Based mostly on a real-life character of the identical title, Bandaa Singh Chaudhary tells the story of a person who stood his floor and fought in opposition to super odds throughout the Nineteen Eighties in Punjab, when militancy was rising quickly, propelling a clutch of separatist actions.
With Arshad Warsi enjoying the eponymous Banda, and Meher Vij as his spirited spouse Lalli, this movie had the potential to ship a powerful character examine set throughout one of the vital turbulent durations of current Indian historical past. However nothing does the topic any justice, neither the story-telling nor the performances.
Punjab within the 80s was a hotbed of terrorist exercise, buoyed by money and arms from throughout the border, whose porousness inspired the simple stream of ISI brokers intent upon creating mayhem. Hindus who had lived within the state for a very long time have been focused: sporadic killings occurred. But it surely was additionally a spot the place pockets of peace existed, the place long-time Sikh neighbours resisted the makes an attempt to drive a wedge between communities.
If you happen to go by this movie, you’ll suppose that there was no resistance from Punjab’s residents, and that there was a wholesale exodus of Hindus. That there was solely a solo hero within the form of Bandaa Singh Chaudhary who declared that he wasn’t going to be chased off his ‘mitti’. There isn’t a try and put his actions into context: all you see are the villagers after Banda’s life, forcing him and his household to go away, and later, cartoonish militants finishing up the ISI orders.
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What you additionally get are creaky scenes between Banda and his finest buddy (Jeeveshu Ahluwali) — sharing a number of pegs and jovial banter on a ‘charpai’ of their ‘aangan’, venomous feedback from stated BFF’s ‘gharwali’ after an anticipated tragedy, and the movie descending right into a Wild Wild West scenario with the villagers taking on arms en masse.
Warsi is such a delightful performer that he manages to elevate even the worst issues he’s in, however his roles are principally confined to being loud comedian sidekicks. I haven’t seen something that matches his expertise after ‘Sehar’ and ‘Ishqiya’. Enjoying a central character normally offers actor one thing to do. Not right here.
Bandaa Singh Choudhary film solid: Arshad Warsi, Meher Vij, Jeeveshu Ahluwalia
Bandaa Singh Choudhary film director: Abhishek Saxena
Bandaa Singh Choudhary film score: 1.5 stars
