Mahesh Manjarekar in his outings in the last one and half decades appeared a pale shadow of his older version, the one who gave us masterpieces like Astitva or Vaastav. Even though he made some interesting Marathi films meanwhile, Bollywood was definitely missing his golden form. Finally, with Antim, Mahesh Manjarekar is back in his pristine form and the audience is gifted with one of the finest entertainers of recent years. Antim is an outright entertainer with honest intentions and does not unnecessarily glorify its Alpha Male The Salman Khan.

The problem with Bollywood is that it has embraced trash films of Salman Khan like Dabaang or Ready where all he did was defy gravity, breaking the laws of physics, and show his torso and when he has actually delivered a nuanced performance, everyone is trying to undermine his efforts. Bollywood since the arrival of Covid-19 has been waiting for a smasher like Antim and the Mumbai film industry seriously needs more Antims to ensure the sustenance of lakhs of people who earn their daily bread and butter through such films.

The surprise in Antim is its protagonist Ayush Sharma, who has exceeded all expectations in this author-backed role. He is calm when the scenes demand him to be so. He is expressive at the right moments. And his ‘panga’ with his megastar Jiju in this movie is a treat to watch. Salman is astonishingly restrained. It is indeed a heartening feeling seeing the macho actor in a role that demanded very little from him, yet he delivered one of his most memorable performances to date. Sachin Khedekar is fabulous in his role. Debutant Mahima is a treat to watch in certain scenes. Every other actor shines in their roles however minuscule those are. The songs are forgettable but the background scores are fantastic. The initial quarter of an hour in the second half is a bit tad and lacks pace a hallmark of this movie. As already said, Mahesh Manjarekar is back in form in direction.

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Overall, this is a classy mass entertainer which everyone will enjoy watching with the whole family. Kudos to Salman Khan and the team for coming up with such a slick project. Do not listen to those idiots with calls for boycotting this movie. A film like this should be celebrated not boycotted. Go, have your popcorn and enjoy Antim with one and only Salman Khan. Salman fans must be dancing in joy seeing such a polished version of their icon. Antim is definitely the right redemption Salman has been longing for.