Movie Review: Brothers

Director: Karan Malhotra


Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jackie Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandez



Brothers is India's first effort at a mixed martial arts movie. And its MMA segments in the second half are its strength. A remake of the Hollywood sleeper Warrior (2011) this film follows the originals stereotypes to a T. It has a bevy of sentimentality in its build up. But once the second half arrives to dish out the MMA action the film begins to make an effort. And thanks to an all-heart effort by Akshay Kumar, it manages some solid blows.

Mixed Martial Arts are still a niche in India. Akshay Kumar has been advocating their cause for a while now, but the benefactors for this contact sport are few. So when the audience see a lot of high flying, high tempo action sequences unfold in an octagon steel cage ring, they're experiencing a rare sight. This is high intensity action and the best part is, there are real emotions attached to the fighting. Brothers is merely borrowing all these thoughts from its source inspiration, so giving it credit for the idea doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But where the film does manage to impress is its portrayal and adaptation of the idea. They've Indianised it, made it the crux of a catholic family from Mumbai. But the deviations they wrote into the story are also its biggest flaws.

Unlike in the original, in Brothers Gary (Jackie Shroff) is in prison for an act of violence against his wife. That one moment, rips apart the Fernandes family and pits David (Akshay Kumar) and Monty (Sidharth Malhotra) on opposite sides. The brothers hate each other and have nothing but contempt for the father's actions. And yet, they find their calling and a reason to bury the hatchet in a MMA fighting tournament. Making Gary a cold blooded criminal makes it very hard to sympathize with his character. Especially since he does absolutely nothing to redeem himself through the film. They should've just stuck to the details of the original.

This movie really kicks into top gear in the second half when Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra get into full-blooded martial arts action. Their flights are bloody, gritty, intense and authentic. Their flawless physiques only add to the authenticity of the proceedings. And it was a good move to hire experienced acting and sporting names to play the other fighters in the tournament. When the Indian fighters square off against the international athletes the game just becomes all that more relevant and emotional.

Having said that, the blood sport tournament should've begun in the first half. Kareena Kapoor Khan's item number, Mera naam Mary, does nothing except to prove that the actress still looks hotter than any woman on the planet. Besides that it’s just a chain of bad choreography and sexual innuendo. They could’ve utilised those five minutes to focus on the tension between Akshay Kumar’s and Sidharth Malhota’s characters.

The only real reason to watch Brothers would be Akshay’s and Sidharth’s superlative efforts at MMA. They bring in truck loads of emotion to their fights. Sidharth carries the mantle of bad boy with ease and clinical precision. Akshay plays out the underdog with great MMA technique like a boss. Jacqueline Fernandez has a limited role but she looks pretty enough to distract you from all the movie’s flaws. Jackie Shroff tries his level best, but his character was designed in way that he never creates the right kind of impact.

Brothers offers a whole new experience to MMA action. Hindi audiences will enjoy the novelty. But all said and done, this should’ve been done with a lot more finesse