Kick

<strong>An entertainer worth your time on the weekend</strong><br/> There are certain ground rules for a Salman Khan film. While most heroes work their way towards earning the title in their respective films, Salman Khan, from the very first frame establishes who the boss is. What follows is a constant reminder, approved by a cheering audience. A quintessentially Salman-esque film, Kick is every bit the masala entertainer that the Bhai-worshipping audience was craving for after Jai Ho.

<strong>It has a mission to reinforce that Salman may be a bad boy but has a heart of gold</strong><br/> If you look really closely, you'll notice that the new Salman Khan starrer Kick is fashioned as a mirror to his own life. Directed by Sajid Nadiadwala, this is a movie on a mission. A mission to whitewash the actor's controversial personal image, and to reinforce the notion that he may be a bad boy, but he's got a heart of gold.

<strong>Salman Khan's Kick is all charisma, zero craft</strong><br/> The first thing you should know about Kick is that it is an outrageously silly film. It lurches from a thwarted love story to infantile comedy to slick action to shamelessly manipulative melodrama without any attempt at coherence or consistency.

<strong>Watch this Salman Khan film and get your kick</strong><br/> Sajid Nadiadwala, who is marking his directorial debut with Kick, roped in Salman Khan intentionally because his spark is incomparable and he already sensed what he could yield him even if the content proves a hurdle.

<strong>Shaukeens changed to The Shaukeens</strong><br/> Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandez), a psychiatrist, is pining for her ex-boyfriend, Devi Lal (Salman Khan). Supercop Himanshu Tyagi (Randeep Hooda) is looking for the mysterious, masked thief Devil who goes around pulling of spectacular stunts. Within the first half hour, the only ones who don't know that Devi Lal is Devil are Shaina and Himanshu. What follows for the next few hours is a procession of shots showing Khan walking, Khan driving, Khan dancing, Khan in a hoodie, Khan in a colourful kurta, Khan in black, Khan with a beard, Khan without a beard, Khan with tears in his eyes, Khan striding, and Khan's ass being kicked.

Welcome to bizarreland. This is where people do what they want and the audience is expected to digest it with open mouthed admiration. This is the kind of 'masterpiece' that would put Robinhood to reconsider his charitable intentions. Because as you know, Bhai rocks. It is in this bizarreland that I am imagining a conversation between the celebrated author Chetan Bhagat (who is part of the four team screenplay writers which includes Rajat Arora, Keith Gomes and the debut director of this film, Sajid Nadiadwala) and Bhai meeting for a script narration.

Needless to mention, Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick-a namesake remake of the Telugu film-has been created, designed and packaged as a shiny festival gift for children of all ages.

Salman Khan makes any critique futile when he breaks the fourth wall and tells you "mere baare mein itna mat socho. Mai dil mein aata hoon, samajh mein nahi". So there, you've established the fact that thinking or trying to employ logic is a lost cause. All that you can do then is to sit back and let the salman mania unfold in all its glory. That's what Kick is then. Its a brainless romp for Salman fans. He's almost super human. He's got all the answers in the world. He's a genius of every possible vocation. He's having a ball being the best. No reason why the viewer shouldn't.

Salman comes in and devotes that extra effort, which would certainly overshadow his earlier flicks and necessarily his this year's Rs 125 cr earner flop Jai Ho. By watching this 2 hours 25 minutes masala entertainer, we can say that Salman Khan is meant for those roles that require him to enjoy his character. What lacked in Jai Ho was the notorious and carefree attitude of actor, which have turned out to be winning factor in most of his flicks like Ready, Dabangg series to name a few.

Devi Lal (Salman Khan) gets a 'kick' out of doing the most odd things in life. He doesn't live the stereotypical life of an average Joe. Instead he goes about doing things that make him happy or in his words give him a 'kick'. Before you wonder what is the 'kick' concept, let me tell you that the makers have written the story in such a way that all his idiosyncrasies and strange habits and behavior make sense when the story unfolds to its logical end in the climax.

<strong>Kick is non-stop entertainment and Salman Khan at his best</strong><br/> Salman Khan plays the role of the fun-loving Devilal whose only aim in life is to get a 'kick' in whatever he does. A chance encounter with the Poland-based Shaina (Jacqueline) leaves him besotted. But the love story is short-lived because she cannot handle Devi's lack of commitment. A year later, her family fixes her match with the no-nonsense cop Himanshu (Randeep Hooda) who has come to Poland to catch the one heist-master who has evaded him so far - Devil.

There are two devils in Kick. Both have sinister smiles. One of them, as the trailer tells us, is a thief named Devil (Salman Khan). The other one is in disguise. His name is Shiv (Nawazuddin Sidddiqui), a loony, over-the-top villain whose presence adds a much-needed kick to the film's proceedings. Siddiqui with his gaunt physique is the man least likely to take on Khan in a brawl and emerge victorious.

What this lovely word means is 'unbearable', though it can't come remotely close to the tedium that the original describes. Salman's leading lady says it to him. About him. Yes, gasp, addressing the one and the only Sallu Bhai, who appears in his latest In and As avatar in 'Kick'.

Salman-Jacqueline's palpable chemistry and the high octane action pieces that are nothing short of brilliant. Nawazuddin is more fantastic than you expect him to be. If Salman is a superhero, Siddiqui is quite a super villain. I wish there was more of him in the film.

To give the Devil his due, Kick isn't half as bad as some of the Bollywood flicks that moviegoers have been subjected to in recent months. Kick is the directing debut of Sajid Nadiadwala, seasoned producer of money-spinning potboilers. It is no different from the films that his banner usually bankrolls.

Okay, let's get one thing straight: Salman Khan's movies are critic-proof. The naysayers or those baying for his blood may frown on the slipups and blemishes in his movies, point out gaping plot holes, accuse him of opting for remakes rather than original concepts, slam him for using his superstardom for masala entertainers... but you cannot overlook the fact that when Salman saunters on screen, he sets it ablaze with his charm and magnetism.