Boss
Year: 2013
Director: Anthony D’Souza
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shiv Pandit, Aditi Rao Hydari

Remakes of hits from South have been doing very well in Bollywood. So  there is hardly any surprise when Akshay Kumar who last year reaped a rich harvest from such remake- (Read Rowdy Rathod!) now comes up with one more similar offering. The Malyalam original Pokkari Raja was a big blockbuster featuring Mammooty and Prithviraj. So how does this remake work for Akshay who has had mixed fortunes at the box-office recently?
 

What’s the plot?

A morally upright school teacher (Mithun Chakravorty) disowns his older son after he allegedly kills a schoolmate. A kindhearted crime boss (Danny Dengzopa named ‘Super Boss’!) adopts the boy and raises him like a son, naming him ‘Boss’! Now Boss (Akshay Kumar) turns into a specialist of all sorts of illegal acts but only doing them for the right price and right people. Once, the estranged father walks in Boss’s den to seek his help. He tells Boss that his younger son (Boss’s younger brother, played by Shiv Pandit) has been nabbed by a ruthless cop (Ronit Roy) at the insistence of a corrupt Minister (Govind Namdev) and his son. How will Boss get his younger brother out of the cruel cop’s custody? Will his angry father ever accept him back in the family fold?

What’s hot?

·         The few scenes where Akshay gets to show his comic timing and action stunts are fun to watch.

·         Ronit Roy delivers an impressive performance as the tough, unscrupulous cop.

·         Danny Dengzopa makes his mark as always.

·         Some catchy item numbers.

What’s not?

·         Needless footage dwelling on prolonged childhood flashbacks stalls pace.

·         Shiv Pandit and Aditi Rao Hydari’s romantic story-line doesn’t gel well. They are the weak links in the film.

·         Mithun as a grumpy father is boring.

Verdict

When he is on screen, Akshay Kumar shows that he can still entertain in an action-emotion-comedy-drama kind of a pure commercial potboiler. But this movie wastes too much time on uninteresting characters and events. With better editing and casting, the film could have been an enjoyable crowd-puller.

Rating

2 stars