Bodyguard

About the film

Bodyguard is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language romantic action comedy film directed by Siddique. A remake of the 2010 Malayalam film of the same name—also directed by Siddique himself, the film stars Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor, alongside Raj Babbar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Aditya Pancholi and Hazel Keech in supporting roles.

Bodyguard broke many records upon its release. Within the first day of its release, it went on to become the highest opening day grosser for a Hindi film. The film set another box office record, netting ₹103 crore (US$22.07 million) in its first week, thus becoming the highest opening week grossing Hindi film until then. The film became a commercial success with a worldwide gross of ₹252 crore (US$53.99 million).

Plot

Lovely Balwant Singh is assigned as Divya Rana's bodyguard to protect her against militant political adversaries led by Ranjan Mahatre targeting her father Sartaj Rana, who saved Lovely's mother in a car accident years prior. Divya becomes irritated with Lovely's constant protection, and creates Chhaya, a fellow university student claiming to be in love with Lovely. Although initially hesitant, Lovely gradually grows close to the mysterious Chhaya; Divya's success in gaining greater freedom from his protection allows her to go to a nightclub, where she is attacked and held hostage by Mahatre's men, only to be saved by Lovely.

Divya soon falls in love with Lovely; afraid to reveal her identity, she calls Lovely as Chhaya, and asks him to run away with her. Sartaj is informed by a maid Savita that Lovely and Divya will elope, and sends his men to kill Lovely. Unable to convince Sartaj that Lovely is in love with someone else, Divya tells her friend, Maya, to meet Lovely at a railway station in her place, and tell him the truth. Maya tries to tell Lovely the truth, but upon seeing Sartaj's men at the station, she continues to pretend that she's Chhaya and because she also developed feelings for Lovely, she throws her phone away upon receiving a call from Divya and the pair depart. Years later, Lovely, now a successful businessman living in Canada, returns to visit a retired Sartaj with his son, Sartaj Singh.

Lovely finds Divya still living with her parents, with Sartaj stating his dangerous political career restricted Divya's chances at finding personal love. On the last day of their visit, Sartaj Singh asks Divya to accompany him home as his mother; Sartaj Singh learns of his mother Maya's past from a diary she wrote to him as Maya was dying from cancer, writing her early death was a punishment for her actions. Sartaj Singh apologizes to Divya on his mother's behalf. Lovely tells Sartaj Singh to apologize to Divya, but Sartaj asks Lovely to marry Divya. At the same railway station his parents left, Sartaj Singh disposes of the diary in the trash, but is seen by Lovely, who recovers it, and finds out the truth. He then calls Divya and addresses her as Chhaya; Divya is overwhelmed with joy and the couple finally unite, where they leave for Canada.

Production

The film's production company, Reel Life Production Pvt. Ltd, was bought by Reliance Entertainment for ₹45 crore. This earned Reliance the co-producer status and an equal share in the IPR for perpetuity.

The film director Siddique first offered the female lead to Nayanthara, but she refused because she was not interested in playing the same role she had played in the original. The role then went to Kareena Kapoor.

Neerupa Menon, a mutual friend of director Siddique and Alvira Khan, introduced him to Alvira Khan Agnihotri and Atul Agnihotri, the to-be co-producers of the film, suggesting that he should venture into Bollywood. Siddique sent his original Malayalam film to Alvira and Atul as a result of the suggestion and they convinced Salman Khan to watch the film. After watching the film, Khan was very impressed with it and agreed to do the Hindi remake.

Marketing

The film's first look and trailer was unveiled on 21 July 2011.

Bodyguard The Movie Game, a promotional mobile video game developed by Jump Games was also released in 2011. Another mobile video game, Bodyguard Action Game, was released by Zapak in 2012.

Release

Bodyguard opened across 2,250 screens in 70 Indian cities and with 482 prints across the overseas territory, released in Dolby Surround 7.1. Reliance Entertainment set aside a marketing and print budget of around ₹22 crore (US$4.71 million) for the film, one of the highest ever in Bollywood. The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR network for ₹27 crore (US$5.79 million) for seven years.

Reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave a score of 4/5 and said "BODYGUARD works for varied reasons – it has a simple, captivating story with a dramatic twist in the tale, the chemistry between the lead actors is poor but the music is well juxtaposed in the narrative. But its biggest USP is, without doubt, Salman Khan. He carries the film on his broad and brawny shoulders and that alone is the imperative reason for watching this film." Zee News gave the film 4 stars and praised the directorial skills of Siddique: "Kudos to filmmaker Siddique to have presented Salman Khan in a way never seen before! And the action sequences are breathtaking." Samay Live gave it 4 stars and wrote; "There are stunning events of twist in the film which will keep you stay with your seats till the end. Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 4 out of 5 stars. Kaveree Bamzai of India Today awarded the movie 3 stars and stated: "Anyone who has watched Khan's recent movies will recognise the signs – a killer dialogue which will be remembered till the next blockbuster is manufactured, a signature ring tone, and a pre-fight ritual-in this case, it is taking off his watch. In his review for The Times of India, Gaurav Malani wrote: "Salman Khan is cool and convincing in the title role. His subdued act and charming innocence wins your heart. Kar…

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