Sometime in 1992, two relatively unknown lads, Akshay Kumar and Ronit Roy, made a breakthrough in their respective careers with Khiladi and Jaan Tere Naam.
While Khiladi’s success helped the action star achieve a flying start, Roy had to contend with a one-hit wonder tag until he made history as a beloved character of a long-running soap saga.
Twenty-one years later, they occupy two ends of the silver screen to represent Bollywood’s favourite conflict -- good versus evil.
It’s an interesting dynamic, especially when Ronit, as the irredeemably malicious cop rocking a physical coolness, an unapproachable aura that's not once inferior to the superstar lot, contemptuously observes the verbose antics of Akshay Kumar in and as Boss.
'I could be that guy,' you imagine him say.
What does this have to do with the movie? Absolutely nothing.
Boss is so shamelessly hackneyed that it's perfectly safe to bring out one's inner Ed Bloom (uh, Big Fish?) and imagine/exaggerate situations that never really happen in a bid to keep oneself amused/alive.
For sometime, whenever the robust Ronit Roy walks into the frame, peers through his shiny aviators and states, "Maut ko toh yunhi badnaam karte hain takleef toh zindagi deti hai," I visualise a Kancha Cheena fanboy whose entry is marked by a super-creepy background score.
The Bloom technique, as it turns out, is no match for the gimmicky rehash of the Malayalam hit, Pokkiri Raja.
Director Anthony D'Souza's Boss is hell bent on assaulting the eardrums and senses with a vigorous spectacle of muscle-crunching/tossing/swirling/coiling action, a screeching soundtrack (including an awful remix of the Jaanbaaz ditty, Har kisiko nahi milta) and dumb, pedestrian humour.
Writers Farhad-Sajid are responsible for its 'plier-tier-shair' brand of wit. So, go ahead, take your pick between
a) Johnny Lever
b) Akshay's sweat instantly transforming into a *power* plant
c) A rocking chair assembled from the bodies of a dozen or so burly men
d) A ticking bomb planted in a buffoon's rear
e) Shakti Kapoor as a plumber in a cameo
f) A jogging track of enormous trucks
g) A unfunny hat-tip to the proprietors of this over-the-top
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