BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN
A heartwarming journey of kindness, but not for children.
Should You Watch It?
BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN is a warm, generously told story about kindness crossing national and religious borders. Its central message is to love your enemies rather than hate them, and it strongly values honesty, integrity, and caring for strangers.
The film’s four-star entertainment quality is balanced by a −2 Family Content rating. Hindu gods, idols, temples, and worship appear frequently, while Islam and Muslim prayer also play a role. The movie includes violence, profanity, and a brothel storyline involving a young girl.
You may also find the Bollywood style unfamiliar, with dramatic fights and lavish dance numbers that can feel out of place but remain entertaining. Watch it if you are a discerning adult or mature teenager prepared to discuss its mixed worldview; do not choose it for children or young teens.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESSix-year-old Shahida is a mute Pakistani girl who travels with her mother to Delhi, India, hoping a specialist can help her regain her voice. After Shahida becomes separated from her mother, an Indian man named Pawan shelters her.
When Pawan discovers that she is Pakistani, he tries to send her home. But without the necessary documents, he decides to cross the border with her and help her find her family. Their journey becomes dangerous as they evade authorities and search for Shahida’s village.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly entertaining and emotionally engaging film. BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN is well written, heartwarming, and endearing, with humor that is largely universal. Its message of love gives the story a strong emotional center.
The Bollywood style may feel cheesy compared with Hollywood standards. Overly dramatic fight scenes and sudden, lavish dance numbers can seem strange and out of place, though they are also curiously entertaining. The cinematography is uneven: some shots beautifully capture Pakistan’s natural landscape, while others resemble student filmmaking. Most viewers are unlikely to let that weakness ruin the experience.
The Worldview
BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN presents a mixed worldview. The main characters are Hindu, and Hindu religious beliefs and practices are central to the story. Images of Hindu gods appear frequently, and they are worshipped and mentioned often. Hindu idols, temples, and other religious practices are shown throughout. Islam also appears through a Muslim character, mosque scenes, and Muslims praying.
The film’s moral vision is much stronger. It exalts honesty, integrity, kindness, and care for strangers. Its central message is to love enemies rather than hate them because of national or cultural differences. The story also stresses looking beyond borders and loving neighboring enemies. These virtues align with biblical teaching, even though the film combines them with false religious ideas and behavior.
The film’s longing to overcome hatred points toward the biblical command to love even those who oppose us: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Romans 12:20).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong mixed pagan worldview featuring Eastern religions includes several Hindu gods are worshipped and mentioned throughout the movie, Hindu idols are shown in multiple scenes, a girl wears a necklace featuring a Hindu god, Hindu temples and Muslim mosques are used in multiple scenes showing people worshipping/praying, man is shown bowing to a monkey in sev-eral scenes, Allah is mentioned, but the false religious ideas and behavior are combined with strong moral elements stressing the importance of honesty and integrity, love for others instead of hate, caring for strangers is central to the story, plus Romantic elements stressing looking past national borders and loving neighboring enemies instead of hating them for their cultural differences and brief mention of black magic in a song; two ob-scenities and one profanity used, circumcision is briefly mentioned; a father slaps his son’s hand with a ruler for getting a math problem wrong, montage of father slapping son’s face for failing his exams ten times; a Pakistani embassy is overrun in India and shows windows being broken and people being hit with clubs, several men are thrown against furniture or through windows during a fight, man fights with police to escape, po-lice slap a man while interrogating him, a man is tortured and seen being hit by a wooden staff; a brothel is shown with some couples in rooms together, but no nudity or sex is shown, a young girl was mistakenly sold to the manager of a brothel, and it’s implied that she will work there; natural upper male nudity with wrestlers shown in just their shorts, upper male nudity shown in a dance sequence where men are not wearing shirts, a man is seen in a brothel wearing only boxers; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, a girl steals a bracelet but is caught, a man steals a bike to get away from police but is caught, and Indians and Pakistanis talk about their hate for one another in multiple scenes.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Pawan chooses kindness toward a vulnerable stranger. What does Scripture teach about caring for people we do not know?
Hebrews 13:2 · Matthew 25:35–40The film urges people to love enemies instead of hating them across national or cultural lines. What would that look like in your own relationships?
Matthew 5:44 · Romans 12:20Why do honesty and integrity matter when doing the right thing becomes difficult?
Proverbs 10:9 · Luke 16:10The story combines admirable moral qualities with Hindu and Islamic religious practices. How can we recognize what is good while testing ideas against Scripture?
1 Thessalonians 5:21 · Acts 17:11The Final Word
BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN offers a moving message about kindness, integrity, and loving enemies. Its religious references and mature content make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults and mature teenagers, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For other family options, see.
