HALLA BOL : Rajkumar Santoshi's hard hitting social drama. (Movie Review By Bobby Sing)

It is encouraging to know that in the current scenario of rip offs, remakes and comedies, a filmmaker is there who has the courage to make films on social issues which need to be addressed. Halla Bol is Rajkumar Santoshi’s hard hitting movie inspired from a well known real life incident. It has a slow and unimpressive start but gains after the intermission. In the second half you see the good old Rajkumar Santoshi back in form in some well directed scenes.

In short some straight conclusions about the movie are :
1. It is inspired from the famous “Jessica Laal” Murder case which questioned our judicial & political system.
2. It can also be seen as a redefined version of Rajkumar Santoshi’s own masterpiece “Damini”. As here Ajay Devgan witnesses a murder and then fights for the justice.
3. There are few firsts in the movie. A hero using the main hall of a minister’s home as his bathroom and Vidya Balan giving some bold statements as the wife of Ajay Devgan to the press reporters.
4. This time Santoshi’s ‘Sunny Deol' is the powerful “Pankaj Kapoor” who is equally power packed and punchy as Sunny was in “Damini”. He is such a great actor that even when he has not got that physical appearance, still he makes you believe when he fights many men single handedly. He gets a author backed meaty role and does full justice with it. The film belongs to him completely.

Ajay Devgan plays the role of Bollywood Star who was there in a party where a girl was shot dead. As he comes from a good social background he stands alone against all oppositions and becomes a witness. He is quite impressive but also seems similar to his act of “Aprahan” and “Gangajal” . Pankaj Kapoor is there for his support who was once a dacoit and had surrendered after a moral transformation. The movie is enjoyable in parts, specially the confrontation scenes between Ajay Devgan and the politician father of the murderer, with some powerful dialogues inviting cheers from the viewers.

But its all the way “Pankaj Kapoor” which you remember coming out of the theater for his gem of a performance. Vidya Balan has nothing to do as Ajay’s wife except one good scene with the press. Whereas music is satisfactory & could have been better, the background music on the other hand enhances the impact of the scenes.

The movie is tense and lacks lighter moments of good humour. Rajkumar Santoshi only manages to impress in the second half. If only the first half had been more entertaining and engrossing, it could have resulted into a better movie. "Halla Bol" lacks the complete ingredients of a blockbuster, still it’s a welcome change to have a movie on social issues after “Rang De Basanti” and the movie should be watched only for one person, that’s Pankaj Kapoor.