Review of Brothers

“Brothers”, the official remake of Hollywood movie “Warrior” has been promoted as a high voltage action oriented film based on Mixed martial arts and it is true to some extent. But it is not only an action entertainer rather it is an emotional drama too about the conflicts between the members of a family, between a father and his two sons, between two brothers separated following a tragic incident in their family.

It is a story about two brothers David (Akshay Kumar) and Monty (Siddhatharth Malhotra)

both were separated in their younger age when a tragic incident had happened in their family which had lead their father Garry (Jacky Shroff) to imprisonment. By the time Garry comes out of Jail things have changed a lot. David has cut off all his relationship with Garry and Monty and has chosen to be a Physics teacher and a dedicated family man with a loving wife Jenny (Jacquline Fernandes) and a daughter. On the other hand Monty is an unsuccessful, alcoholic street fighter. Both Monty and David have chosen different lives but there is one common thing in between them, they both hate each other. Another common thing between these two brothers is that they both love street fighting , as their father Garry was a famous fighter at his young age, although after becoming a teacher David has chosen to refrain him from street fighting.

In such a situation world famous controversial game show R2F (Right To Fight) is introduced in India which is a knock out fight series based on MMA between heavy weight world famous fighters with Indian fighters. Both David and Monty take part in this competition for different reasons. David needs the prize money for his daughter’s treatment where Monty wants to prove to his father that he is a better fighter than David. As expected these two brothers face off each other in the finals. Who wins and who loses that you have to see in the theaters but their brotherhood wins. Love wins over hate, forgiveness wins over revenge.

The screenplay has been adapted quite well from the original adding some Bollywood masala, like a bit too much melodrama, a forcefully placed item song. Although the first half

is too lengthy, unnecessary time has been spend on showing the flashback of David and Jenny’s love story which is not required at all. Rather more time could have been spend on showing the bonding of the two brothers in their childhood which could have given more emotional high to the climax. The item song featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan is also not required; it just adds more running time to the first half. In the second half the story revolves more around the MMA fights, but the scenes showing the emotional dilemma of the family members in between the fight sequences helps to break the monotony of the fight sequences and it also gives more strength to the emotional climax.

After making his directorial debut with “Agneepath” few years back, Karan malhotra has made it clear once again that he can blend emotion and action quite well. His direction is good. Only he could have work on to shorten the length of the film by some 10 minutes.

Akshay Kumar has played his character wonderfully. When it comes to martial arts there is no one better than him in his league of actors. It is always a delight to see Akshay Kumar performing those martial arts but here he has shined not only in fight sequences rather he is brilliant in emotional moments too. He is very impressive as the David suffering from a dilemma whether to forgive his family or not for his loss.

Siddharth malhotra is an young actor who is continuously improving himself with every

film. It is really tough to fight opposite Akshay Kumar that too in Martial arts form but Siddharth has managed it quite well. He has played his character extremely well. The anger and aggression in his expression looks convincing as per his on screen character. Even in his fight sequences he is impressive. His effort for building a perfect body is also appreciable. Only he needs to improve in the emotional scenes. 

We have seen Jacky Shroff various type of supporting roles in recent past but the character he has played in this movie is probably one the best among them. Here he has got a chance to play a significant character with enough scope to show his talent and he has utilized this opportunity quite well. He is good as the old father who is trying hard to bring back his broken family together. Only he is not that effective in the sequences where he plays the younger version of his character as an alcoholic and abusive husband.

Jacquline Fernandes has got a different kind of character to play as an wife and a mother but unfortunately she has nothing much to do specially in the second half. Shefali Shah is wonderful in a cameo as Monty and David’s mother. Watch out her in the scene where she first time meets Monty.It is nice to see Ashutosh Rana on screen after a long time. He has managed to impress even in his lesser screen time.

Among the technical team the first credit should be given to the action directors Justin Yu and Eric Brown. They have set a really high standard for the action sequences in Hindi cinema. Hemant Chaturvedi’s camerawork is remarkable. The background music by Ajay-Atul suits with the drama going on screen. Their background score is very much effective during the fight sequences which gives it a thrilling feel. The music is not the strongest point of the film because there is not enough scope for songs , whatever song is there are only works as a speed breaker. Even the item song featuring Kareena does not work as it has been forcefully placed in the story.

Overall it is an enjoyable film which has its own loop holes but after coming out of theater it will give you satisfied feeling. Watch it for the wonderful acting by the brothers duo and also for the superbly choreographed fight sequences.