'Kick' - Salman Khan, Sajid Nadiadwala Kick Up A Storm

Nadiadwala ensures there are enough tailormade sequences to accentuate Salman's super-heroic persona. An early encounter in a crowded cafe between our hero and a group of eve-teasers is superbly comic and yet reflective of a largely dormant society that allows evil to flourish. Also deftly done is Salman's interview with his future father-in-law (Saurabh Shukla, as brilliant as ever) where audiences familiar with Salman's conduct at press meets, would recognize his wry responses.

This is a film never short of surprises. The mixture of the real and the reel gambols through a maze of confidently executed episodes. Not all of them work, though. The drunken buddy-buddy bonding sequence between Hooda and Salman falls flat as Hooda goes progressively over the top. Hooda is otherwise very much in control over his character and plays off against Salman very effectively. Salman's scenes with his screen-father Mithun Chakraborty are a scream for all the wrong reasons, mainly because Mithun's Bengali accent comes in the way of his Punjabi character.

And that brings me to Jacqueline Fernandez who has bravely spoken her own Hindi lines. We will ignore her linguistic efforts and focus on how gorgeous she looks while dancing with and for Salman in "Jumme ki raat". This film definitely marks her coming of age.

Admirably, the supporting characters are well written. But if you ask me the biggest hero besides Salman is Ayanka Bose's cinematography which makes Salman, Warsaw, Mumbai and Jacqueline look fetching without resorting to accessorized illumination.

The colour tones in the frames are eye-catching without going the garish way. In his directorial debut Sajid Nadiadwala has opted for restrain where he could have unleashed a typhoon of spectacle. The film looks and feels right. "Kick" is super-slick but never in a 'show-offy' way. It is an out-and-out Salman vehicle but there's room for other interesting characters.

I came away with Nawazuddin's evil laughter ringing in my ears. Not because it's scary, but so indicative of the world of ferocious comicbook battles that Salman inhabits so casually.

This Eid, go dance with the Devil.

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