Sea ships, VFX, complex CGI, and two of the biggest Bollywood stars. Are we impressed? As far as the first look of Thugs of Hindostan is concerned, it has all the ingredients to blow our minds, except for one – the originality. For starters, the trailer would remind you a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean, the logo looks cringingly inspired from GoT, and then we have brits who speak Hindi like that in Lagaan. Some great effects like we saw in Baahubali are here to see as well, and well there’s a dancing Katrina Kaif which is again reminiscent of Chikni Chameli. Just with a different dress. And, the whole movie is inspired by a novel, if that adds to the point.
Even the trailer is too long to bear. You would sure at least once look at the time bar and see how much of it is left. And, there would be plenty of it.
Set in 1795, Thugs of Hindostan is based on Confessions of a Thug, a novel by Philip Meadows Taylor. The film boasts of high action-packed drama and some adrenaline pumping thrills for there is a war on the seas and numerous combat scenes. It is based about the fight of Amitabh Bachchan (Khudabaksh), who is a thug commander of the seas, against the rule of East India company in the country. The firangs set up an unscrupulous conman Aamir Khan (Firangi Mullah), who would eventually rat them out to the British. Something we already caught in the trailer. Clearly, the plot is out. It’s just the effects and fireworks we’re holding on to watch in this movie.
A first …
Finally! In a legion of scenes of familiarity, there’s one thing we found undeniably new. This is the first time Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan are working together. The other khans – Salman Khan and SRK – have worked plenty of times with the Big B in the past. But, this pair couldn’t come on the silver screen together, like forever. Brushing aside all the speculations of ego war between them, the two have stated that they were to work together in an Inder Kumar’s venture Rishta in the year 1994. But, somehow it couldn’t happen. And now, that they’ve been brought together with this big budgeted production, both can’t help but say nice things about each other and how it was a privilege to share screen space and shake a leg together.
Aamir reminiscing his days from the set, stated that “It was a dream for me to work with Amitabh Bachchan. I have been working for 30 years, but I never got to work with sir. This experience is very rich for me. I was like a child in a candy shop. I would feel good even by just sitting next to him. I was so happy to learn so much from someone who has been my inspiration.”
AB, on the other hand, too expressed his humble joy in working with the third Khan. “It is a big honour for me to work with Aamir. Aamir Khan is not only Aamir Khan. He is a producer, director, writer, music director, distributor, marketing genius, screenplay writer, and after that he is a brilliant actor too,” he said.
Roles They Play
We all know what great lengths Aamir goes to prepare for a role. And, this time is no exception. He has already given the glimpse of it with his permanent nose-piercing in Thugs of Hindostan. With his role as an unethical pawn of the British, this is quite different for both him and us. There’s another kick to it, Aamir Khan looks surprisingly young. Boring or not, one look at the trailer and we’re convinced that the life is breathed into Aamir’s character, for it’s all juicy & spicy and has the air of perfectionism, common with all the characters he plays.
AB, however, looks tired, apparently from all the action sequences he has done. But, he’s not being unreasonable. The man is over 75 and has performed some heavy stunts. Apparently, he has suffered back and shoulder injuries during the shoots. In an interview, he recalled his ordeal, “It is not my age to do all this but our director asked us to do so I did it. There is no part of the body that has not been broken and there is no doctor that I haven’t met. There is not much improvement.”
We get it. It happens! But, will all these efforts come around to make something substantial out of this big Diwali release? The first look was not a pleaser. The stuff which attracts people, no, it was not made of it.
But as they say, never judge a movie by its trailer, erm, a book by its …well, never mind, you got it. So, we will keep faith in it and hopefully have a good reason to pass on quality family time on Diwali and rather watch this YRF.
