Bajrangi Bhaijaan (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #47 extract: Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)

Magnificent. Bajrangi Bhaijaan, or Brother Bajrangi, is a road movie that sees a mute Pakistani girl lost behind in India and found by a Hanuman devotee. (Hanuman being the Hindu Monkey God, devotee to Rama). What ensues is a journey back into Pakistan, one centred on themes of unifying truth. The subtext is then unambiguously commenting on the blurring of lines between India and Pakistan for the greater good. 

Though this narrative plays out somewhat predictably, and is fleetingly a little too on-the-nose and emphatic when it concerns cinematic language, these minor faults cannot withhold the poignancy and power of the story. Performances are all brilliant, and Salman Khan is cast perfectly, somehow being naive, bumbling, warm, formidable, oafish and sincere all at once. The pacing, rhythm and songs are tremendous. And this looks pretty incredible. Not worth faulting, only worth seeing, I strongly urge you to check this out.