'Brothers' Review: This bloody spectacle should be watched for Akshay Kumar

Rating: ***
Starring: Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar, Siddharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez
Directed by: Karan Malhotra
 
WHAT’S IT ABOUT:
When you’re watching an official remake of the much-acclaimed Hollywood film, Warrior, you pretty much know what’s in store. But director Karan Malhotra changes a few things to add his touch of ingenuity and ends up tampering with what was actually sensible. The film opens with an ex-fighter Gary Fernandes (Jackie Shroff) walking out of prison after completing his term for a crime he had committed that changed his life forever. His elder son David (Akshay Kumar) has disowned Gary because of that and also cut off ties with his younger ‘adopted’ brother Monty (Sidharth Malhotra). David is facing his own personal and financial battles as he and his wife Jenny (Jacqueline) cope with their daughter suffering from a kidney ailment. David, a schoolteacher, has been indulging in street fights to make the extra cash. But when an international MMA (mixed martial arts) tournament decides to hold stage in Mumbai, David decides to take part in it to earn enough to save his daughter’s life. At the same time, Monty also wants to win the tournament to earn respect in his father’s eyes. What eventually happens in the ring and how it changes the family’s destiny is what the rest of the film is about.
 
WHAT’S HOT:
From a producer’s point of view, Karan Johar has given his director everything needed to make a film of this magnitude. Karan Malhotra understands that one of the pillars of his film is the MMA tournament, which fills in almost the entire second half. He shoots the fight sequences well. And of course, there are the performances by the lead cast that are stellar. Akshay Kumar plays David with amazing restraint and dignity. He is powerful both in the emotional as well as action scenes. Honestly, his performance takes the film a few notches higher than average.  Despite a badly written character, Sidharth manages to hold his own. His calm and composed demeanour stays with you. The biggest surprise of the film is Jackie Shroff. What’s most strange about his portrayal is that he’s consistently brilliant or over-the-top in equal measure.
 
WHAT’S NOT:
The problem with Karan Malhotra (which was evident in his last film Agneepath too) is that he tries hard to be contemporary with his presentation but in terms of his sensibility and screenplay, he’s still grappling in the 80s. For example, his sets are real locations but what happens within those locations is all old-school. His costumes look very authentic but what his characters breathe within them is archaic. His tournament ring looks very glitzy and Las Vegas style but the people within it (from the commentators to the organiser) look straight out of a Guddu Dhanoa movie. One would’ve not compared Brothers to Warrior if it were NOT an official remake. Even when you’re adapting a film, common sense tells one to at least retain the best portions from the original – you don’t mess with that. The best part about Warriors was that both brothers had genuine motivation and reason to win the tournament. As an audience, you didn’t know which brother to root for because both justifications were equally strong. In Brothers, Karan Malhotra takes away that motive. So what is Monty fighting for in the film?  Why should you root for him? The entire ‘adopted brother’ track is devoid of any emotional connect. The first half of the film suffers entirely not due to the length but because none of the characters or their conditions connect with the viewer. Malhotra’s emotional moments raise exactly the opposite reaction – like when David and Jenny are trying to make their daughter laugh while she’s on a hospital bed, the audience laughs instead. It’s amazing how Malhotra has got every character to ham his or her way through at some point – where Jenny reacts to David winning while she watches on TV will become a reference point for ham scenes in times to come. The soundtrack of the film also is a huge letdown. The Mary song is the only saving grace mainly because it comes at a time when you really need some break and cheer; also the glam-factor added by Kareena Kapoor is much-needed at that point. The original Warrior had everything in right measure, including the ‘Indian’ emotional connect. Brothers suffers because of  amateurish handling and superfluous changes that are not even true to the content.
 
WHAT TO DO:
It’s nowhere close to Warrior. But there’s the Akshay-Siddharth on-screen combo, how can you miss that?