Subhash K Jha revisits Heropatni with star Tiger Shroff as his debut film hits 11 years since it released!
Heropatni is an unabashedly straight and schmaltzy launchpad for Tiger Shroff. And he excels in every department. The narrative gets to the point straight away with conversational titbits. It’s a gaudy, bustling wedding in Haryana where we meet a family of unapologetic ruffians posing as aristocrats.
Director Sabbir Khan, whose debut film Kambakht Ishq gave a new definition to designer-filmmaking, is far more in control of his plot this time. He yanks his city-bred protagonist Babloo (yup, that’s the name our debutant hero is anointed with) out of the gym straight into the rugged hinterland of Haryana, where elopement is a dirty word.
The narrative is structured with ample room for conventional elements of formula filmmaking to spill over without causing an excessive deluge of distractions. While the first movement of the plot is baggy and limp around the edges, with some of the intended humorous encounters between Babloo and the chirpy Dimpy (she’s the sister of an eloped girl from a conservative family all set to encore the family’s disgrace) falling flat on the face, the second-moment packs in a rock-solid punch. And I do mean that literally.
Tiger Shroff may look like a soft, gentle romantic hero. But when push comes to shove (as it often does in the gun-toting badland), he delivers a mean punch. Whether jumping from building to building or wooing the girl with corny courtship lines, there is an easy-going, unflappable attitude to this debutante’s on-screen persona, as though to say there is much more to the movie than just flamboyant machismo.
As the plot progresses and we see Tiger’s character blend almost miraculously into the girl’s hostile family, we realize how cleverly writer Sanjeev Dutta has subverted the Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge plot.
Prakash Raj taking up Amrish Puri’s position in the tale of forbidden love is outstanding in interpreting the bride’s father’s possessive rage and gradual melt-down. He provides a competent support system to Tiger’s launch missile. Make no mistake. This is Tiger’s Big Ticket debut. And boy, does this Tiger burn bright! He emotes, he dances, and yes, he can fight. Tiger shares better chemistry with his cute co-star Kriti Sanon than Tiger’s father, Jackie Shroff, in Subhash Ghai’s Hero.
Director Sabbir Khan gives the all-rounder hero a curvaceous storyline to peg his skills.
Kriti Sanon is perky and sufficiently spontaneous for her first film. I had a problem with her dangerously low-waist ghagras, which just didn’t go with her ultra-conservative family life, where voluntary marriages are punishable with death. But a refreshing lack of innuendos in the courtship rituals makes the heroine’s naval-view bearably aesthetic. Heropatni is a full-on paisa vasool Sajid Nadiadwala entertainer. It doesn’t quite measure up to the requirements of the theme of honour killing that it so valiantly puts forward. But as a masala entertainer Heropatni gets its fundas right.
The reviews were kind to Tiger Shroff and unkind to the film.
Tiger, in an interview with Subhash K Jha after the film’s release, said he had mixed feelings: “I am a team player, so I’d have liked the film to get appreciated. At the same time, I worked very hard on the film, so I am relieved. The kind of grind that the whole team went through for one-and-half years… I’ve never pushed myself so hard in my life. The way I pushed myself emotionally and physically during Heropatni was something I had never done. And not just myself – everyone from the director to the light boy. So much effort has gone into the film. And yet, it takes one cruel line in a review to bring it all down. I am no one to judge the validity of what is being said and written. I don’t watch too many films. I think that’s a major flaw in my life as an actor. I must start watching more films. As for the criticism, good news doesn’t sell. No one in this industry likes to see other people succeed. It’s a very competitive world out there. The competitive spirit is fine within limits. But it shouldn’t drown the sheer joy of the game being played. It’s natural to want to win. But to me, it’s not natural to want others to fail.”
Adding, “All I know is that no one knows what the audience would like or not like. I’ve to work hard to prove myself. And the competition helps me to work even harder. The rivalry would help me to grow as an actor. My father was born to be a star. He had the x-factor as an actor. I don’t. I’m not that blessed. I’ll just keep working hard and hope for the best. I am very scared of being compared with my father (Jackie Shroff). I want the audience to give me a chance to prove that I’m an entirely different package from my father. Luckily, no one is comparing me to my father after seeing Heropatni. We don’t need two Jackie Shroffs. My journey was made smoother because I am a star-son. Doors opened for me because of who I am. But the downside is, there are way too many expectations from me, much more than there would have been if I were from outside the film industry. I thrive on that competition. But it does become a little hard to bear at times.”
