HALLA BOL is an Indian drama that asks whether justice can prevail in an unequal society where the rich dominate power structures, and demands that typically self-interested people put their safety and reputations on the line to ensure that it does. The movie features a strong performance from Ajay Devgan as a callow film star struggling with his conscience to stand as witness to a murder loosely based on the infamous Jessica Lal case. For a Rajkumar Santoshi film I found the direction uneven; the moral message a little naive; the dialogue stilted; some of the action just ludicrous; and the first half slow. Indeed, this three hour movie should have been a much tighter one hour fifty. This is not a movie that lives up to the high standard of similarly-themed films like DAMINI. On the plus side, the second half is genuinely gripping and I loved the score from Sukhwinder Singh - who is no longer a particular type of voice but a good Music Director in his own right. But perhaps the best reason to watch this is to see the strong performance from Pankaj Kapoor as Siddhu - the moral heart of the film.
HALLA BOL was released in summer 2007 and is available on DVD.
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