As a film prominently promoted and led by Salman Khan, Antim neither has any novel subject nor tries any innovative narrative to say the familiar things. Yet, it turns out to be far better than his recent releases, as it keeps focusing on its lead characters without getting into any unnecessary subplots. You don’t get to see the usual loud Salman, forcibly mixing action with comedy and there is no comic character accompanying him in the key sequences. For a change, he never raises his voice in the entire film trying a subtle dialogue delivery in a lower tone.
Besides, the young Aayush playing the lead, successfully stands tall in front of the icon, even in the action sequences showcasing their six-packs. Coming up with a pleasantly surprising act, Aayush confidently shows a command from his first scene itself and then keeps growing till the climax, making the best use of the big opportunity given.
The first half keeps you engrossed and the Sikh character played by Salman works both in terms of visual presentation and execution. The clashing sequences of Salman-Ayush lead the narrative and one doesn’t mind watching the same content again offered in an engaging form. However, post-intermission, it all falls back to the typical format, heading towards a predictable ending that fails to keep the interest alive. Thankfully, the performances and an energetic background score continue to maintain the tempo, but the routine writing drags back the film from above-average to plain average.
Revealing the hidden picture, Antim might appear to be a fine attempt, rediscovering the known, to the viewers not aware of its remake status. But for the audience well familiar with the much mature, original Marathi film Mulshi Pattern (2018), this is not exactly a remake and a different film, interpreting everything of the original in a typical Bollywood manner. It simplifies the complex narrative in a linear form, adding a Sikh character and his clashes, deliberately incorporating the filmy drama and dialogues (waiting for the claps). In short, Antim is not a poor imitation of the Marathi film, but not exactly a remake too, diluting it severely, bowing down to the commercial needs of Hindi cinema, its stars and the exhibitors. The only character that gets an extension in the remake is of Mahima Makwana as Manda, who decently makes an impact in her simple debut appearance.
Interestingly, a couple of characters feature in both the original and the remake, including Upendra Limaye and the director Mahesh Manjrekar. The actor-director delivers but also fearfully remakes the film, staying away from the non-linear narrative of the original and its raw, realistic feel, talking about the pathetic states of farmers and their struggle for existence.
Another major drawback of Antim remains its soundtrack, which doesn’t have any hit, catchy track as an added attraction, essentially required for such entertainers targeting the mass audience. Also, it surely could have been edited for a much shorter duration, especially trimming the second half.
On the whole, Antim turns out to be a better film of Salman Khan as it doesn’t have all the forced, avoidable elements usually found in his movies. Plus, this has impressive action and a worth noticing performance by Aayush, along with an extremely talented supporting cast majorly contributing to the end result. That said, I wish Manjrekar had followed the original film’s style of narration, which at least tried to present the repetitive things with a fresh, innovative approach. In Antim, he remains in a strong hangover of his epic Vaastav (and Dayavan too), yet again finishing it with a Ganpati song.
Rating : 2.5 + 0.5 / 5 (with the additional 0.5 specifically for Aayush Sharma’s act and the background score.)
Note : Friends interested in watching the original, Mulshi Pattern (2018) could be seen streaming at Zee5 with English subtitles at the time of posting this article.
