Bullett Raja continued to maintain the low opening trend of last week. Failing to show any major traction, the movie barely saw 30-35% occupancy on its Opening Day at the domestic box office. Multiplexes and Single Screens both showed a similar low trend in opening shows today.

The movie will however do better than the 2 movies released last week, i.e. Singh Saab The Great and Gori Tere Pyaar Mein! as it has released on a wider scale as compared to them. Let’s watch how the chemistry between Saif Ali Khan and Sonakshi Sinha does at the domestic box office.

Evolving in the milieu of U.P’s hinterland, the story of Bullett Raja is about the life of its titular character Raja Mishra (Saif Ali Khan). A strange course of events led his life from a scuffle to a gangwar. Ending up at a wedding party, he unusually bonds with Rudra (Jimmy Shergill). The gang attack at a wedding party ends them both in jail and thus begins their journey to becoming the warlords of the heartlands.

Emerging as the zone’s most dreadful men, the duo incurred the wrath of a famous businessman due to their don’t-care-a-damn attitude. The rivalry costed them a hefty price and then begins the journey Raja takes up to avenge the death of his loyal friend Rudra.

In these tough times, he find love with Mitali whose warmth gave him solace and made him even more determined to tick off the men who killed his loyal accomplice and best friend. Can Raja kill Rudra’s murderers or he himself gets entrapped in the web of industrial-political nexus who see him as a threat? Watch Bullett Rja to unravel the story.

Bullett Raja sounds inappropriate from the word go! In my words, the film was flat devoid of fun, thrill, excitement or anything else it promises you. It is insipid, tasteless and so utterly lame that it take a toll on your intelligence at more than one occassions. How else will you make sense of the life of ‘political commando’ Raja Mishra (to be pronounced Misra henceforth) For those who do not have any connections with the anti-social world, Misra is a goon who functions with his accomplice (Rudra).

When the story begins, he is yet another unemployed young man looking for a job but life twists his story so differently that he ends up in jail with his friend Rudra and begin travelling on an entirely different path. While the story appears to be extremely believable and relatable so far completely transforms itself. It reduces to being a mockery of Indian law system as Dhulia and his co-writer conjure up a script that neither classifies as a satire nor a drama.

The two small time petty goons rise to the position of gangsters under the blessing of a local politician. It was all going hunky dory for the duo till a series of entirely needless twists and countertwists lead to the death of Rudra. The story shifts tinge as it now becomes a revenge tale with the absolutely undesired romantic angle added to it in vain.

The script itself is so unenjoyable that there is indeed very little to rescue it. The story has no embellishing factor that offers anything new to the audiences. It is the same old Sholay story served on the background of a political canvas that later takes color of a revenge plot with a climax that classifies as doltish and unintelligent. To gulp down a hotel like treatment in U.P’s jails and inmates controlling the political air via skype is hopefully just a myth. Also to add Rani Lakshmi Bai’s Marathi connect is worst possible clap-trap the writers could think of.

Saif Ali Khan has proved his mettle for such roles in Omkara but Raja Misra doesn’t even near the intensity of Langda Tyagi. Tyagi was fiery, fiesty, bold and intense. Raja is frivolous and lacks the enthusiasm and energy. It would be advisable that Saif sticks to playing the chocolate boy ala Hum Tum. Somehow he is way better suited in such roles.

Sonakshi Sinha plays the same role she has been playing every film ever since she entered the industry. Except for Lootera, the actress has not shown any inclination to try a new avatar. She is lax and content with the role meted out to her and the actress does the same without any qualms. I was all of praise for her after Lootera but seeing her slip into roles so much beneath her caliber is heart breaking.

Jimmy Shergill is an absolute show stealer. For the entire first half, it will be easier to give Saif a miss and keep your eyes latched on him. Despite the lack of support from the script, his chemistry with Saif stands as the film’s only impressive bit.

Raj Babbar is great in his bit and so is Gulshan Grover. But both Ravi Kishen and Vidyut Jamwal are wasted in the film. Vidyut especially makes a solid entry and shows traces of getting you glued to the screens. But with such limited screen space, the actor is seen wasting his caliber in a role that doesn’t do justice to his vivacious potential.

Tigmanshu Dhulia bites off more than he can swallow in this one. An overtly ambitious project, Dhulia tries to bring aesthetic taste to mainstream commercial cinema with this film. But the film fails to turn into a defining work due to its predictable storyline. Also I have always admired Dhulia’s gritty style of narration but the screenplay of Bullett Raja is dishearteningly terrible. For the entire first hour of the film, the story fails to come to your grasp. Drama shifts so swiftly from one instance to another that the much needed serenity which is essential in storytelling remains obsolete in the film. It is impactless and inherently passive without the steam that I was expecting.

Both the film’s music and editing were shabby. The editing especially took the film down as it chopped off the more emotional sequences of the story and retained the drabber ones. However the film’s dialogues does evoke appreciation as a few of them were breathtaking in parts. Sample this, “Bhai mara hai hamara, badla lena parampara hai. Koi corporate culture nahin hai ki agli deal mein adjust kar lenge. ” Lines like these leave the maximum impact with the rustic effect that Dhulia had attempted to blow us over with. However, the alarmingly incoherent overall product has no flair that we associate with the director, which is the worst part of the film.

Bullett Raja with its grave minuses and fewer plusses is an underwhelming film much to my disbelief. The last few films of Dhulia had made me rank him amongst the top notch filmmakers of this generation. Unfortunately the man goes wrong with his favorite recipe of showcasing the ills of political nexus, as he hands out a story that barely has any moments and remains flat for most part. Saif Ali Khan and Jimmy Shergill’s chemistry is the only best part from the acting section. But in all its triteness, Bullett Raja is Dhulia’s most uninspired work till date. I am going with a 2/5 with the remark that commercial cinema is definitely not the director’s cup of tea.

Article Courtesy : Koimoi

She has always been the bombaat factor in all the films, whether it’s the iconic dialogue deliveries or the rustic charm that she is endowed with. But Sonakshi has zoomed into the A-league right at the onset of her career. With almost a handful of films releasing every year, Sonakshi is definitely the busiest of the newbies today. “It has been three years that I have been a part of this industry. I never had the intention of joining films as I had always been saying. But after doing Dabangg, I started liking the entire feel. 

And henceforth, I have been busy shooting films back to back and my mom gets really pissed at me for overworking all the time. But somehow, work keeps me happy. I loved every moment of it that’s why it gave me the zeal to work even more. Shooting, promoting takes up so much of time that I have hardly taken holidays ever since I joined films. I guess I am the only newcomer who has had as many as nine releases in the first three years.”

From Dabangg to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobaara! and Bullett Raja now, sans Lootera, she has always been playing loud characters, ones that have hardly had anything substantial to offer. Does she ever regret doing more Dabanggs and less Looteras? Up came the rebuttal. “Well, I don’t really think that is the right way to go about the entire thing. Every film is different in its own right and I personally don’t like it when people call me a mere showpiece or an arm candy in the film. I do the so called massy entertainers just because I believe in them. I am one person who would do a film only if I personally would like to watch it in a movie hall. And be it Dabangg or Bullett Raja or Lootera, these are films that I believed in. Coming to substantial roles, yes everyone did appreciate me in Lootera and that would b e one of my most favourite performances because it developed my acting prowess but then again, I would say doing a film like Bullett Raja is more difficult than doing a Lootera. In these films, I need to play a loud character, one that I cannot relate to with my own life. People might feel this has nothing substantial to offer while I beg to differ and say these roles take serious amount of hard work”, she clarifies with conviction.

Playing a Bengali for the second time in Bullett Raja and looking so effortlessly charming, Sonakshi is definitely on a high. “This is the second time I am playing a Bengali girl but this character is way different from Lootera’s Pakhi. My character in Bullett Raja is more traditionally contemporary and somehow the Bengali look really works well on me. People are saying I totally look like a Bengali girl. Very mishti, is what they say (Smiles)”, Sonakshi signs off with that million dollar smile.

Music: Sajid-Wajid & RdbLyrics: Kausar Munir, Sandeep Nath, Shabbir Ahmed & Raftaar
Music Label: T-Series

The Sajid-Wajid duo joining hands for the first time with Tigmanshu Dhulia does raise expectations. So we are surprised when we find that a RDB-composed track is the song that is most promoted.

The rationale, if not reason, is clear: Like 'Lungi Dance' in Chennai Express, 'Tamanche Pe Disco' (RDB-Nindy Kaur-Raftaar) is expected to be the GenY-pulling song of this score. The hook-line is arresting, but better sound balancing could have made a world of difference to this number, which sounds as if cacophony has been unleashed with intentional force!

The lyrics (Raftaar) are functional like all such songs -with rap portions alternating with some romantic verse, a dollop of stuff related to tamancha (technically a crude pistol), a frenetic beat and endless repetition of the hook.

From the Sajid-Wajid numbers, Shreya-Wajid-Bonnie Chakraborty's mellow-dious 'Saamne Savera' flows smoothly like a rippling stream, with Bonnie contributing the Bangla-folk-like Baul portions in the tradition of S.D. Burman (as far as we know of this folk stream in Hindi cinema). Wajid gives Shreya good company with his adroit singing. Kausar Munir's lyrics are sweet.

A nice mix of Indian percussion and Western guitar riffs introduces the different 'Jai Govinda Jai Gopala' (Neeraj Shridhar), a familiar tune into which Neeraj infuses the characteristic light and irreverent tone for which he is known since Love Aaj Kal. The lyrics (Shabbir Ahmed), however, do not make a mark.

Mamta Sharma, one of those singers who can get away with seemingly endless similar songs (in the item genre) without sounding monotonous, brings 'Don't Touch My Body' to life with her spirited delivery. The amusing lyrics (Sandeep Nath) seem bawdy but are actually quite - as we said - amusing and even cute. The Laxmikant-Pyarelal-esque folk tune has a steady graph and is well orchestrated by the duo.

The title-track 'Bullett Raja' (Wajid-Keerthi Sargathia) celebrates the protagonist with a wild rhythm. The sound is a bit over-produced and raucous, even for the loud vocals. Kausar Munir again writes with felicity, the overall familiarity nicely packaged in some fresh verse (Dil jo lagaale to laage lagan / Meera bhi naache re hoke magan / Pakke lagaata hai sur).

Sajid-Wajid's penchant for using Western strings in rustic songs is seen very effectively in the prelude of the satire-rich 'Sataake Thoko' (Wajid-Keerthi Sagathia-Danish Sabri), the other standout track of the score. Sandeep Nath's lyrics are very perceptive, highly incisive (Kanpur ka kaan hai behra / Sitapur mein Ravan thehraa) and trenchant (Arre watan kiya badnaam /Ke ab to satake thoko). Here is a song that gives the ambience of a villagers' nautanki sung on political degradation and raises hopes that all is not lost in lyricdom today!

Tigmanshu Dhulia's films have generally had music of ordinary caliber - with two standout exceptions: Haasil and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. This time, the soundtrack is above average, without being exceptional.

'Saamne Hai Savera', 'Satake Thoko'