Bhuj: The Pride of India Review

Someone with a huge sense of Irony must have named this film Bhuj the Pride of India.

Within the first 15 minutes of the film, I felt my head was about to burst with the level of nonsense shown in the film. Nothing can make me MORE ashamed of being an Indian and being part of the industry, which made this film. Don’t get me wrong, I am ashamed of this FILM, not the real story. I am criticizing the FILM not the real events on which is this (supposedly) based upon.

They wanted to make the opening look like Pearl Harbor. However, the result is so terrible that I can’t even find any other film to compare it to… its like someone gave a baboon a camera and told it to make a film. The result would be close to what is on screen.

From the comical entry of our hero and his jeep hitting a plane. To airplanes behaving in impossible manner to Ajay Devgn’s character shooting down planes and causing MORE damage than the enemy was managing to do… Not to mention there are two fake out main character death scenes in the same scene!

It’s cinematic equivalent of watching an elephant take a huge dump. A total shit show, and this is literally only 17 mins into a 1 hr 53 mins film. I took a crocin, some vodka (to disinfect my mind) and soldiered on…

The rest of the movie doesn’t get any easier on the senses either. The recruiting of the villagers to repair the runway is done in a funny manner with Sonakshi (can’t act) Sinha singing and giving strange dialogs which cannot possibly inspire anyone. The main part of the story which is civilian villagers coming to the rescue of the armed forces and the nation at large is dealt with in an emotionless manner.

This movie seems to be made by people who have NO clue as to what they are doing. The land/tank battle scene is confusing and doesn’t make any coherent sense, there is no flow to the fighting nor does is it clear where all the troops are and the attack is happening.

I am yet to see Shershaah but this Bhuj made my brain feel dehydrated.

Final Verdict:

This movie has some of the worst editing I have seen since KGF Part 1. Everything suddenly whips, zips, zooms and bangs with a smash cut. Noorah didn’t have her item song in the film itself (thankfully). Her entire arc was just a mere time-pass and didn’t add any depth to the movie. Sanjay Dutt probably regretted not being in the film ‘Border’ so decided to do a cameo as retired super hero who keeps killing off hundreds with a small axe while sustaining two small grazes on his arm.

I don’t even know was is the lady cast as Ajay Devgn’s wife as she has no dialog and no character and is a mere prop.

The vital runway repair scenes are rushed and compressed to an overnight affair while the real thing took place over 2 or 3 days and was a testament to human will and endurance. To add further drama towards the climax a random Ganesha song is added. Why oh why?

So, in short. Skip this one. Avoid at all costs. This movie is not just bad, this is obnoxiously bad. A sly attempt to make a hyper national film with ZERO effort and zero sincerity. This makes me angry more so because the events that happened in 1971 defined our nation and such a cash grab attempt to show such a vital story. Now that they have made this, no one else will make a good version, so this is what we are stuck with.

Rating: 2.5/10. One of the worst movies made in recent times. Nothing in the film works. Not the plot, which is super compressed and is senseless, despite being based on real events. The VFX is super fake and takes you out of the film totally. The acting is so hyperbolic, it seems like a school play. The editing is some of the worst that can be achieved on cinema. Calling this a film is a disgrace to films in general. If you want to see a good Ajay Devgn film, rewatch Tanaaji.

P.S: The real pictures of the people shown at the end of the film are much more interesting and had a bigger impact on me than the film itself.