Great expectations often cause great disappointments. Despite efforts from the makers to not indulge in aggressive promotion prior to the release of the film, the very presence of Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan and the scale of the film was enough to drive audiences crazy with anticipation.
From the early hours of the red letter day for Thug of Hindustan, unfavorable opinions began to trickle through on social media, quite soon this devolved into an angry tsunami of negativity. Keeping with the tradition of extremes, the film was conferred with the dubious distinction of being ‘the worst film ever’. The IMDB rating was a horrendous 3.7/10. Film critics joined the chorus of derision, with reviews that read like vicious attacks, they called it cheesy, boring, contrived and unintentionally funny. People went to be riveted by the film but were disappointed that they were only engaged.
This resounding wave revulsion worked as a blessing in disguise, all my expectations were blown to smithereens, I was prepared for nothing short of a colossal disaster. I had mixed feelings as I headed to the cinema, I never ever miss an Amitabh Bachchan film on the big screen, but I wasn't too excited to see my idol in a film that perhaps beneath his talent and dignity.
The curtains rolled up, the film commenced with the drum and trumpets of the background score reverberated across the auditorium. The story is set the early 1800s, when British East India Company plundered and eventually seized control of the fictitious province of Raunakpur. The only challenge to their nefarious intentions is posed by an army of patriots led by the fearless and intrepid Khudabaksh Azaad (Amitabh Bachchan) along with the daughter of the slain king of Raunakpur and ace archer, Zafira Baig (Fatima Sana Sheik). The British officer and leader of the East India Company, John Clive (Lloyd Owen), employs Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan), a trickster devoid of any morals, to infiltrate the army of patriots and betray them into a situation where the only option is to surrender to the Company. The big question - can the noble Khudabaksh arouse a sense of patriotism in Firangi Mallah such that he chooses the righteous path?
Right from the first scene, I was prepared for the ominous collapse to occur, for boredom to strike and proceedings to get to embarrassing. Minutes turned into an hour, the intermission swept by, and quite soon two hours and forty minutes had passed. But there was no precipitous downfall or unintentional hilarity. As the end credits rolled of the film, I found myself utterly baffled about the reason for all the unmitigated hate.
Yes, the writers could have done a much better job in character development, dialogue writing, and plot devising. Yes, there were plenty of clichés and predictable plot devices. Yes, there was a lack of inventiveness. Despite being a tale of revenge at its core, never do the makers allow the emotions rise to the surface, neither do they play up the fervor for freedom that Khudabaksh and his men yearn for. This lack of a strong emotional backbone is probably why it didn't live up to expectations. Stories that emotionally engage cause you to overlook its flaws. For a film that has such a huge budget and a great cast, we do expect a great deal more.
Back to the negativity, it has to be remembered that most of this negativity emanated from social media. We know of promotional campaigns being run by various entities on social media. All they do it have a myriad of temporarily created accounts or bots to push a message and soon it begins to pick up. It is human nature to buy into the negativity and even relish joining a mob and pulling something down. The anonymity and relative lack of effort (all you need is a keyboard) amplify this aspect of human nature. The rapidness in which everything caught fire and the appearance of Twitter trend #TOHFakeDay1Figure cements the theory that this probably wasn't spontaneous. Perhaps there were sinister forces were behind this coordinated campaign to bring down the film?
Despite all its flaws, this is emphatically not a catastrophe. The pace of the film is swift, the action sequences were adeptly handled, the set pieces were handsomely mounted, the songs are few and brief and the cinematography is very excellent and there is a surprise. Also commendable that there is no display of jingoism and no gratuitous demonization of the British. In the acting department, Amitabh Bachchan towers over everybody both literally and metaphorically as the brave, stoic yet soft-hearted Khudabaksh. Aamir Khan fairs moderately as Firangi Mallah so it Fatima Sana Sheik as the brave warrior queen. The lovely Katrina Kaif sensuously writhes and contorts across the screen in her abbreviated role of the feisty and beautiful nautch girl Suraya and leaves an impression.
Thugs of Hindustan may not be remembered for decades to come, but it will most certainly sustain your attention sustained for its duration, which is more than one can say for many contemporary films.
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