Do you remember Woh Ladki Hai Kahan? It’s the fake film that Saif Ali Khan and Sonali Kulkarni watch in Dil Chahta Hai, which, of course, leads to the song ‘Woh Ladki Hai Kahan’. Then there’s also the fake film Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan are shown watching in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi just before they break into ‘Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte’. Hero is a film so generic that it felt like one of those fake films within a film. Don’t be surprised if the next Salman Khan movie has him and the heroine watching Hero, even if it’s only meant to segue into a song.
The film, a remake of Subash Ghai’s 1983 potboiler of the same name, catapulted its debut leads — Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri — into stardom. That’s perhaps the only logic behind the decision to make this launch vehicle of two star kids — Sooraj Pancholi (who’s named Sooraj in the film, like how Jackie retained his name in the original) and Athiya Shetty (Sunil Shetty’s daughter). Watching the film begs the question of what really constitutes a remake-worthy film. Surely, the directors should have learned from the debacles that were Himmatwala and Zanjeer.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, Chetan Hansraj and Vivan Bhatena make regular appearances. What they add to the narrative is something that will take NASA scientists decades to decipher.
There are feeble attempts to replant the film in 2015. The heroine, for instance, takes a lot of selfies, with bathroom being her choicest location. She also drinks and uses obscene language, and at one point, gets into a pact with god promising to stay away from these ‘bad habits’. The hero — a mechanic in the original — runs a gym (called Baba Da Akhara) here. Looks like the writers believe that youngsters are all about selfies, booze and fitness. The acting of the two leads is sure to make struggling actors more bitter about the khandaani nature of Indian cinema. It’s rather surprising that Salman Khan, given his present form, has chosen to produce such an insincere film. What do you call a film even Salman Khan can’t save? Hero.