Ajay Devgan plays Sameer Khan, his character living nicely up to the ubiquitous Bollywood power-surname. Rajkumar Santoshi raises one pertinent issue with HALLA BOL. A lot has been said and written about the film bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Jessica Lal murder case. Does HALLA BOL attempt to recreate the ghastly incident on celluloid? More on that later!
The story is of a successful action hero , Sameer Khan( Ajay Devgan), who with others witness the murder of a girl. He choose to remain silent since the murderers was very highly placed ( reminds me of Jessica lall).The sister of the girls provoke devgan to register the complain and when he did that it was Hero against the system, The plot also have a sub plot which is integrated seamlessly ,that of Pankaj Kapoor , as a retired ( is there a term like that) and transformed Dacoit. He performs street plays and thus Halla Bol.Devgan fights and than media and public fights for the Insaaf.It was Halla Bol.
Sadly, amidst all adulation and applause, he slowly loses his own identity. He forgets his real self and imbibes all characteristics of the various roles essayed by him on screen. Corruption takes over his entire system, alienating him from all loved ones, including his wife Sneha [Vidya Balan]. A shocking incident at a party changes everything, rocking Sameer's lifestyle. He gets caught between his human self on one side and his corrupted superstar image on the other.
Vidya Balan plays Sameer’s love interest and life partner in the film. While Pankaj Kapur, plays a fired-up Sidhu, who stands out as a person with high integrity. Not to miss, the impactful one-liners delivered by the immensely talented actor. Ajay Devgan gives an okay shot, not hinting at the best we have seen in his past performances. Vidya Balan is refreshing. Pankaj Kapur is solid. He brings out power and natural flavor in his dialogues and expressions. The other actors are badly presented, to say the least. Not convincing at all.
On the whole, Santoshi has always been a strong director with characters who spout lines harder than knuckles and break necks with glee. This is a film that could really have benefited from a more modern, edgier treatment, the flashback cut into smaller, more edible slices peppered through the narrative.
