cine TALK

are left behind to ght their own battles.

The lm is an adaptation of the 2015 released American war lm Little Boy Set in Jagatpur in Kumaon district and in the backdrop of the 1962 IndiaChina War, the lm is the tale of a dimwitted boy Laxman, whose brother, the only surviving member of his family, joins the Indian Army. How he survives during the interim period without his brother, forms the crux of the tale.

disappoints his fans. His mannerisms and body language are strongly reminiscent of Hrithik Roshan’s in Koi... Mil Gaya. His character is endearing but his physical demeanour is not. Initially jarring, but by the last act, you are one with the character and the actor. Salman de nitely grows on you.

Tubelight

STARRING: Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Zhu Zhu, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Yashpal Sharma, Matin Rey Tangu and Isha Talwar

DIRECTOR: Kabir Khan

HHHHH

Phullu

STARRING: Sharib Ali Hashmi, Jyotii

Sethi, Nutan Surya, Inaamulhaq

DIRECTOR: Abhishek Saxena

I remember the rst time a woman actually mentioned she was having her period. She is a frank-speaking effervescent actress who always speaks her mind.

I pretended not to be shocked.

Phullu, played by that underused

Filmistaan actor Sharib Hashmi, has no such pretensions. Once he gets to know how women smother their painful menstruation days in unhygienic cloth and rags thereby inviting unmentionable infections, he makes it his life’s mission to introduce proper sanitary pads in his backward village.

Fine. We all have a mission in life. Some want to change the world by blowing up buildings and mowing down innocent pedestrians. Some just want to make a difference by easing the pain of human beings.

Phullu, the modern equivalent of a village idiot, will bring the sanitary

Salman Khan had once said, “Cinema should always be in touch with the soil of the country. My lms celebrate the heartland of India.” And probably with Tubelight, he tries to be true to his words. So, he has dedicated the lm to the families and friends of soldiers who

Visually, the lm is enthralling. The wide angle lens used by director of photography Aseem Mishra aesthetically captures the stunning locales to perfection. The music and background score further enhance the viewing experience.

Sohail Khan as his younger brother Bharat, has nothing much to offer, except being an emotional anchor for his elder brother, and he performs his part rather perfunctorily.

Shines But With Low Voltage

But it is the wafer-thin premise, packed with motivational messages and a tinge of patriotic notes, that makes the plot seem forced. The script meanders with scenes that lack gravitas. A case in point is the scene when Narayan, one of the village bullies, throws Laxman who is walking along with his new friend Guo into a stream. And, when Laxman picks up a rock in defence and asks Guo to run, the assailants just whimper off, and the scene ends abruptly.

Salman Khan does not play the dynamic hero that he used to portray with gusto. As Laxman, he fails to exude energy onscreen and hence