Majdhaar (Midstream)

This is Salman Khan's third release since "Hum Apke Hai Kaun?" but I have a feeling that this is a film that will not fare as well at the box office as the others. This is not because the film is not good but because the story-line is not the usual box-office formula. Though it doesn't vary too much from the usual formula, it varies enough to make it an unusual movie and this might not be palatable to the normal Hindi film fan.
The film seems to have been written especially by papa Salim Khan for Salman and he excels in his role except when he tries to play the comedy scenes where I feel that he hams outrageously. Except for that, Salman really does a good job especially in the emotional scenes and doesn't bare his muscles once in the whole film (surprise, surprise!)
The story-line can be summed up by the words of one of the characters in the film: "You should choose the partner that you want beside you to cross the river of life, at the shore and not midstream!" The story is about two friends Gopal (Salman Khan) and Krishna (Rahul Roy) who grow up since childhood with the girl Radha (Manisha Koirala). They both come to love Radha but each doesn't know about the other's love for Radha. Then Gopal tells Krishna about his love for Radha and Krishna, in true Hindi film hero's fashion, sacrifices his love for his friend's sake. Not much different from all other Hindi films so far, right? It is now that the story veers from the normal but I guess I should let you see it if you are interested.
As stated earlier, Salman is excellent in his acting and Rahul Roy displays that sensitivity that we first saw in "Aashiqui". The story too is not too bad but is definitely not recommended if you are an action fan because there isn't enough action to fill a thimble throughout the film. The music is not remarkable but Nadeem Shravan (who make an appearance after quite some time) manage to put some good tunes in there. All in all it is a good film for the discerning Hindi movie goer.