3 Years of Bajrangi Bhaijaan: When we FINALLY saw Salman Khan the ACTOR!

Kabir Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan, starring Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Harshaali Malhotra and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, completes three years today. The last time we cared for Salman Khan’s tears was all the way back in Shirish Kunder’s Jaan-E-Mann in 2006, when the shirt normally stayed on and the emotions were far more exploited.

Since the success of Wanted in 2009, before which the star had four back-to-back duds, Salman suddenly discovered his fans’ fetish for the festive season of EID and how it seamlessly fits with his own films’ release dates. And then began the EID phenomena of Salman Khan.

This film was also an EID release, but drastically opposite to the kind of films you associate with the charming star. Usually opting for larger-than-life characters hardly required to emote, Khan starred as a naive, gullible and god-fearing simpleton Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi.

Although Kabir Khan insists this also forms a major part of the actor’s personality, albeit seldom tapped on the celluloid. Despite the gorgeous Kareena, the heart of the film lied in the innocence of Munni, played by Harshaali Malhotra, who belongs to Pakistan and gets trapped in India.

Khan staged some truly heart-warming and equally hilarious montages of the little girl’s struggles to calibrate to the country’s culture, food and people. However, it’s after intermission that Bajrangi Bhaijaan took flight. Salman’s endless attempts to reunite Munni with her family struck an instant connect to the people of both the nations.

The third character was Chand Nawab, played by the inimitable Nawaz. He played a journalist who accuses Pawan of being an intruder but warms up to him after being revealed his true intentions.

Like the recently released Sanju, Bajrangi also questioned the morale of the 21^st century media and how it only hinges on sensationalism and hatred. “Nafrat badi aasaani se bik jaati hai”, says Chand at a poignant scene.

The success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan was both expected and deserving. Expected because it was a Salman Khan-starrer that released on EID and deserving because it gave us Salman Khan the ACTOR not the STAR.

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