Halla Bol
Encyclopedia
Halla Bol is a Hindi
film released on 11 January 2008, and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
, whose earlier films include The Legend of Bhagat Singh
(2002) and Khakee
(2004). Halla Bol stars Ajay Devgan
and Vidya Balan
in pivotal roles and 11 celebrities in the Hindi Film Industry celebrities who appear in the film as themselves. Produced by Samee Siddiqui, the film's score and soundtrack was composed by Sukhwinder Singh
, whilst Nataraja Subramanian and Steven Bernard are the cinematographer and editor respectively.
The film touches upon many issues that have come into the public eye in India lately, such as the Jessica Lall murder case, Aamir Khan
's involvement with the Narmada Bachao Andolan
, the Right to Information Act
, public participation in fighting corruption. It also references 'Jan Natya Manch', whose leader, the theater activist, Safdar Hashmi
was killed by political rivals while performing a street play by the same name, Halla Bol! in 1989.
Ashfaque (Ajay Devgn) is a small town boy aspiring to be a film star in the Hindi film industry. He joins a street theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapoor
) who uses street theatre as a medium to bring about an awakening in the masses. Ashfaque struggles to give a creative vent to the actor in him in order to realize his dreams. Ashfaque's determined struggle pays off and he gets a break in films. He gets a new screen name - Sameer Khan. With the passage of time, he moves up the success ladder in a very short time.
Soon, he becomes Sameer Khan the superstar - one who can enact any role with finesse, get under the skin of any and every character with ease and walk away with audience applause. Sadly, amidst all adulation and applause, he slowly loses his own identity. He forgets his real self
and imbibes all characteristics of the various roles essayed by him on screen. Corruption takes over his entire system, alienating him from all loved ones, including his wife Sneha (Vidya Balan
). A shocking incident at a party changes everything, rocking Sameer Khan's lifestyle. He gets caught between his human self on one side and his corrupted superstar image on the other. Whether the conflict within him gives way to good sense and whether he is able to discard his corrupted image and emerge as a true life hero, becomes an integral part of this true life cinema.
.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
film released on 11 January 2008, and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi is a Filmfare award-winning Indian film director and producer of Hindi films. He is the son of producer-director P.L. Santoshi.-Career:...
, whose earlier films include The Legend of Bhagat Singh
The Legend of Bhagat Singh
The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a 2002 Hindi historic biographical film about Bhagat Singh, a freedom fighter who fought for Indian independence. It was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and starred Ajay Devgan, Sushant Singh, and Ian Davies...
(2002) and Khakee
Khakee
Khakee is a 2004 Bollywood action film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and written by Santoshi and Shridhar Raghavan about corruption and law and order in India. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Atul Kulkarni, Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Rai, Tusshar Kapoor, Tanuja, and...
(2004). Halla Bol stars Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan , born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer.He made his film debut with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film and for which he won a Filmfare Best Debut Award...
and Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....
in pivotal roles and 11 celebrities in the Hindi Film Industry celebrities who appear in the film as themselves. Produced by Samee Siddiqui, the film's score and soundtrack was composed by Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
, whilst Nataraja Subramanian and Steven Bernard are the cinematographer and editor respectively.
The film touches upon many issues that have come into the public eye in India lately, such as the Jessica Lall murder case, Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan
Aamir Hussain Khan is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema....
's involvement with the Narmada Bachao Andolan
Narmada Bachao Andolan
Narmada Bachao Andolan is social movement consisting of tribal people, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada river, Gujarat, India....
, the Right to Information Act
Right to Information Act
The Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens." The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir has its own act...
, public participation in fighting corruption. It also references 'Jan Natya Manch', whose leader, the theater activist, Safdar Hashmi
Safdar Hashmi
Safdar Hashmi was a Communist playwright, actor, director, lyricist, and theorist, chiefly associated with Street theatre in India, and is still considered an important voice in political theatre in India....
was killed by political rivals while performing a street play by the same name, Halla Bol! in 1989.
Plot
Pankaj Kapoor
Pankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
) who uses street theatre as a medium to bring about an awakening in the masses. Ashfaque struggles to give a creative vent to the actor in him in order to realize his dreams. Ashfaque's determined struggle pays off and he gets a break in films. He gets a new screen name - Sameer Khan. With the passage of time, he moves up the success ladder in a very short time.
Soon, he becomes Sameer Khan the superstar - one who can enact any role with finesse, get under the skin of any and every character with ease and walk away with audience applause. Sadly, amidst all adulation and applause, he slowly loses his own identity. He forgets his real self
Real self
The Real self theory in politics and philosophy proposes that people often have a private "real will" , that is different from their public "expressed will".-References:...
and imbibes all characteristics of the various roles essayed by him on screen. Corruption takes over his entire system, alienating him from all loved ones, including his wife Sneha (Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....
). A shocking incident at a party changes everything, rocking Sameer Khan's lifestyle. He gets caught between his human self on one side and his corrupted superstar image on the other. Whether the conflict within him gives way to good sense and whether he is able to discard his corrupted image and emerge as a true life hero, becomes an integral part of this true life cinema.
Cast
- Ajay Devgn as Ashfaque
- Vidya BalanVidya BalanVidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....
as Sneha - Pankaj KapoorPankaj KapoorPankaj Kapur is an Indian theatre, television and film actor from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He has appeared in several television serials and films. His most acclaimed film roles to date have been that of Dr...
as Sidhu - Ishteyak Khan
- Ruby BhatiaRuby Bhatia-Introduction:Ruby Bhatia is a popular Indian television personality from Ajax, ON. She won the Miss India Canada contest in 1993. Ruby was a VJ in for Channel [V] and hosted BPL Oye! and was known for her hilarious pranks she played on unsuspecting commoners...
- Mukesh TiwariMukesh TiwariMukesh Tiwari is an Indian actor who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language films as a character role. He belongs To Sagar. His first appearance was as a bandit "Jagira" in China Gate in 1998...
- Lekh TandonLekh TandonLekh Tandon has directed numerous Bollywood movies and Indian TV Serials. Recently he has acted in few movies such as Swades. He is brother of Urdu playwright Yograj Tandon.-Biography:...
- Darshan JariwalaDarshan JariwalaDarshan Jariwala is a Gujarati film, television and stage actor. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Gandhi, My Father. He currently stars in the show Saas Bina Sasural which airs on Sony TV as Chhedilal Chaturvedi...
as Gaikwad - Abhay Bhargava
- Anupam ShyamAnupam ShyamAnupam Shyam born Anupam Shyam Ojha on 20 September 1957 is an Indian film and television actor, who usually plays villainous or character roles. He most known for his role of Thakur Sajjan Singh in STAR Plus TV series Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya...
- Anjan Srivastava
- Sulbha Arya
- Rushita Singh
- Iqbal Dosani as a Police Commissioner
- Deepak Pandit as Police Inspector
- Sitaram Panchal
- Sadhana Singh
- Sanatan Modi
- Nilanjana Bhattacharya
- MammoottyMammoottyMammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...
in a Special appearance (as himself) - Kareena KapoorKareena KapoorKareena Kapoor , often informally referred to as Bebo, is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films. During her career, Kapoor has received six Filmfare Awards, among nine nominations, and has been noted for her performances in a range of film genres; these include her work from contemporary...
as a part of screen footage from the film Omkara - MohanlalMohanlalMohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
in a Special Appearence (as himself) - Sridevi in a Special Appearance (as herself)
- Boney KapoorBoney KapoorBoney Kapoor is an Indian film producer and recently he became director of Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited of Sahara India Pariwar....
in a Special Appearance (as himself) - Jackie ShroffJackie ShroffJackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...
in a Special Appearance (as himself) - Sayali BhagatSayali BhagatSayali Bhagat is an Indian actress and former Miss India.-Early life:Bhagat was born in Nashik, Maharashtra in a traditional family. She studied at Fravashi Academy, Nasik, and completed her graduation in BMS from Alkesh Dinesh Mody Institute of Finance and Management Studies...
in a Special Appearance (as herself) - Pahlaj Nihalani in a Special Appearance (as himself)
- Neeraj VoraNeeraj VoraNeeraj Vora is an Indian film director, writer, actor and composer who works in Bollywood.-Director:* Run Bhola Run * Shortkut - The Con Is On * Familywala * Phir Hera Pheri...
in a Special Appearance (as himself) - Tusshar KapoorTusshar KapoorTusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...
in a Special Appearance (as himself) - Ranjit Kapoor in a Special Appearance (as himself)
Soundtrack
This film music is composed by Sukhwinder SinghSukhwinder Singh
Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
.
- Barsan Lagi - Sneha Pant
- Is Pal Ki Soch - Harshdeep KaurHarshdeep KaurHarshdeep Kaur is an Indian playback singer known for her Sufi songs.-Biography:Harshdeep Kaur was born on 16 December 1986 in a Sikh family in Delhi and inherited music from her father, Savinder Singh, who owns a factory of musical instruments. Apart from studying, she started learning music at...
- Jab Tak Hai Dum - Sukhwinder SinghSukhwinder SinghSukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
- More Haji Piya - Amjad Farid Sabri
- Shabd Gurbani - Sukhwinder SinghSukhwinder SinghSukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed...
- Halla Bol Theme