Bhangra Paa Le Movie Review: Sunny Kaushal's Film Brings Back Passion For Dance

Language: Hindi
Duration: 176 minutes

Story: Jaggi Singh has grown up inspired by his grandfather's passion for Bhangra, the passion for the dance form is part of their bloodline and it becomes his life long dream to showcase the talent handed to him by his grandfather. The chance comes when the winning team of the inter-college competition is given a ticket to the international Bhangra Battle in London.

Review: The film is a story of a passionate dancer who is willing to risk it all for a chance to showcase his talent. However, in the midst of chasing his dream, Jaggi played by Sunny Kaushal seems to put up walls between his family, teammates and love. The film even though full of heart lacks a sense of direction, with sequences about Jaggi's grandfather's love story, his own love story, Simi's past (Jaggi's love interest) and the two major dance competitions its hard to focus on one.

Bhangra Paa Le starts by introducing us to the main character Jagi and his love for the traditional Punjabi dance form, Bhangra and his plans for making it big in the city. Even before the film's basic scenario is in place we are moving into a big decision which will change Jaggi's life while we aren't even aware how his life earlier was. The only thing stopping from him going to the London stage is winning the inter-college competition. But it changes when Simi walks into his life, the perfect dance partner but she belongs to the rival college.

While the story has a sweet message at its core, again, with so many half-baked subplots it's hard to connect any dots. A lot of run time was dedicated to set the plot and each character's backstory which made me connect with them, but their conflicts were so low key that it was hard to feel bad for them. Some of the actual urgent conflicts weren't even followed up with, like Jaggi being unable to dance properly because of a leg injury was just brushed passed at the end with the power of love.

Director Sneha Taurani tries to build a sweet connection of Jaggi's story and his grandfather. As the main crux, it is probably what the makers should have focused on. Simi towards the end helps Jaggi realise, that the stories his grandfather told him weren't just about the dance, sure it was his passion but his love and the madness behind it was still his love (wife) Nimo. But even after it all, you don't actually get to see Jaggi use that knowledge or even reflect on it. He gets exactly what he came for and achieves it without any consequence. It is a happy ending but not a satisfactory one.

The actors Sunny Kaushal and Rukshar Dhillon are both talented and keep you gripped to their characters. The screenplay of the film was very simple, which works in the film's favour since heavy dialogues and punch lines would have weighted down the story's sentiment. The music is what makes this a good watch. Being listed under the musical genre seems a bit of a stretch but the original tracks and remixes are definitely an add on to the film. Dance is the essence of the film, but you don't see the actors do something extraordinary. It is a combination of the same steps throughout the movie but it is fun to watch.

Ironically, the music video in the end credits actually does not have a single traditional Bhangra step it in. Kinda made me wonder about the movie's point! Overall, Bhangra Paa Le, is a fun, one-time watch which could do better with a digital release.

ALSO READ: Netflix Ghost Stories Ending Explained: Horror Anthology Lacks Some Serious Scares

ALSO READ: Netflix Ghost Stories Review (2.5/5): Janhvi Kapoor's Film Is More Cringy Than Creepy