The formula is simple enough: Salman as a simple, good-hearted guy. The longing for a loved one. And a lesson on righteousness. All wrapped up in a border conflict. Kabir Khan바카라™s latest, Tubelight, is a despairing mix of the 2015 American war drama Little Boy it is inspired from, and the bits that made Bajrangi Bhaijaan a seller. Tubelight flickers, but fails to light up.
In his 12-year career, Kabir has often switched on and off. If Kabul Express, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Ek Tha Tiger, proved his worth as a nuanced and compelling filmmaker; New York, Phantom, and now Tubelight, are best described as painfully lacking in any intelligent thought.Â
Set during the Sino-Indian war in 1962, in a small, fictional hamlet, Tubelight is about Laxman Singh Bisht (Salman) 바카라“ a naïve, timid child-man, wholly dependent on his brother, Bharat (Sohail), who has gone across the border to fight in the war. The arrival of a magician (Shah Rukh Khan) alters the course of Laxman by showing him he can move a bottle with his mind. This leads to Salman trying to move mountains and stop wars by squatting, sticking his arms out and making what seem like grunting noises; all with a dollop of 바카라˜yakeen바카라™, belief.
Tubelight presents Salman in full Forrest Gump mode, but the effort on Salman바카라™s part to come off slow-witted is evident in each frame. Weird, contorted faces, and singsong dialogue delivery, do not a good child-man performance make. Salman is the biggest disappointment in the film.
Everyone aside from Salman is good enough. The late Om Puri, as a father figure, even with stale dialogues, and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as a local hothead are solid. We get fine performances from the bright Chinese actress Zhu Zhu, and Matin Rey Tangu, even though it must be emphasized that casting a Chinese actress alongside a kid from Arunachal Pradesh, as if to say it's all the same, doesn바카라™t really rest well.
The message of loving our neighbours, during peace or strife, is great, but the film is plagued by an unconvincing performance by the lead, along with a bad script. Words like susu, potty, and 바카라˜goo바카라™ are used to make us laugh. Even a scene with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan together fails to bring the house down. In the end, we are left longing for more screen time with Sohail, in a Salman Khan film.
Film: Tubelight
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Zhu Zhu, Matin Rey Tangu, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Om Puri
Stars: 1.5/5
