Salman and his real-life brother Sohail get very little time together. One would expect some solid screen time being occupied by the two.
A still from 'Tubelight.'
Salman’s big Id release, Tubelight, has been panned, and here are some reasons why it just didn’t work.
- Because it’s Id and bhai fans wanted to see a happy film, which Tubelight is not, by any stretch of imagination. The movie is about people who’ve lost. Every major character in the movie has lost something, or someone. And from initial trends, it looks like the distributors will be the biggest losers.
- Because it has quite a Bajrangi Bhaijaan hangover. Salman as a do-gooder here protects the traditional enemy — a Chinese boy — from harm. In the earlier film, it was a Pakistani girl, and that connected better with the audiences.
- Because bhaijaan gets roughed up once too often. In one sequence, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub slaps him repeatedly. One could hear Salman fans muttering under their breath, and some even leaving the theatre.
- Because there’s no romantic interest this time. Not even with the pretty Chinese actress Zhu Zhu being publicised as Salman’s leading lady. Even Sohail Khan has a love interest in Isha Talwar, but Salman does not.
- Because Salman and his real-life brother Sohail get very little time together. One would expect some solid screen time being occupied by the two brothers. Here they sing a song together and then Sohail goes away to fight the war, while Salman is left behind to fight his own battles.
- Sadly, for a film so gentle in tone and with music in its soul, not one song remains with the audiences after the film. The songs are, at most, functional. Sajan Radio too doesn’t really hark back to the era of the radio.
- Because Salman sheds too many tears. His character, Laxman Bist cries at the drop of the hat in the movie.
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