A heroic flop

Apart from getting cash registers jingling, Salman Khan is also known for launching new faces in the industry. With his much-awaited production venture Hero, the Being Human star has given Bollywood two new actors—Aditya Pancholi's son Sooraj and Suniel Shetty's daughter Athiya. While both the newcomers seem promising, Hero is mostly watchable because of Sooraj Pancholi. After Sonakshi Sinha, Salman's latest discovery is going to go places for sure!

Directed by Nikhil Advani, Hero is about Sooraj (Sooraj Pancholi) and Radha's (Athiya Shetty) love story. Radha is a spoilt brat who loves pouting and taking selfies. Sooraj, on the other hand, is a goon who considers Pasha as his father. Pasha is played by Aditya Pancholi who is certainly the villain in the film till Ranvijay Shekhawat (Vivaan Bhatena) shows up in the second half. Sounds bizarre, right? But that is exactly how it is. So basically Sooraj and Radha fall in love but it is impossible for them to carry on with their relationship. How would you expect an Inspector General's daughter to be in a relationship with a goon! Yes, Radha is the IG's (Tigmanshu Dhulia) daughter. And yet, she chooses to stick by the love of her life. Well, no one can blame her because Sooraj indeed looks smoking hot as a goon. In fact, its hard to believe that he is a bad guy because he has this goody-boy charm throughout the film. And, that is just one of the glitches. How Sooraj and Radha fight for their love and eventually how the latter's father accepts their relationship forms the rest of the story.

Athiya as Radha is just about okay. Unlike Sooraj, her screen presence isn't that strong. Of course, she is pretty and looks good in every frame. But in all her scenes with Sooraj, Athiya gets overshadowed by her hero. Sooraj's acting seems effortless in most of the scenes and he can certainly be the next action superstar. He is a pretty good dancer as well but sure needs to work on his expressions. Athiya, it seemed, was trying too hard to look her part. Her dialogue delivery, too, was a bit off. However, both Sooraj and Athiya excelled when it came to romantic scenes. Also, watch out for Jr Pancholi in those emotional sequences because this young lad can cry and that too convincingly.

Tigmanshu Dhulia as Inspector General is decent and so is Aditya Pancholi as Pasha. However, these two hardly have any screen time. Vivaan Bhatena turns up the action quotient in the second half with his entry scene and is impressive with his baddie act unlike Aditya Pancholi who simply disappears after the interval.

While Sooraj and Athiya have been launched by Salman, their debut vehicle fails to live up to all the expectations thanks to a chaotic and a dull story plot. It is undoubtedly the biggest drawback of Hero. Not to forget, there are too many songs in the first half which affect the flow of the film. As a director, Nikhil Advani could have tweaked the story keeping in mind the fact that we no longer live in the '80s.

Hero is a one time watch only for Sooraj Pancholi. Khan has done a good job in mentoring him. Sooraj sure is here to stay. Apart from the young lad, it is Salman Khan himself who makes Hero watchable but how? Well, you get to see him croon Main Hoon Hero Tera at the very end and it would be an understatement if I said it is an absolute delight.

Film: Hero
Director: Nikhil Advani
Star cast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty
Rating: 2