You see Hall Bol and the first feeling that you get is - Rajkumar Santoshi has failed to work his magic this time. Though Halla Bol looks much like Damini, one of Santoshi’s excellent movies, it somehow lacks in substance. The story is not convincing enough and the movie lacks the seething rage, ruthless language, and passion that one expects from a Rajkumar Santoshi film. The story of Halla Bol is so old that you can actually predict the next few scenes that are going to unfold before your eyes.
Speaking about the performances, Ajay Devgan is - as usual, at his best. However, the talent of such a great actor seems to be totally wasted in the movie. Even Vidya Balan, who has always won the critics with her excellent performances, doesn’t seem to have much to do in Hall Bol. The brilliant performance of Pankaj Kapoor easily impresses the audience. However, in absence of a good script, even these actors have been unable to do much for the movie. We hope Rajkumar Santoshi tries much harder next time! Hall Bol Pre Release Review
The director of the much-talked about films like The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Khakee, Rajkumar Santoshi must be eagerly awaiting the release of his new Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan starer ‘Halla Bol’ on January 11, 2008. It’s produced by Samee Siddiqui, whereas the film's score and soundtrack has been composed by none other than favorite musician, singer cum actor, Himesh Reshammiya.
Though Halla Bol has Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan playing central roles, one will also find as many as 11 other celebrities appearing in the film as guest actors.This cameo role list comprises names of Tusshar Kapoor, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Ruby Bhatia, Pahlaj Nihalani, Neeraj Vora, Ranjit Kapoor, Mukesh Tiwari and Lekh Tandon. The cinematography aspect for Halla Bol was managed by Nataraja Subramanian, while editing was done by Steven Bernard.
Ajay Devgan will be seen playing the role of Ashfaque, a small town boy dreaming to make it big in the Hindi film industry. So he enrolls into a street theatre group operated by a converted dacoit Sidhu, a character played by Pankaj Kapur. Sidhu employs street theatre as a vehicle to bring about a renaissance or reawakening in the people. This, on the other hand, provides Ashfaque opportunity to give creative vent to the actor in him.
Slowly but definitely not easily, Ashfaque finally manages to get a break in films and is rechristened onscreen as Sameer Khan. With the passage of time, Ashfaque or Sameer Khan gets to bag better roles and thus, moves up on the success graph. In no time, he begins to be known as ‘Sameer Khan – The Superstar’ by fans. He is now regarded as one who can get into the skin of the character and emote with perfection gaining admiration from all around. However, amidst all the adulation and praise Sameer Khan begins to lose his identity. He has now forgotten his original self Ashfaque and identifies himself more with his onscreen image to the extent that he even displays characteristics of various roles he essayed. Dishonesty overtakes his entire system and this result in isolating him from all loved ones including his wife Sneha, character played by Vidya Balan.
Then there’s happens this numbing incident at a party that shakes Sameer Khan to the very core. Sameer is now faced with a debilitating choice – whether to choose his original human self Ashfaque or retain this tainted superstar image he’s worked so hard to get. Whether the conflict within gives way to good sense in Ashfaque (Sameer Khan) or not is what remains to be seen and demystified by watching Halla Bol upon its release January 2008.
