make and this shows that the actor is strongly willing to do something fresh. Further in one of the best chase sequences filmed on actual locations, Akshay evidently shows that he is in fact the most physically fit actor in the Industry at the present, among his contemporaries.
Mithun Chakraborty is outstanding as the father, following the path of honesty and.Danny Denzongpa is a delight to watch, like always. Ronit Roy makes the best use of this grand opportunity given in a noteworthy, impactful manner. Shiv Pandit shows his yet to be tapped talent and the boy does have a good screen presence standing in the mid of the veterans. Aditi Rao Hydari looks charming but has nothing to do as per the script. Johny Lever, Govind Namdev, Parikshit Sahni and Sanjay Mishra are fine but its Aakash Dabhade, who superbly adds to the comic element of the film along with Akshay. Besides Sudesh Berry, Mukesh Tiwari and Shakti Kapoor are just there for only one scene.
Now coming out of the praising mode, BOSS has many unwanted and avoidable elements too which could have been left out to give it a better and universally appealing feel in totality. Firstly, there is big loop hole in the film dealing with the unintentional murder in the initial reels, for which the culprit is booked too lightly by the law and is again moving freely in no time. Secondly certain things are just added illogically in the film, like there was no need of Aditi to appear in a two piece costume which doesn’t suit her shy & introvert character from any angle. Shakti Kapoor is brought in as a plumber just for nothing and then there are few double meaning dialogues added quite carelessly to cater a different section of viewers.
In reality, neither these double meaning lines nor the controversial word in the song “Party All Night” needed to be there in this otherwise decent movie talking about family values. Akshay would have been equally impressive and likable without the “Paani Nikaalna Hai” and other suggestive dialogues. And the song “Party All Night” would have been the same big hit even without this objectionable word included in its lyrics. To be frank all these sexual references seem to be added as a desperate act of gaining an instant attention from the public which actually went against the movie instead. The makers made all wrong trailers to promote the film, full of those double meaning references and nothing else. As a result there was a repulsive vibe seen against the movie before its release which may affect its performance too in all possibilities. But had they promoted the film with its other worth sharing content in the trailers, there would have been a different kind of positive energy around the product as it seems.
Nevertheless, ignoring the above loopholes in this otherwise enjoyable flick, I would like to add that if you truly love the 70s-80s old school feel of Hindi Cinema, full of masala entertainment & heroism (like in M. Desai, P. Mehra or S. Ghai films), then BOSS is surely going to win you over largely as a fine one time watch. The film is well equipped with full on entertainment in WANTED style, so do give it a try and the chances are that you would not be disappointed, despite all the negative vibes you might have felt.
Rating : 2+1 / 5 (Including the additional 1 for its rare, appreciable track on “A Father” or “Pitaah”)
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