In the end Bharat is exhausting and pointless. It exists only to add to the legend of Salman Khan as the selfless provider, the man who has a heart as big as his biceps. In Bharat, Salman Khan plays Bhai.

More a miss than hit…In a Salman Khan movie, anything is possible, even tall tales that can transcend borders.

Sweep And Swagger But Not Enough Soul…The South Korean film on which this is based in a masterclass in melodrama, while this is bloated and inconsistent

A Greatest Hits Mixtape Of A Fading Superstar…Khan goes from age 8 to 70 in an awkward, episodic narrative that tips its hat to his transformation from Prem to Chulbul to Tiger

This Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif Eid release is epic in its scale – starting from Partition, touching on Pandit Nehru’s era, it fast forwards us to 2010 with Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Manmohan Singh as reference points

Overall, in spite of the ensemble of some good performers, ‘Bharat’ is cursed by a mundane script and forceful attempt to get the entire audience in tears. It is a film that seems signposted as a vehicle to attract attention for its committed leading star Salman Khan, but thanks to the team behind it it ends up as a vehicle that never gets out of first gear.

Bharat is nothing more than a reflection of the times we are living in: where we expect our heroes to be flawless, virtuous fellas — it is our current national disease,

Bharat is nothing more than a reflection of the times we are living in: where we expect our heroes to be flawless, virtuous fellas — it is our current national disease.

Crowd-Pleaser For Salman Khan Fans Seeking Recompense For Tubelight

Bharat is well-intentioned, entertaining and doesn’t succumb to the trappings of commercial potboilers. The fact that it tries a bit too hard to prove that, is its problem.

Khan is the only thing that matters here, and to Zafar’s credit, he makes the effort to carve out a character that doesn’t depend entirely on the star status of his leading man. “Bharat” is too long, too overdrawn and too maudlin for it to evoke any genuine emotion.

Bharat has its own share of problems, beginning with the near-three-hour runtime. But when people wait a year for a Salman Khan Eid release, can you really blame the superstar for giving his fans their larger-than-life hero in an out-and-out entertainer, replete with song and dance?

Don’t go looking for logic in a Salman Khan film. Upar Allah, neeche dharti, beech mein… tera junoon.

All said and done, Bharat is no Sultan or Tiger Zinda Hai – it’s the weakest film of Ali Abbas Zafar. The pace is the culprit along with the length. In order to keep something for everyone, Ali also keeps nothing for someone.

On the whole, BHARAT is a super-entertainer with emotions as its strong USP and Salman Khan like never before. The superb combination of Salman Khan, emotions and the release period [Eid] will ensure fireworks at the ticket windows. At the box office, it will fetch bumper profits for all concerned.

It’s a Salman Khan film where he’s required to emote and not just punch some 20 goons at regular intervals. To his credit, he doesn’t shy away from the challenge. He’s shown to be modelled on Lord Ram – caring towards everyone, loyal to his friends, devoted to his family and having a strong sense of dharma, of justice. Somewhere along the way, the focus of the film shifts from India to Bharat the character and that’s its chief flaw. You leave the theatre feeling underwhelmed…

Watching Bharat I felt a strange stirring of hope and joy. The film spreads a sunshine across its tapestried universe. But it fails to provide an even narrative soundboard for its protagonist whose life hardly seems as illustrative of India’s chequered history as he would like us to believe. Not always credible, Bharat nevertheless manages to never loose its composure. It is an achievement of epic proportion which losses some of its greatness in trying to say too many things at the same time.

Bharat is not a patriotic film, it has all the elements required to make a full-fledged masala pot-boiler. With some age-old ideologies sprinkled with newness, Salman’s film will entertain audience.

The best of Bharat comes right in the beginning and then almost towards the end. The initial portrayal of the Partition and later efforts to reunite families separated at the time may seem emotionally over-wrought to some, but I confess I was reduced to tears in both segments. Unfortunately, what comes between, though largely inoffensive is only sporadically rewarding. Far from being a Forrest Gump with Salman Khan, Bharat is mostly a plodding trek through post-1947 to contemporary India.

Salman Khan’s ‘ode to his father’ rides high on nation love…

Bharat delivers it’s promise of being an emotional entertainer. Fans who want to see Salman reinvent his superstar image with a solid storyline will be pleased with Bharat.

A novel concept in Bollywood derailed by writing and direction…As Bharat, Salman Khan is charismatic, but lacks on-screen energy.

Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif-starrer is a melodramatic mess that overtly idolises its one-dimensional lead

Emotion Over Action May Let Salman Khan Fans Down…In BharatThe film relies more on emotions than action which may prove to be a dampener for many of his fans who have grown up watching their macho idol bashing up dozens of goons, bare-bodied, on screen in film after film.

Khan might get to show off his emotional chops with the ever-reliable Tabu for company but it’s Kaif who pleases and almost walks away with the film with her natural, unaffected and winsome ways. Also, for a change, it’s refreshing to find a film in these times, that doesn’t portray former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a bad light. Some points scored there.

It will test your patience…The pulpy Salman Khan epic is overstuffed, painfully dull and meanders on and on

Salman Khan’s inexhaustible swag and Ali Abbas Zafar’s direction make for a perfect Eid gift…

The movie comes to a complete circle in the climax. There are no questions left unanswered, leaving you satisfied. You laugh, you weep and you just feel nice for Bharat. The movie is treated like a grandpa telling a couple of tales to his grand-kids and it does it beautifully. Watch Bharat for it will definitely bring a huge smile on your face. I never felt so heartwarming since Bhajrangi Bhaijaan. Suggestion: Watch it with an avid Salman Khan fan in a single screen for a memory of a lifetime.

An ode to the Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif pairing and little else…Ali Abbas Zafar’s movie sets his hero’s adventures against the backdrop of India’s post-Independence history.

If only the flaws had been reduced or ironed out, “Bharat” could have been a classic. It just stops short. But a Salman-Eid whopper is back after a two-year holiday.