Patriotic or Pathetic ?. Review on I - Proud Be An Indian

Before starting my review I?d like to tell you something. I?ve purposefully avoided writing the review on L.O.C. It was the most frustrating & hamming movie I?ve ever seen. I just don?t know how people get entertained with such a boring stuff.

Then one more patriotic movie came, and it was looking good too. So, one fine Sunday evening I went for this movie.

After coming from theater, I felt like I?m surrounded with the skinheads & felt like killing everyone around me with a punch.

It took whole Monday for me to recover. Then I realized my moral obligation towards MS members & started inking this review. So, here I go..

The Cause

I Proud To Be An Indian is a story of an Indian bodybuilder who tries to rescue his family from the fear & racism of so called skinheads who believe that non-white people have no right to live in England. That?s all.

With these simple two & half lines, our Indian bodybuilder, Mr. Sohail-bodybuilder Khan created a full fledged two and half hour hindi movie! Though the concept was good and new, poor handling & bad screenplay made the film crowl. I wonder if Asians still face this 80?s ka problem.

Movie starts with a father (Kulbhushan Karbanda) arriving in London with his serious looking son (Mr. Bodybuilder Khan). His elder son (Asif Sheikh) is well-settled family man living with his wife (Mona Ambagaonkar) & two children.

An already existing problem of skinheads terrorizing black people starts affecting this happy living family. But this time they have Mr. Bodybilder with them to beat those ill looking skinheads with his powerful punch. But his machogiri creates enough problems which make life of his family miserable.

So finally he fights with those bald, ill looking skinheads & their bald but He-Man looking leader to make sure that this problem will never-ever arise in future (This should make every Indian feel proud).

By the time he does this job, he manages to sing couple of songs with a good looking but never-seen-before heroine.

What Went Well

Very difficult.. but I?ll try.

Hummm?..

???

?..

haa..

1) I really loved the performances of Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Mona Ambegaonkar. They did their part with utmost honesty. Some comic scenes are really good.

2) Then?.Hummm???

Aaa..

Aummm?..

???

?..

Sorry.

I give up.

What Went Wrong

Oh, I?ve lot of stuff for this section..

1) Sohail Khan wants himself in each & every frame of the movie. You can see him bathing in the shower stretching his Deltoid muscles and after every bath he stands in front of the mirror & examines the cuts of his chest muscles. His face is hardly capable of emoting. Come on man, Express yourself !!

2) Songs? do I need to say anything? Oh bollywood ! give us a break.

3) Screenplay & loose script. Second half seemed to be rather stretched. One can easily predict whats going to happen next.

4) London seems to have sent all the cops on Holi holidays. Because they hardly interfere when our hero is busy with his boxing practice with skinheads.

5) Cinematographer has failed to capture the beauty & lifestyle of the country. (which has been done excellently in KHNH)

6) People who watched this movie said that this movie carries a Message. I just didn?t understand. Our hero neither motivates nor does he try to unite other Asians to fight against the racism. Nope, no message at all.

7) Some violent scenes such as skinheads killing a pregnant woman & her husband don?t impress at all.

8) Director?s attempt to encourage IND-PAK relations falls flat on face as in the end its only our hero who fights with skinheads. Others just watch them fighting mutely.

Somewhere in some newspaper, I read that the film showed a harsh reality of skinheads threatening Asians. I really don?t think this is the case now. I?d like to request our overseas members to express their comments.

My Verdict

My dear friends,

please stay back in your home and never ever think of wasting your week-end on this stupid movie. But if you still feel like watching, then just switch on your TV and watch WWE. I?m sure you?ll not miss skinheads.

Nothing patriotic about it.