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Salman Khan's Tubelight is Bajrangi Bhaijaan goes to China

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Kaveree Bamzai
Kaveree BamzaiJun 23, 2017 | 16:04

Salman Khan's Tubelight is Bajrangi Bhaijaan goes to China

After Bajrangi Bhaijaan ensured peace between India and Pakistan, it was only a matter of time before he intervened in India’s fraught relationship with China. After all, if Bhaijaan could open the gates between India and Pakistan, surely he could move the mountains that divide us and China?

So, here we have #BajrangiGoesToChina or shall we say Tubelight, a simple-minded not-so-young young man who lives in the idyllic Jagatpur in Kumaon in 1962 and spreads the message of yakeen and pyaar. A message that is quite in contrast from the current prevalent mood of warmongering and sabre-rattling.

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But then our Bhaijaan, named Lakshman Bisht in this movie, is a latter-day Gandhian who believes that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

 

He tries very hard to get into the Army when it is clear that Pandit Nehru’s belief in China’s peace-loving nature is about to implode. But then his brother, played by Salman's brother Sohail (yes, it is after all a Salman Khan film, so everything is a family enterprise) joins the war to fight against the Chinese who are clearly outnumbering the Indians and outsmarting them as well.

There is a detailed and repeated reference to the inadequate shoes Indian soldiers had which is part of the Nehru-was-evil-lost-the-1962-war lesson we have been handed down — because contrary to what Sangh Parivar historians would like to believe, the history taught to us did highlight the flaws of the leaders who won us our Independence.

So there is Bhaijaan left behind to be captain of the Jagatpur civil brigade and defend the village/town against the Chinese. Naturally, a young widow and her child, born to Chinese parents but in India, choose to present themselves in Jagatpur.

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And the whole question of who is an Indian starts cropping up — is it if you’re born an Indian? Is it if you can shout Bharat Mata ki Jai louder than others? Is it because you look “Indian”? Is it if you can speak Hindi?

Director Kabir Khan asks difficult questions in very intolerant times and hopes his star actor’s charisma is able to convince viewers to think differently. One can only hope he succeeds.

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His superstar certainly tries hard, though he is rather long in the tooth to play a young man. And he’s playing not just any ordinary young man — he believes his yakeen will move mountains, which makes him a sort-of-superhero who wears handknitted sweaters and pants with a perennially undone fly instead of a PVC costume.

Tubelight is dedicated to the families of those left behind by wars and, indeed, it captures their anxiety well, if rather melodramatically.

There is no dearth of equally ringing dialogues — har insaan ke andar ek jaadugar hota hai (delivered by Shah Rukh Khan in a special appearance); Gandhi ko kisine nahin, hamne mara; Sach Bhagwaan hota hai...

There is no dearth of Salman Khan’s formula moves as well — a trademark dance move (here it involves a swinging of knees) for uncles, everyday clothes for middle class men and women to identify with, and a young friend for the children.

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And though he may be getting too old to be cycling and racing across mountainous terrain, Salman Khan does everything his director asks of him with as much effort as he can.

He may not be getting a Nobel Prize for his peacemaking efforts but no doubt he will get some audience love.

So what’s part three? Bajrangi goes to Syria? You never know.

Last updated: June 25, 2017 | 22:32
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