Radhe Review: Your Most Unwanted Version of ‘The Outlaws!’

Radhe Review: Salman Khan is struggling with his Eid releases since 2017 as his last hit, Sultan, was released back in 2016. With Tubelight, Race 3, and Bharat, he only managed to make a hat-trick of bad films that were released on Eid, and that’s the primary reason why these three films weren’t able to emerge as “Clean Hits” in India.

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In 2020, he withdrew from long-lasting tradition, but in 2021, he managed to make a comeback but wasn’t able to break the streak of starring in bad films. Korean crime drama, The Outlaws, was a big hit in South Korea, and it’s a good entertainer even though it doesn’t have anything extraordinary. It is a simple film where a cop sets out to demolish a drug racket. It has the typical Korean-style action and also focuses on regional gang wars.

Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai makes a massy version of the original by destroying the simplicity and adding commercial aspects like unmatched romance, outdated vision, and cheap humor, and successfully manages to take away all the chances of it being a decent flick.

Radhe (Salman Khan) is an outrageous cop who doesn’t follow any rules and gets appointed by his seniors to stop a dangerous drug racket in the city. He vows to make the city a drug-free zone but is unaware of a new crimelord, Rana (Randeep Hooda), who is a flawless espousal for the protagonist’s craziness. On the other hand, Disha Patani plays Diya, the love interest of Radhe and the sister of his Senior Officer, Avinash (Jackie Shroff).

The storyline of Radhe is almost identical to The Outlaws because they did not shy away to recreate the same dramatic situations, and a few commercial elements like romance and action are added to make it a Bollywood film. These additional factors, in my opinion, ruined the screenplay of Radhe, the film, because it had to compromise the essence of the story. At the same time, it tries to force unconventional theories to make the film appeal to the masses, but it turns into a childish affair.

Radhe tells a decent story that makes sense for the younger audience, but, the screenplay is not engaging and concentrates more on elevating the macho levels of Salman Khan and putting together a few over-the-top action scenes which do not make any sense. I’m very much clear with my expectation levels and did not anticipate an intellectual, Satyajit Ray-level film from Salman Khan.

I’m well aware of Salman and Prabhudeva’s recent track record, so I only desired a decent film and nothing more. Salman acted and also produced a plentiful of good movies like Dabangg, Sultan, and below-average flicks like Bodyguard, Ek The Tiger, and more but, this is just degrading. I mean, the entire idea of making a commercial entertainer is lost.

Performance-wise, Radhe is a disaster show. The only cast member who managed to impress is, without a surprise, Randeep Hooda. Disha Patani and Jackie Shroff look clueless throughout the film. And Salman Khan, the Superstar, was overshadowed by Salman Khan, the actor. Director Prabhu Deva’s lackluster direction and outdated approach to commercial cinema are the two primary reasons why Radhe failed to impress me as a viewer.

The time has come for Deva to quit direction, and I don’t think he will ever be able to make decent mass films like Wanted and Rowdy Rathore (both remakes) in the future. Also, utilizing the same approach of the latter two films is not fetching him good results either.

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Overall, Radhe possesses very few moments of entertainment here and there and doesn’t really offer anything else. It’s nothing better than Race 3, and you thought it can’t get any worse when that film was released back in 2018.

Rating – 1.5/5 | Grade – D+

Review by a Honest Movie Buff