Halla Bol

A movie about how an actor forgets when his acting stops and life begins...a movie about our everyday fears...and doubts about whether courage pays off or not.

Halla Bol is the story of Jessica Lal...ofcourse with lots of fiction. But it manages to question the very root of our actions..fear. Fear of being implicated by the system, fear of losing our 2 pence of security and fame, fear of standing against a raging crowd....it's very easy to be courageous when you are standing in a group and have people behind you....it is equally tough doing it alone...

The movie made me wonder what an ordinary person like you and me would have done. Sameer Khan (Ajay Devgan) was still a hero...someone who had money and could pick up the phone and call the commissioner. Would I have the same courage? Would I be able to put my family at risk for the victory of truth? It is not something that I can answer in this blog...it is a strength that I would need to find in myself if god forbid, one day I need to.

Ajay Devgan has acted fairly well...but risks the danger of being typecast. He has done too many of these angry man against the system kind of roles and needs to experiment a bit now...In all fairness, the movie belongs to Pankaj Kapur. I had forgotten what a brilliant actor he is...he can take a scene and raise the bar like nobody's business!

What the film lacked though, was a good set of dialogues. The script allowed for some very potent dialogues to be used but they were forsaken for extremely ineffectual ones. Pankaj Kapoor in a very volatile scene saying "Tumhare bete ka character badal gaya hai" was a complete disaster for one!

All in all, movies likes this force us to think once in a while, they shake us up and question the bubble of our existance. An excellent attempt.

Rating - 3 out of 5