TERE NAAM: A film that gave us Salman Khan back!

Tere Naam is regarded as Salman Khan’s return to solid form. Before this sob saga that unfortunately claimed to be a true story, the nation saw Bhai attempting to put up an earnest performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999. The actor was paired opposite Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and it was alleged that this Satish Kaushik’s adaptation of the Vikram starrer Sethu was sourced from the turbulent love story of the former couple.

Tere Naam narrated the tale of a devil-may-care college ruffian Radhe, who’s smitten by the naivete and gullibility of Nirjara (Bhumika Chawla), who studies in the same college. But she explodes in vexation when his love transforms into obsession. The sequence where she finally reciprocated to his adoration was the most problematic in the film, yet most celebrated and embraced by Bhai’s fans. Little did they know Bhai would be declared mentally unstable after a shocking mishap.

Khan’s performance as the long-haired Radhe could be an extension of his real-self, with dialogues like Main Request Nahin Karta, Sirf Ek Baar Bolta Hoon Aur Full And Final Ho Jaata Hai, thrown in for clap-traps and wolf-whistles. The actor or should we say the mega-star still continues to believe in My Way Or The Bhai Way! His real challenge although came in the form of the other Radhe, the vulnerable, the torn and the nearly destroyed. The actor’s portrayal of a mental patient pining for the love of his life and continuously struggling to escape from the shackles of the four walls of the prison he’s kept in was both moving and choking, with little help from cinematic melodrama.

It was a film that unabashedly showcased Khan’s stardom and smoldering persona in the first half, and completely squeezed out all the starry trappings and infused ordinariness and vulnerability post-intermission. Fans had to be taken aback and blown away, both!

Stick to this space for the latest in Bollywood!