Review : Raksha Bandhan : Strong social message wrapped in clean entertainment!
In our Indian society elder brother takes father’s place after latter’s early demise. All the familial duties are supposed to be fulfilled by him and most of the time the brother bears them without complaining. Also in the Indian society a menacing problem of ‘#Dowry’ is prevalent and despite it being a punishable offence under the IPC the practice is still prevailing in the society. In metro cities it may have curtailed but under the garb of ‘gifts for the groom’, it is still in practise. But in towns and smaller places dowry menaces still persists strongly even today. Writers #HimanshuSharma and #KanikaDhillon project this point in Raksha Bandhan but in a humorous manner. No, the dowry subject is not trivialised but the narrative is in lighter vein which is pleasing to watch. Director #AnandLRai has gone back to his roots of presenting a story of a small town family. He has narrated it with equal amount of emotions and humour, making the film entertaining.
Lala Kedarnath (Akshay Kumar) runs a family chat shop in Chandani Chowk which is famous for it’s Golgappas (Pani Puri in bombaiyya language) which is consumed by pregnant women believing that they’ll deliver a baby boy after eating those golgappas. Lala had promised his mother on her deathbed that he’ll marry only after marrying off his four siblings. Actually it’s a task for him because though the elder one Gayatri (Sadia Khateeb) is ‘khubsoorat and susheel’ and sensible, others include an extremely overweight Durga (Deepika Khanna), dusky Laxmi (Smrithi Srikanth) and the youngest tomboyish Saraswati (Sahejmeen Kaur). His ‘bachpan ka pyar’ Sapna is kept waiting by him though her father is desperately wanting to get his daughter married off before his retirement. After paying hefty dowry Gayatri’s marriage takes place but to marry off other three is the most difficult part for Lala as he doesn’t have enough resources or energy. Lala and his family faces a setback and things take different turn in everyone’s lives.
Director Anand L Rai has a winner at his hand despite a few flaws in the script. He has managed a beautiful balance in terms of emotions. The first half is loaded with humour and the second one with drama and emotions. But nothing goes overboard. The story line never loses the focus and steady pace is maintained. The sibling bonding is endearing. Full marks to the editor (110 M) as the film never drags. Himesh Reshamiya’s music complements the narrative and ‘Tere Saath Hoon Main….’ stands out. Akshay Kumar is in his elements as he is hilarious in comic scenes and aces the doting brother part. The emotional scenes are well executed by him with able support of his costars. Bhumi Pednekar’s portrayal of a helpless lover is convincing and though she has lesser screen time she stands out. All the four sisters, Sadia Khateeb, Deepika Khanna, Smrithi Srikanth and Sahejmeen Kaur have done a swell job. Sadia looks beautiful and emotes very well, especially in her scenes with Akshay. Sahil Mehta and Seema Pahwa too are good.
Raksha Bandhan is a family entertainer which delivers a strong social message wrapped in clean entertainment.
Rating : ***1/2