“Har sport mein thoda drama toh hota hain”- says one of the characters in ‘Brothers’ rightly indicating the heavy dose of melodrama in the movie. So what if it is a sports film? We love our movies laced with emotions. It’s another matter here that ‘Brothers’ is an official remake of ‘Warrior’. Director Karan Malhotra who remade ‘Agneepath’ earlier graduates to ripping off a Hollywood movie this time with one common angle- Revenge.
Gary Fernandes (Jackie Shroff), an ex street fighter but a terrible family man is released from prison after years. Alcohol. Infidelity. And then an accident. Gary killed his wife (Shefali Shah). Blame the booze. Cheap liquor, it must have been. David, the elder son holds him responsible for his mother’s death and rightly so but Monty, his brother from another mother doesn’t quite get what his mistake was. So perplexing must have been his upbringing since then that Monty (Sidharth Malhotra) seems to have the same expression on his face throughout the movie. He is a wannabe street fighter now undergoing training. Gary is a repenting father now. David (Akshay Kumar) is a common man trying to make ends meet for his family comprising of a mostly-weeping wife Jenny and their ailing daughter who needs a kidney transplant. Physics ‘master’ jee David resorts to street fighting again for quick cash. In the meantime, a businessman Peter Braganza (Kiran Kumar) has been successful at legalizing the sport and announces R2F- Right to Fight- an international tournament of Mixed Martial Arts to be held at Mumbai. Among the Indians and predictably at that, David and Monty are selected and it’s Brother Versus Brother for the climax.
‘Brothers’ starts slow and the pace remains the same till the interval. It’s quite a drag and there is too much drama; the protagonists are either weeping or frowning. But it does work to an extent. Take that scene for example when Gary kills his wife by mistake. It does add up to a decent build-up for the second half. The revenge angle is well-portrayed and you feel for the three main characters- a father and his two estranged sons. Post-interval, the focus shifts to R2F but nevertheless it’s still the story of a family wronged by Fate. Director Karan Malhotra uses the same formula he used for his debut movie- emotions, drama, revenge, action and… an item song. While there is not much of a story, he still tells it quite well and the action does work. Very predictable 
with some unintentionally funny dialogues, the movie has an underwhelming climax. Music is okay.
Akshay Kumar picking decent to good roles these days is a welcome change. Here he underplays the role and brings to it a lot of depth. If he is great in the action scenes he is comfortable in, he also does well as a vulnerable family man. Sidharth Malhotra carries the same expression throughout the movie and it works in a few scenes. His contemporary from his debut movie is definitely choosing better roles and proving a lot more. Here, Sidharth mostly stares, broods and looks intense. Jackie Shroff is quite superb as the repenting father and good in the flashbacks as a wrong alcoholic husband. He does over-do it but it’s nice to see him in a good role. Jacqueline Fernandez doesn’t have much to do except weep and flare her nostrils. She is decent though. Shefali Shah
does the same but is excellent. Kiran Kumar and Ashutosh Rana are okay. Kareena Kapoor Khan in an item song is wasted. She shouldn’t do them. ‘Mary’ is no ‘Chikni Chameli’.
Watch it or not: Yes; if you don’t mind an uneven cocktail of action and drama which won’t give you a big high.
At the Box Office: Will start well due to an extended weekend. I expect it to be a winning proposition but not a blockbuster. It has a superstar and collections should be good even if reviews are not.
My Verdict:
3
These brothers could have caught up with each other to grab some beer before the fight. As it is, Monty was furious only because David didn't seem to care about him.
