Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Bajrangi Bhaijaan is simplistic, occasionally silly, and tiringly over-stretched. It's also unashamedly manipulative. But it works.

It remains the kind of package perhaps only Bollywood could now pull together: a movie that feels calculated in its grand design, and yet which plays as wholly sincere and heartfelt on a scene-by-scene basis.

Got an emotional jugular? Bajrangi Bhaijaan is coming for you, hammer and tongs.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a Salman Khan film so much.

Harshaali Malhotra steals the show...

The film goes for the emotional jugular, relentlessly pulling at your heartstrings until you can take no more, but there are also a lot of laughs that balance the proceedings and stops it being a full on crying fest.

Despite good performances all around, it is Malhotra who plays Shahida alias Munni who steals the show.

In spite of some soppy dialogue and a jingoistic end, the film is an easy, breezy watch, which you might enjoy even if you are not a die-hard Salman Khan fan.

As far as stories go, this is simple enough. And in its very simplicity, Bajrangi Bhaijaan tugs at the heartstrings.

Kabir Khan's attempts to foster bonhomie and empathy between the great subcontinental rivals are as touching as they are earnest.