KAABIL - Hrithik Roshan show all the way.

Okay, I am dehydrated & suffering from fever. I forced myself to not cancel the movie plan only because I had booked the tickets 2 days before itself. Boy, tickets are so expensive that I had to take a chance with my current health condition. Thankfully, the situation didn't worsen neither did the film contribute towards making it.

Story -

It's a straight forward revenge drama. The entire plot was already revealed in it's two trailers. So two blind people Rohan Bhatnagar & Supriya played by Hrithik Roshan & Yami Gautam meet on a blind date, fall in love & leading to their marriage. There's a baddie Amit (Rohit Roy) whose brother is a corporator (Ronit Roy) & they ruin the dreamy life the lovable pair are leading. How the system betrays the helpless couple & how Rohan takes revenge on the villains against all odds forms the entire story.

Movie -

The movie begins with Rohan getting to meet Supriya on a blind date(?!). As Rohan says, it is love at first sight (oh come on, I'll get to these dialogues later). Rohan succeeds in charming her over with his cheesy lines & of course a dance number. The proceedings here is smooth & the characters are established in a text book manner. The lead pair though blind are sweet & extremely cute which reflects in their dialogues & action. Likewise the baddie Amit is introduced with a crass dialogue on the blind couple establishing his nasty character & so on. Amit & his friend Wasim, harass the couple which takes a nasty turn. The whole world of Rohan & Supriya is crushed. The two songs don't spoil the proceedings & the pre-interval scene with a powerful dialogue firmly sets up the revenge drama for the second half.

The second half begins on a predictable note. A filler item number is included which does nothing to the storyline. But once again, the song doesn't hamper the narrative. Once you buy into the premise, nitpicking on the logic doesn't matter much considering how convincing the performances are by the lead actor. So the predictable concept succeeds in entertaining with more clap worthy dialogues as well as cleverly handled scenes. The pace does seem to drop due to predictability towards the end but the well inserted twist makes up for it. The film justifies it's run time & no where feels like it is lengthy.

The point to notice is the way Sanjay Gupta has concentrated on the details. I remember a meme mocking Rohan using a candle or a watch. Mind you, those things are integral part to the script & well explained. Likewise it's these detailing which makes the second half an engaging watch ably supporting Hrithik Roshan's terrific performance.

Performances -

Hrithik Roshan has come out with a stellar performance. He's extremely believable & he single handedly carries the film on his firm shoulders. Be it the dramatic moments or the romantic ones, he never misses out.

Yami Gautam looks pretty & again comes up with a decent performance. Even she's believable in her portrayal, complimenting Hrithik throughout.

Ronit Roy doesn't have an exceptional role but it's his portrayal including his accent that leaves a mark. Rohit Roy too is first rate. Narendra Jha is very good as the cop & I wish there was more to the character of Girish Kulkarni, such is his performance. Urvashi Rautela appears in the Saara Zamaana track & just to be honest, it was a bit vulgar mainly because it's just a filler song.

Plusses -

1. Hrithik Roshan's performance.
2. Paisa Vasool second half with powerful dialogues & more seeti maar scenes. Just to reveal one spoiler, the kills are really well handled.
3. Narration doesn't falter & it's easy to buy into the premise.
4. Superb interval scene with powerful dialogue which was shown in the teaser. It's something to watch out for.

Minusses -

1. Highly predictable script.
2. Cheesy dialogues in the entire first half that just sticks out as a sore thumb. And yes, biggest complain regarding the first half will be these dialogues & few other cringe-worthy ones.
3. Camerawork in couple of crucial scenes look artificial both in first half & second half.
4. Logic goes for a toss. If you're among the nitpicking ones then you might not enjoy the film much as the entire film runs on predictable note with even the order at which the baddies die is not surprising.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Final Words - It's a Hrithik Roshan show all the way. What an actor! And the film's dialogue mouthed by him suits the best "Kalakar hoon na... main bhi manta hoon".

Khaidi No.150 - Megastar effortlessly shines in this mediocre remake.

First let me admit, I enjoyed Kaththi. I had watched it first day first show in 2014 & the only reason to watch the remake that too on first day first show is obviously Megastar.

Here's the link for my Kaththi review -
Kaththi Review

Story - 
Khaidi No.150 is a loyal remake of Kaththi with minor changes made which does impact the movie overall. It's about lookalikes Shankar & Kaththi Seenu played by Megastar Chiranjeevi. While Seenu is a thief who has escaped from prison, Shankar is the good guy fighting for the survival of his village. A murder attempt on Shankar leaves him unconscious & provides Seenu an opportunity to escape from the cops. He steals Shankar's identity resulting in his arrest & Seenu takes Shankar's place. As he tries to loot the money by cheating the old people, the truth about Shankar changes him. Now what does Seenu do to make up for his mistake? Will Shankar get out of prison proving his innocence? How will Seenu help villagers to win the legal battle against the corporate firm forms rest of the film.

What is different in this remake is the overall treatment due to the mass elements added just to please the Megastar fans as it is his ambitious 150th film. Brahmanandam as Doberman is included despite having no scope resulting in few comedy scenes that drag. Kaththi remained an action-drama with enough comedy, the dosage of comedy in Khaidi No.150 is tad bit more as even the action scenes are laced with it. The only major change happens in the climax which brings the film down.

Performances -
Megastar Chiranjeevi is a legend. After 9 years gap, he has the same charm, same grace & same hold over his act. He plays the double role effortlessly. A role like this isn't really challenging to the actor of his stature but he does full justice to both the characters. Even now he can give the young brigade, a run for their money. A real treat indeed.

Kajal Aggarwal just like Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the original is limited to the songs. Thankfully the pairing isn't as bad as Chiranjeevi-Trisha in Stalin  & most importantly not much scope to show any chemistry. Much of the scenes she's in is without any dialogues.

Tarun Arora as the main villain lacks the fizz. He doesn't look menacing & even suffers from poor characterisation. To put it simply, he remains no match to Chiranjeevi. Those little moments Neil Nitin Mukesh had in the original is missing here.

Ali plays the sidekick & does his job well. Brahmanandam's character is forcefully added one. Most of the funny scenes fall flat as they remain routine. Posani Krishna Murali too is routine. Nagababu appears as a judge & is watchable.

Director V.V.Vinayak does a cameo similar to that of A.R.Murugadoss in the original. Raai Laxmi sizzles in the Raththaalu song & Ram Charan has a surprise cameo in a song which is bound to get the fans crazy.

Plusses - 
1. Megastar Chiranjeevi.
2. Story that appeals to the masses.
3. Coin fight scene laced with comedy works here. It's a bit longer than the original but definitely entertains.
4. Two dance numbers, though not much of a fan of the audio but on screen Megastar lights up the screen.

Minusses -
1. The treatment lacks the intensity of the original as most of the major sequences lack it.
2. Forced comedy scenes add on to the run time. But it's understandable how everyone wanted to be part of Megastar's 150th film.
3. The highlight speech towards the second half is pretty much toned down here with only Chiranjeevi lifting the scenes. No mention of 2G scam because Chiranjeevi the politician supported the previous government. Basically all the nitpicking is because of these little stuff which shows up glaringly.
4. Climax is a letdown. Kaththi climax was subtle & mature whereas the climax here reminds us of V.V.Vinayak's earlier films Adhurs & Nayak. Shankar getting out of his character was needless.
5. Lastly, the background score. Major reason for many crucial scenes failing to elevate beyond Chiru's attempt.


My Rating - 2.5/5 (additional 0.5 more just for Megastar)

Final Words - Boss is definitely back. Wish V.V.Vinayak had Boss's back.

DANGAL - Shabhash !

STORY -

It is a biographical sports drama about Mahavir Singh Phogat & his daughters Geeta Kumari Phogat & Babita Kumari, their journey into the world of wrestling & fulfilling the dream of winning a gold medal for the country to make a much needed strong statement in this patriarchal society. Since this is based on real life story & characters, few cinematic liberties have been taken for the dramatic effect.

MOVIE -

Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan), former national wrestling champion has now given up on his dream of winning a gold & wishing to have a son to fulfil his dream. He gets devastated when the fourth child born is also a girl. The teenage daughters unwillingly go through the fierce training sessions. Consistent mocking in the society & facing a strict father becomes too much for the kids. They try to rebel but eventually are made to realise what they're rebelling against. The pace here is pretty decent & most importantly no songs act as speed-breakers. Humour & emotions are equally balanced throughout the first half filled with terrific wrestling sequences featuring Zaira Wasim playing young Geeta Phogat. She's equally supported by Suhani Bhatnagar (young Babita). Director Nitesh Tiwari has got the detailing right in establishing these characters which instantly connect with the audience.

Post interval, the story moves in a predictable pace with Geeta Phogat moving to the NSA & losing her concentration which ultimately affect her performance as well as her relationship with her father. Again it's the realistic feel captured that keeps the movie going. Also the strong first half helps you stay connected with all the main characters. Though there's little space for humour, Aparshakti Khurrana playing the close-cousin provides enough humour without going overboard. As the pace dips here, it's the powerful performances that elevate every scene & realistically shot wrestling matches are a hoot. The last two matches gives you the edge of the seat feeling.

Similarities with Sultan or even Saala Khadoos which released earlier this year are inevitable. All of them tried to highlight the same elements such as - underdog story, poor coaching, lack of proper support, patriarchal society & a failed sportsman wanting to fulfill his dream again. What separates Dangal from them is the realistic portrayal. While Sultan played to the gallery, Dangal keeps it subtle & of course it does eventually plays to the gallery which I don't want to reveal as the result can be witnessed in the theatre. Dangal hits every right emotions be it patriotism, feminism or father-daughter relationship.

PERFORMANCES - 

The true stars are the four girls.

Zaira Wasim played young Geeta Phogat & Suhani Bhatnagar played young Babita have done terrific job. They truly bring life to the two characters. They're part of the majority of the first half & they've handled each scene with amazing conviction.

Fatima Sana Sheikh played older Geeta Phogat & Sanya Malhotra played older Babita give top-notch performance. Just like the younger girls, even they live their characters. I wish there was more of Babita's character or a sequel is a made focusing on her.

Sakshi Tanwar has got limited opportunity but she has done a good job in all the scenes. Girish Kulkarni as the poor coach is first rate.

Aparshakti Khurrana provides ample humour & also the kid playing his younger self. He plays the perfect side-kick.

Finally, the perfectionist. Kudos to Aamir Khan for coming up with yet another restrained mature performance. Definitely one of his best. It's not just about his dedication but the way he balances each scene with all the four girls.

POSITIVES - 

1. The story of Mahavir Phogat & his daughters. This demanded to be made into a film & thanks to Aamir Khan for saying yes to this project.
2. The 4 girls are the life of this film.
3. Entire training episodes in both first & second half.
4. Wrestling matches in the first half with boys.
5. Aamir Khan vs Fatima Sana Sheikh face off in the second half.
6. Phone sequence.
7. Semi Final & Final matches in the second half.

NEGATIVES -

1. Predictable which results in pace dropping in the second half.
2. Songs don't yield the expected impact. Though not a huge problem, one does expect better music in an event film.

MY RATING - 4/5

FINAL WORDS - Shabhash !

BEFIKRE - Watch it at your own risk. I DARE YOU. I DOUBLE DARE YOU.

STORY -

Okay, Dharam & Shyra are the main characters. She's French born Desi girl who is carefree & Dharam is the usual Delhi ka launda who is careless. They get into a casual relationship which turns into live-in relationship & results in their break up. Now, both of them decide to renew their relationship by renaming it as friendship. What never seen before stuff happens next? Will they discover love out of lust or ruin their friendship due to love is definitely not the way story is presented in the film, heck, the way I wrote it here looks tons better than what's shown on the screen. Anyways, it's the usual will they? won't they? story.

In short, it follows the grand dialogue from, Maine Pyar Kiya - "ek ladka aur ek ladki, kabhi dost nahi ho sakte".



MOVIE -

Dharam (Ranveer Singh) lands in Paris to be a stand up comedian at his friend's bar. Like every guy ever portrayed in these scenario, he dreams of hooking up with as many French girls possible, only to be rejected. His "cuteness" & "honesty" impresses Shyra (Vaani Kapoor), a French born Desi girl who agrees for one drink followed by one song/dance & one night stand but quickly reminds him that LOVE is out of question as she just had a break up & want to stay single. Dharam surprisingly pursues her despite all the warnings & as usual wins her over. It's a relationship alright but nothing to do with love. Loads of kisses follow up in order to show they're having sex 24/7. Then in a quick show reel, we're shown the differences between them leading to fights & eventually their break up. Shyra gets serious whereas Dharam tries to be a playboy to get over her. 1 year passes, they get back together to celebrate their break up anniversary & decide to be friends. INTERVAL.

Now, all of a sudden, Dharam & Shyra become this YRF/Dharma approved friends that they plan everything together. To an extent, Shyra wants Dharam to decide what she should wear on her date followed by Dharam becoming the third wheel. Not surprisingly, everything turns corny, filmed in slow motion, a dream song occurs to announce the grand arrival of LOVE. This is entirely focused on Dharam to let us audience know that it's he who realises first. As usual melodrama continues, with Ranveer showing his rear talent, Vaani sporting bikini, followed by few more kisses, the director feels it's time for one more set of slow motion shots with the dream song being repeated to show even Shyra has come to realisation. Both Dharam & Shyra conveniently decide to get married to their "fiancee & fiance" on the same day & at the same venue. You can guess the rest. Actually no, it is here where Aditya Chopra tries to be Aditya Chopra by introducing a lengthy dance duet between the couple & without any warning Aditya Chopra decides to pull off a Sajid Khan on us. So expect Housefull/Humshakals kinda forced buffoonery in the end, if you dare to sit through the movie.

PERFORMANCES -

Ranveer Singh as Dharam gets to play Ranveer Singh for 130 odd minutes. All his off screen antics are on full display here. The actor Ranveer is completely missing. In the end it's all madness & nothing worthwhile to mention.

Vaani Kapoor is actually good in the ill-written role. She's mesmerising, awesome while dancing in fact shows more energy than Ranveer. But there's hardly anything for her to perform in this cardboard character which has been over done already.

Supporting cast is just there for the sake of filling the scenes. The actors who played the parents of Vaani, well I remember them through AIB & TVF so they're just there. None of them leave a mark or to say none of them get anything to leave a mark. Even the girl Ranveer dates, gets interrupted amidst her strip-tease so.

DIRECTION -

Aditya Chopra with all his right intention has got everything wrong in order to desperately reach out to the current generation. It might as well be a small film with a very simple story (or lack of it), but his attempt to make it a cool urban romantic film really gets on your nerves as he has only limited set of tools to showcase. Either make them kiss every now & then, or make them abuse each other. After Karan Johar's attempt at trying Imtiaz Ali's style of narration, this is Aditya Chopra's attempt, rather a failed one. Even the break up anniversary reminds us instantly of break up celebration from Love Aaj Kal.

And I agree, it's the expectations. Even with zero expectations, Aditya Chopra is such a big brand that it is impossible to even imagine such a bad film from him.

Positives -
1. Vaani Kapoor.
2. Kisses.
3. For those interested, Ranveer Singh's butt.
4. Some dialogues in the first half especially pre-interval is relatable.

Negatives -
1. Poor writing & direction.
2. Extremely predictable, filled with cliche in the second half.
3. Terrible Sajid Khan-esque climax.
4. Songs are not upto the mark considering the standards set.

My Rating - 1.5/5 (1.5 french kisses. 0.5? hmmm that would be without any tongue action.)

Final Words - Watch it at your own risk. I DARE YOU. I DOUBLE DARE YOU.

P.S. - The film is rated UA by the great CBFC but apart from all the kisses, bikini closeups, strip teases, they've allowed the Ranveer Singh nudity without any objection. There's a limit to double standards.

Dishoom - Varun Dhawan shines in an highly forgettable film.

Story -

Indian cricket team's top batsman Viraj Sharma (Saqib Saleem) is kidnapped before the final match against Pakistan. The Foreign ministry assigns this case to Kabir (John Abraham) who flied down to Dubai to solve the case & he finds a partner in the form of Junaid (Varun Dhawan), a rookie cop in Dubai who is yet to solve his first case. They've 36 hours to save Viraj Sharma. Without any clue about who has kidnapped him or where is he being held, the task is near to impossible. How will the duo achieve their mission? How Ishita (Jacqueline Fernandez) helps them out, forms rest of the story.

Movie -

Rohit Dhawan follows the old template of every buddy cop movies ever made. He sticks to the basics throughout. The initial reel introduces Viraj Sharma & his whole kidnapping episode is established as a mystery. John Abraham's Kabir is a hot headed, no non-sense cop & his introduction scene showcases exactly that. Then there is Junaid who is a rookie cop with a sole purpose of providing comic relief & with the film's given script, it's up to him to carry the whole film. The pace here is good & the entire first half is passable with quite a few entertaining moments, thanks to Junaid's character & one surprise cameo. Before the pre-interval, the main twist is revealed with the entry of Wagah (Akshaye Khanna) & the first half  does end on a high note.

Post interval, the writers have completely given up on the screenplay. Since they played all the major cards (twists) in the first half itself, the focus is mainly on the visuals, action scenes that are lavishly shot & an unnecessary item song that just tests your patience. Again the sole positive aspect of the second half is Junaid's character & Varun tries his best to salvage whatever's left. With no twists around, Akshaye Khanna's Wagah becomes a cardboard one dimensional character that suffers from bad writing. As seen in every buddy cop movie, this ends with the usual cliche filled pre-climax & climax, offering literally nothing. Second half is a huge letdown. And in the pre-climax we get Saare Jahan Se Achcha out of nowhere.

Positives -
1. Varun Dhawan & his energy. Ofcourse his honest performance.
2. Akshay Kumar is a riot as a gay person.
3. Phone conversation between Varun Dhawan & Satish Kaushik.
4. The entire episode pre-interval with Akshaye Khanna.
5. The chase sequence with Rahul Dev is perfectly done.

Negatives - 
1. Poor writing that results in lacklustre second half.
2. Bad music. Pritam sir, what have you done? The opening credits song doesn't matter but Sau Tarah Ke & especially Jaaneman Aah in the end credits is unbearable.
3. Akshaye Khanna's character suffers the most due to poor writing in second half.
4. John Abraham looks disinterested throughout the movie. He has exactly 1 expression for the whole movie. It's supposed to be a 2 hero movie & one of them isn't contributing at all.
5. Forced patriotism. Be it Viraj's dialogue about desh se gaddari nahi karna or towards the end forcefully playing Saare Jahan Se Achcha in the background makes no sense. Stick to the template, why force feed something that too patriotism like this?

Performances - 

Varun Dhawan is at his goofiest best. He has no problem in being portrayed as a loser as you get to hear villains say "Isko (Kabir) 4 goli maarna & yeh (Junaid) toh lagta hai goli ke awaaz sunn ke hi mar jayega". His comic timing is  impeccable & he carries the entire film on his shoulders.

John Abraham struggles. One wishes for him to lend some support to Varun Dhawan. He should've at least try to take inspiration from the recent Ride Along series if not the Lethal Weapon & others.

Akshaye Khanna... well it's always nice to see such a fine actor on the big screen. I for one, surely had missed him. But his characterisation is at fault, so he gets very limited scope. The mediocrity towards the end actually impacts his character badly.

Jacqueline Fernandez has a short role but she gets to show her legs errr dancing skills in one song. Nargis Fakhri is a special appearance gets to walk in a bikini in slow-motion so that Varun Dhawan can stare at her for comic relief. Saqib Saleem is good. Rahul Dev is another actor who is fun to watch in a Hindi film. He doesn't get much to perform but is part of the nicely shot chase sequence. Satish Kaushik lends his voice but those scenes are hilarious. And there's special appearance from few cricketers right from Mohinder Amarnath to Ramiz Raja.

And of course Akshay Kumar. He's the best thing audience can take home in this movie. He has no problem playing the gay person & the result is a laugh riot.

My Rating - 2/5

Final Words - Varun Dhawan tries his best to save this forgettable film with some help from Akshay Kumar for 5 minutes.

Salman Khan - The real King Khan at single screens.

I've always been fascinated by Salman Khan's fan following among the masses. Being his hardcore fan, it has become a tradition for me to watch his films more than once. I tend to mix it up by watching it first at a multiplex where I'm extremely comfortable & then follow it up with a single screen experience where honestly I'm not that comfortable with the kind of audience I've to share those 3 hours time.

Salman Khan is an experience. Multiplex audience can never give me the sort of experience I get from single screen audience. Yes, Salman Khan is a huge crowd puller and definitely multiplex audience whistle, hoot, scream & occasionally danced too (interestingly dancing happened only during Jai Ho). But from what I've seen, they just come to enjoy the movie & of course the Megastar. In single screen however, the audience come to celebrate Salman Khan & his movies. Everything else is additional. That's exactly what differentiates those two movie viewing experience. That's why every EID, I witness double celebration.

Like I said, most of the times I'm not comfortable with the kind of audience I get in single screens, they get over-excited every time. I don't get to hear a single word for almost 20-25 mins until they settle down on their own. The celebrations are always at the extreme for those initial minutes. I can't stand smokers too. But all this is a small price worth paying to be a witness to my favourite literally get worshipped by hundreds of audience.

All the madness, no matter how many times they get beaten up by the cops or get scoldings for causing traffic jam or for getting too noisy, it refuses to reduce. I said I'm a fan but I've never been part of a fan club. Again, just to witness those same gang of boys invest themselves to decorate all the posters with garlands, get their own hoardings, risking themselves to climb that wall with a low quality ladder... all of that for one person whom they love, Salman Khan.

If given a chance, honestly I wouldn't do those stuff. I never learned to whistle myself, one of the reason why I enjoy other people whistling for Salman Khan. I can pretend to be worried for those guys safety whenever they climb up the ladder or play with firecrackers, but let me be honest... the moment they start enjoying & infect the whole atmosphere where rest of the people start to encourage / enjoy the whole show, more often I've found myself to be part of the rest of the people & enjoy the whole fan-giri. I might not be willing to do those stuff, but I've always seen myself at the opposite end of the road either filming them or clicking photos, getting mesmerised by the shear madness. In the end, seeing so many smiling faces who all are unrelated yet connected by one person, is the best part of the whole thing.

Having such a command over his giant fan following, I will admit that I'm extremely happy with his choice of films off late. I was terribly bored during Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, but I would any day prefer him preaching family values via Rajshri style than singing Main Kutta hoon, tu meri kuttiya hai in Ready.

SULTAN is a winner.

STORY -

Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) & Aarfa (Anushka Sharma) are local wrestlers who dream of representing India at the Olympics. Love blossoms between the two and they get married. What happens when two people have their dreams & aspirations get intertwined with each other? What are the sacrifices they need to make to walk the path of glory? Both life & the sport itself provides them with second chances & how they fight back with all they have got, forms the entire film. After all, Wrestling is not a sport, it's about fighting what lies within...

MOVIE - 

Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh) is running a failed pro-wrestling league. With sponsors threatening to pullback from the championship, he's advised to get an Indian wrestler to participate in the championship by his father. Once a world champion, an Olympic gold medallist Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) is suggested to be the right wrestler. When Akash visits Sultan, he's in for a surprise. Sultan has given up wrestling, he is out of shape & is not at all interested to enter the ring ever. Failing to convince Sultan, Akash looks up to his friend Govind who takes him through the story of Sultan. The first half completely relies on the love story between Sultan & Aarfa. A careless 30-something guy Sultan finds his motivation in Aarfa & decides to become a wrestler to earn respect in her eyes. To prove her that he's not the "Shit guy" she thinks him to be. While achieving all this, he forgets to realise the sacrifices others are making for him to succeed. He wins the championship but loses in life. A personal tragedy pushes him to the pit of guilt which he struggles to come out off.

Akash Oberoi offers Sultan a second chance to redeem himself. He lost everything due to wrestling so a chance to win everything back through wrestling itself. But this time, it's not the same sport Sultan is trained at. He has six weeks to train himself to take on that second opportunity. For others, it's just a championship but for Sultan, it's a battle to win back the respect he lost, win back the love of his life & defeat the demon Sultan in him who caused all the pain. Enter Randeep Hooda in a special appearance who accepts to train Sultan on time. Rest is how Sultan overcomes all the challenges in the form of various wrestlers & the final match which is the match of his lifetime where his opponent is none other than himself.

The first half is well handled in establishing the love story. It's very simple at heart, some of the dialogues reflect the actual reality & hits you hard. Also the humour is consistent. The pace is moderate here. It's the second half where the pace drops as the concentration shifts towards the pro-wrestling league. Action is handled well & second half doesn't has too many unnecessary melodramatic scenes which works very well for the film. The film doesn't show Salman Khan in the same image as his previous releases. Here, his character is at fault & he's shown paying the price for his mistakes. It's up to the audience to receive such honest portrayal of his character.

Performances -

Salman Khan has come up with a bravura performance. He's dedicated & lives the character. Anushka Sharma as Aarfa is equally terrific. She has got a strong character & she does full justice. Randeep Hooda in a special appearance is first rate. Amit Sadh as Akash Oberoi is good. Anant Sharma as Sultan's friend Govind is very good.

Positives -
1. Salman Khan at his best.
2. Very touching love story between the lead characters. Also Salman & Anushka compliment each other very well. Even if Sultan is about Salman Khan, Anushka's role isn't any lesser to him.
3. The scene where Salman Khan breaks down in front of a mirror.
4. The hospital scene, both at interval & towards the end. While Anushka shines in the interval scene, the second scene has both of them competing equally.
5. The MMA fight sequences are very well handled.
6. The humour is consistent throughout & most of them succeed in making us laugh.
7. Watch out for Suzi. Jag Ghoomeya is magical on screen.

Negatives -
1. The film is a sports drama with more emphasis on the love story. You'll be disappointed if you enter expecting an hardcore action film.
2. Main wrestling tournaments in the first half are all shown in one song & also some of the pro-wrestling matches too get wrapped up in one song. For example - we just get to witness Sultan directly winning a gold medal at Olympics without any scenes showing the matches that led him to reach the final.
3. Since the focus is more on the drama, the pace will seem slow.
4. The story is predictable.

My Rating - 3.5/5 (As a fan a 4/5 for Salman Khan's bravura performance.)

Final Word - Sultan is a winner.