Review of Punjabi film Hero Naam Yaad Rakhi starring Jimmy Sheirgill and Surveen Chawla. Directed by Baljit Singh Deo.
Star cast: Jimmy Sheirgill, Surveen Chawla, Mukul Dev, Shivender Mahal, Jaggi Singh
Director: Baljit Singh Deo
Producer: Shri Narotam Films
Music: Jatinder Shah, Hitesh Modak, Money Aujla
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Synopsis: Hero (Jimmy) arrives in Canada to stay with his elder brother Jeet (Mukul Dev) and make a living. There he falls in love with Eena (Surveen) without knowing that she is the daughter of his brothers boss, Brar (Shivender Mahal). Things are going well until Angad (Jaggi Singh) a drug lord is released on bail.
Review: Baljit Singh Deo who last made Mirza – The Untold Story and has a Himmat Singh which is still pending to release makes a 100 minute romantic thriller in which 20 minutes are songs. 8 minutes of credits, 6-8 minutes of story intro and narrative, 45-50 minutes of romance, so where is the thrill???
It has been a long standing problem with Deo’s movies. He is an excellent film maker but the only thing he lacks is a good writer. Mirza suffered through a terrible screenplay and so does Hero Naam Yaad Rakhi. Manoj Jha who last wrote Dharti alongside Dheeraj Rattan is the whole sole of writing department here and he had a pretty all right story to play with in the screenplay but he fails miserably not knowing how to connect 2 events together.
Deo is brilliant as a director. I don’t like to say it again and again that it’s his choice of writers that lets him down. He has given the look and feel of a big budget Bollywood film to this one. He’s kept the whole plot in the city of Vancouver which can be pretty expensive but kudos to the production team who did not compromise on any aspect. Cheers to the cinematography team as well for showing the Beautiful British Columbia pretty well.
Jimmy Sheirgill who has had a string of unsuccessful punjabi films and pretty successful Hindi films is back in Punjabi Cinema after almost a year. He’s done a brilliant job as an actor and plays the role of Hero well. He’s worked on his looks and looks good. Surveen Chawla, well she hasn’t looked this gorgeous in any film before she’s done. Not even Hate Story 2. She has surpassed her looks of Disco Singh. Also acting wise she plays a Canadian born Punjabi pretty well and she and Jimmy look good together. Mukul Dev is a director’s actor. Give him any role and he does it with ease. Shivender Mahal was effective in a small role. Jaggi Singh and other support cast did their job well. A perfect score in acting department achieved.
Music of this film is pretty good and could be a strong contender for the Album of the year. Sohneya Sajna, Naina ( both versions), Deed Teri (Rahat), Dard Ve Sajna are all my favourites.
Overall, Hero Naam Yaad Rakhi could have been worth remembering had it got a good story. I would call it an opportunity gone missed. Fine performances and good music can make it a watch this weekend.
