South Asian Business news and information

Title: Halla Bol

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi

Cast and crew: Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan, Pankaj Kapoor, Ishteyak, Sridevi, Boney

    Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Ruby Bhatia, Pahlaj Nihalani, Neeraj Vora,

    Tusshar Kapoor, Ranjit Kapoor, Mukesh Tiwari, Lekh Tandon, and

    Sayali Bhagat.

Story:
Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan) is an aspiring actor who starts his career with a theatre group run by Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur), a reformed dacoit. With time, Ashfaque becomes a big film star known as, Sameer Khan. Ashfaque now becomes a part of the high society; however, in the process, he loses his own identity. Then one day, he witnesses a murder at a high-society party. Initially, Ashfaque lies about the incident but he is haunted by his conscience. He decides to become the witness of the incident. The movie shows how Ashfaque overcomes the obstacles and stand for truth and justice.   

Review:
Raj Kumar Santoshi is one of the big names in Bollywood. He made movies on social issues. Damini tells the story of the struggle of a woman, who fights for a rape victim; Khakee is about an honest police officer, who fights with corrupt law officials and ministers. His other major movies include Lajja, Pukar, Ghatak, Damini, and Ghayal. Halla Bol tries to reveal the ugly side of the rich society. In a way, the story is something similar to Rahul Dev’s Page 3 which reveals the hypocriscy and shallowness of the film society. Halla Bol is Ajay Devgan and Santoshi’s third venture. Some critics praised the movie saying that it bluntly shows the reality of the high society while some are saying that it is the recreation of Raang De Basanti.

According to movietalkies, Halla Bol came with a big bang.

Raj Kumar Santoshi's Halla Bol, arrives with quite a bang at a very apt moment in the history of this city. The most heartening thing about this film is that the director has given a heartful treatment to the subject of public apathy and the corruption in the higher echelons of society. It's not a subject which is novel to commercial cinema, but what is novel is the manner in which Santoshi's treats the same.    

The review says that the way Ajay Devgan tackles the goons, urinating inside the politician’s house is a bit exaggerated.

According to indya.com, Santoshi-Ajay magic works again. Halla Bol is a typical Santoshi movie. Santoshi’s characters fearlessly reveal the hypocriscy and shallowness of the high society. Ajay gives one of his finest performances. Pankaj Kapoor and Vidya Balan may not have much presence but they have their moments of glory in the movie:

Vidya doesn’t have much of a role but she gets one terrific scene where she gives it back to the media on camera. Pankaj Kapur is absolutely fabulous and commands attention whenever on screen. His silent angry glare speaks volumes. Darshan Jariwala is natural playing the wily minister.

Rajkumar Santoshi is back with a bang. The ace proves it again why a Santoshi film is worth all that Halla. The direction of the film is splendid and the flow of events within the film is so smooth that one is hooked on to the big screen right from the start. The film opens with Santoshi’s insights into the Indian film industry with how actors within the industry bitch about each other behind their backs while on the other hand act like brothers when they meet face to face. The very introduction of Devgan’s character at the autobiography launch where he reveals that his book is full of lies is such an opener. Various scenes within the industry like Artists promising of dates, relationships with women on the sets and endorsements of brands have been portrayed in a witty manner but with the right amount of reality.

The storytelling by Santoshi is absolutely gripping as the movie shifts from a film about the Indian film industry to a film that carries a relevant message. Santoshi seems to be inspired by the Jessica Lal case and its proceedings thus bringing about this real incident to reel format.  The film also carries inspiration from the life of 'nukkad natak' pioneer and social activist, the late Safdar Hashmi. Thus, the protagonists bring about the power of streets play to address any issue, no matter how big it maybe. Santoshi also strikes at the media through the film where he expresses that their responsibility lies beyond filming and clicking pictures of a particular crime or form of injustice.

Now Running.com has given two opposing reviews of the movie by Ashok Nayak and Jahan Bakshi. One praising it as another hard hitting Santoshi film while the other dubs it “a bang for nothing.”

Rajkumar Santoshi, director of hard-hitting films like Ghayal, Damini, Khakee is back with yet another hard-hitting socially relevant movie 'Halla Bol'. The movie is said to convey an awareness message amongst people to raise voices against exploitation, rape, corruption and illegal use of power and money. The movie also bears certain uncanny resemblance to Jessica Lal's murder case.

Cliché after cliché follows in what inevitably and ultimately feels like a dated version of Rang De Basanti, and succeeds only in leaving us mildly amused at the end of all the immense halla. Loosely inspired by the Jessica Lal murder case, Halla Bol is about Ashfaque Khan played by Ajay Devgan- a small town street theatre actor- turned arrogant star who witnesses a murder at a party and is haunted by the event even as his past continues to prick his conscience. He finally decides to get involved in the case and become a key witness despite the perils involved.

Indicine gives Halla Bol a 3. It says:

Rajkumar Santoshi excels with Halla Bol. The story has been deftly handled and a lot of scenes are executed with confidence that they leave a strong impact on our minds. The street play about a politician in the first half of the movie, the scene where Pankaj kapur comes across as a solid man when bullets are fired at him, Pankaj’s reaction when he is offered bribe by Abhay Bhargava near the pool side and Ajay Devgan urinating on the carpet at the minister house leaves you awestruck. The dialogues are well written. Ajay’s dialogue at the politician’s house, Vidya’s reply to the media when the media bombards her husband with questions regarding their marital life and Pankaj’s eruption towards the end when Ajay was hospitalized makes your hair stand still.

Rediff review says:

The film unfolds, with the flawed protagonist struggling for redemption. The background score is as pita as ghisa gets, and there is much filminess as the characters trade punchlines. Yet as a film it stays immensely watchable, and even if predictable as a whole, you hardly see the next moment coming.

The rise of the nation happens in one quick montage, almost dismissively. Then again perhaps the movie wants to be a mere reminder, not a documentary, which is fair enough. In the midst of all the action and the Jessica-like unfolding, this unabashedly commercial film does make a valid enough point, and even if it isn't the kind of film that'll inspire individuals a la Rang De Basanti [Images] a couple of Januarys ago, it is an interesting look at the backlash that makes our overpaid actors shut up, to begin with.

Withoutgiving the movie away  says that Halla Bol is an immature execution. Movies on politics should have a strong message, well knit story and good dialogues. The biggest problem of the movie is that the transformation of the characters shows the lack of creativity of the director. It further says:

The use of flashbacks in an attempt to create interest was a deterrent for me. For an already badly written character, unnecessary non-linearity in the first half just added to the lack of flow. Not to mention, right from the beginning the events seemed obligatory and rather superficial. Each event was laboriously explained where subtle hints would have done the job much more effectively. There was ample scope for hard-hitting, forceful scenes but, except for two places, the opportunities were not utilized.

Again, barring those couple of sequences, the dialogues were predictable. And on most occasions the predictability was because of the unnecessary pauses, which gave the audience time to think ahead of the lines. Many scenes were way too verbose. The few decent lines were also marred by very plain dialogue delivery. I attribute most of these flaws to the director. Because we have certainly seen much better performances from both Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan, in similar roles. And while Pankaj Kapoor did a decent job, his character too became across as monotonous and one dimensional towards the end.  

Buzz18 says:

Halla Bol has some classic Raj Kumar Santoshi moments, which any hardcore Bollywood film viewer would enjoy. For instance there is a scene where Ajay goes to Darshan's house and is infuriated by the blatant show of wealth. He is told about the rug from Persia, Ming vase from China, sofa set from Germany. In response he relives himself on the rug and says, "This one's pure Indian. And you don't need paisa, power or public for this. You need balls."

Concept-wise too Halla Bol is strong. If you had no issues with Rang De Basanti's concept, chances are that Halla Bol will work for you too.

And Vidya Balan may not excel in the two-bit role. But she certainly stands her own ground.

Snag: Santoshi picks up elements from real life and then he’s either shallow or hysterical about them. The allusion to the Jessica Lal murder case is underdeveloped and gratuitous. The re-opening of the case under the pressure of public opinion is handled through the stock montage of TV bytes. 

More gratings are those expressionless rich sons of that minister (Darshan Jariwala, howlarious) and a liquor baron (pure oakwood) wear shirts that couldn’t have cost more than Rs 100. Chalo make that Rs 200.

Incidentally, Santoshi keeps sniping away at the intrusive ways of the media (like he did in Damini) and then backtracks to show journos crusading for the re-investigation of the murder. Spare us the contradictions, please.

Technically as dated as the script, the result has an efficient performance by Ajav Devgan as the conscience-bitten superstar. The excellent Pankaj Kapur, with all the scenes written in his favour, steals the show effortlessly. Vidya Balan is supremely wasted.

Overall, Halla Bol got 3 on an average out of five. The strong point of the movie is  good performance of Ajay Devgan and Pankaj Kapoor. However, the movie does not have any serious political message or well-knit story or good dialogue.