Wanted: Common man's superstar delivers

You've had your share of Kaminey, Baabarr and other serious cinema. Now sit back and take a trip back in time to what cinema was all about: pure action, pure masala. Wanted is Salman’s film right from the word ‘Go’ and after a spate of flops - Marigold, God Tussi Great Ho, Heroes, Yuvvraaj - Sallu's back with a pretty loud bang. A remake of the immensely popular South film Pokiri, Wanted has the ingredients of a typical masala potboiler.

Radhe (Salman Khan) is the notorious hitman who will kill just about anything for money. He works for the international Don Gani Bhai (Prashant Raj) but won’t hesitate to change sides if there’s more moolah offered in the bargain. In the process of eliminating Gani’s enemies, he only ends up making dozens more. He comes across doe eyed beauty Jhanvi (Ayesha Takia) who confesses her love for him but has corrupt cop Talpade’s (Mahesh Manjrekar) lustful eyes on her. Working alongside Gani’s right-hand man Golden (Aseem Merchant), he’s out to crush all rival gangs. Commissioner Ashraf Khan (Govind Namdev), meanwhile, works hard to bring peace in the city of Mumbai.

Salman Khan is in his fittest form ever and singlehandedly carries the film on his back. His presence is dominant and from the action, to the dancing, he simply blows us away (no pun intended). Ayesha Takia on the other hand puts the ‘V’ back in voluptuously sexy, and could give any south Indian actress a run for her money. Her scenes with Salman in the elevator and the train are something to look forward to in the film. You simply love to hate Mahesh Manjrekar as the conniving cop while Prashant Raj proves he isn’t a National award winning actor for nothing. However he only gets to prove his acting prowess in the second half of the film.

Vinod Khanna and Inder Kumar don’t have much scope but are integral to the climax. I can already imagine the catcalls and the whistles at what is the mind-blowing climax of the film, Sallu fans will be blown off the roof. This also extends to the last fight which leaves you in awe. Director Prabhu Deva does a fantastic job with the script and while he falters with a couple of cheesy romantic scenes, cinematographers Nirav Shah and S Sriram truly deserve a special mention. The music is suited to the pace of the film with ‘Jalwa’ and ‘Dil Leke’ being the only hummable tracks.

Boney Kapoor can finally heave a sigh of relief and his days of being hard-up may have come to an end. Salman is the superstar of the common man and he knows how to satisfy them well, leaving Wanted as the ultimate Paisa Vasool flick of the year!

Samiya Shakir/Hill Road Media