by Shaheen Raaj & Rizwan Asad
Banner: Salman Khan Films & Kabir Khan Films
Producer: Salman Khan
Director: Kabir Khan
Star Cast: Salman Khan, debutante Zhu Zhu, Sohail Khan, debutante Master Matin Rey Tangu, Isha Talwar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Om Puri, Yashpal Sharma, Sahil Mehta, Late Om Puri Shatrughan Sinha & Shah Rukh Khan (Cameo Appearances)
Music: Pritam & Julius Packiam
Director Kabir Khan needs no special introduction as he has delivered countless number of runaway super hit fillms like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kick, Ek Tha Tiger, Bodyguard, Wanted, Dabangg, New York et al but in his latest outing Tubelight he along with his super star Mr. Dictator Salman Khan’s calculated Ramzan Eid release plan has gone absolutely awry. The real tubelight oriented sparks are simply missing. Perhaps both Kabir & Salman’s over confidence let them down very badly. Need we say anything more.
The scripted scenario of Tubelight reveals that it is a story about a man’s unshakeable belief. Based on the adage, “Faith can move mountains, the film revolves around the life of a simpleton named Laxman Singh Bisht (Salman Khan). Because of his exceedingly gullible nature, he gets nicknamed as “tubelight”, thanks to his inability to grasp, understand & analyse things like others. The story starts off with a narration by Laxman Singh Bist, wherein he takes the audiences through his childhood to adulthood journey. While the world doesn’t take him seriously, the 1 man who always stands by Laxman Singh Bist and has complete faith in him, is none other than his younger brother Bharat Singh Bisht (Sohail Khan). 1 day, in the wake of the Indo – China war, the Indian Army invites applications from young Indians to join the army & serve the nation at the time of crisis. While Laxman Singh Bist gets rejected outright, Bharat Singh Bist gets chosen to be a part of the Indian army to go to the border to fight against the Chinese invasion. Life falls apart for Laxman Singh Bist when he gets to know that there is no news or contact with his brother Bharat Singh Bist and that he may have died in the war. That’s when Banney chacha (the Late Om Puri) tells Laxman Singh Bist to have faith that his brother Bharat Singh Bist will indeed return 1 day.
Director Kabir Khan’s Tubelight, perhaps his 1st ever flop movie in his long & checkered directorial career, is based on the premise of the official adaptation of the Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s war movie titled Little Boy. But the adapted writing part by Kabir Khan (story), Kabir Khan & Parveez Shaikh (screenplay) & Manurishi Chadha (dialogues) are very raw, extremely half – baked & totally convoluted, which ultimately ended up in Tubelight totally losing its fizz & thereby bombing on the Box – Office turnstiles on the release day itself. The film failed to live upto its title & eventually falls flat completely. In fact Tubelight just does not hold any kind of solid content to even remotely hold the viewers interest. That apart the film is not at all convincing. It also lacks the emotional connect with the audiences. Besides Pritam’s music is another let down except for one hummable track namely “Radio”. The only reedeeming factors of Tubelight are the film’s background score by Julius Packiam, cinematography by Aseem Mishra & editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat which are extra ordinaire.
Performace wise Salman Khan plays his part with utmost sincerity & dedication but it’s the convoluted script which fails him bitterly and he ends up delivering a very artificial performance. Even though Salman Khan tries his best to be naïve & affable, the film’s poor writing has taken its toil on him and he gives him in. Debutante Chinese actress Zhu Zhu can only boat of having a good screen presence and is endearing to watch, nothing more nothing less as the weak script fails to escalate the impact of her performance too. The Indian audiences will find it tough to relate to her half baked character in the film. On the other hand the little boy Master Matin Rey Tangu too is cute & endearing in his character, but doesn’t get to do much. Whereas Sohail Khan is convincing in his extended cameo kind of role and plays his part with sincerity. The Late Om Puri indeed delivers a memorable performance, while Shatrughan Sinha & Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo is impressive. A special noteworthy mention must be made of Sahil Mehta who has indeed given a good account of himself. While the rest of the actors like Isha Talwar, Yashpal Sharma & Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub are conving and help the film in moving forward.
Tail Piece: This Tubelight has certainly lost its fizz goes phuss.
