'Vijay' pretty much echoes Yash Chopra's own 'Trishul', with a higher budget but poorer execution (mostly because of the typical 80s campy style). A selfish idiotic Lakhaire (the lakh version of a millionaire) Lala Yodhraj Bhalla (Anupam Kher) lives in a typical Yashraj studio's lavish mansion and owns a business where both his chatterbox son Shashiraj (Raj Babbar) and fat daughter Suman (Hema Malini) work under his employment. Against her father's wish, Suman marries a poor clerk, Ajit (Rajesh Khanna), and temporarily moves out of the expensive Yashraj studio in order to live with her husband. Things don't get any better when Lala's son, Shashiraj, proposes to poor Christian hottie named Rita (a stunningly beautiful Moushumi Chatterjee). Lala sends him off on a business trip and tries to buy Rita into walking out of their lives. Unfortunately, Shashiraj proves to be a terrible pilot when he fatally crashes his plane (that his ancestors must have borrowed from the Wright brothers) and dies. Using his daughter's sympathy, Lala manipulates Suman by guilt-tripping her into leaving her husband and moving back with the grandchild. Oh, I forgot, Suman and Ajit had a baby amidst all this. A quarter of a century pass by and Suman's son Vicky is about to become a shareholder of the family business while Vicky is busy screwing an airhead (Sonam). Meanwhile, Gujral (Lala's ex-employee, now rival, played by Saeed Jaffrey), is planning to build a hotel with the help of his son Arjun (Anil Kapoor) but Lala has his eyes on that property. Vicky befriends Arjun who has fallen in love with a hot babe (Meenakshi Sheshadri) but this one has some brain and class unlike Vicky's air-headed girlfriend. Things get more complicated (yes, it really does) as Lala gets desperate for Gujral's property.
Confused? Ah, don't worry, it ain't as confusing as it looks but the story is badly developed, obviously. While some sequences were terribly rushed, others dragged on and a few could have better been left out. Considering that this is an 80's masala film one can expect below-average execution. Now this is a pre-2000 Yash Chopra film so one can expect songs visualized in Switzerland (even if the entire movie is set in Switzerland). Not surprisingly, several songs appear randomly. Now the songs themselves are forgettable (a few are unbearable) but Meenakshi Sheshadri 's dance and beauty makes one or two watchable.
Of course there are many unintentionally funny sequences like an overweight Hema Malini dressed as a teenager or Sonam prancing on the beach in a cheap two-piece bikini and a bad 80s hairstyle. This was meant to be sensual but it had me laughing out loud. More so when the fat Rishi Kapoor was lying on top of her. One will find more such jokes.
Anupam Kher caricatures Sanjeev Kumar's role from 'Trishul'. He is laughably bad. Hema Malini's performance is flat while Rajesh Khanna is wooden. Raj Babbar is over the top but Moushumi Chatterjee shines in a brief role. Rishi Kapoor is unconvincing. Sonam is terrible and her wardrobe is among the worst ever in cinema. Meenakshi Sheshadri is vivacious. The best performances were by Saeed Jaffrey and Anil Kapoor. Even though Kapoor tends to go a bit over the top Saeed Jaffrey steals the show with a balanced portrayal of a once loyal employee struggling to pursue his dream.
Overall, this isn't the best campy masala entertainment of the 80s but with access to the fast forward button, it won't be boring and has its appealing moments in the form of eye candy (Moushumi Chatterjee and Meenakshi Sheshadri) and comedy.
