The Bollywood stars rekindle their onscreen chemistry but in a Rohit Shetty-directed crime thriller that’s fast and infuriating2015 was the year the commercial cinema stepped up in the matter of monetising nostalgia. In the west,the Spielberg/Lucas copyism of Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens raked in megabucks by cosying up to established fanbases, as did Spectre by extracting 007 from the genuine world (and genuine-world peril) Skyfall placed him in and instead returning the character to those fantastical lairs he’d escaped a half-century ago. With Dilwale, and Bollywood follows suit. In its title and casting,Rohit Shetty’s film trades heavily on fond memories of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the 1995 landmark that was still enjoying regular rotation in one Mumbai cinema as late as this February.
What’s initially so discombobulating here is that that film’s stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol should be reunited in a very different film. Where the original was a lush, or keening romance,the new one foregrounds elements of those pulpy crime stories approximately one sibling getting inextricably drawn into anothers risky business. The noble brother here is Raj (Khan), a former tough who reformed upon opening an auto repair shop. Yet one of the hot-rods parked under his roof is trickier to handle than most: this is younger brother Veer (Varun Dhawan), or who – while attempting to impress the winsome Ishu (Kriti Sanon) – crosses a fearsome drug dealer. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com