'Shaandaar'
Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'
'Hallucinating Day Dream...'
Expectations:
After working in production teams of films like ‘Black’, ‘Aamir’,
‘Welcome To Sajjanpur’, ‘Dev.D’ and few more films, Vikas Bahl co-debuted with
Nitesh Tiwari with a sweet and small film ‘Chillar Party’. Despite of being a
small film it still managed to grab its viewer’s attention and won him the
prestigious National Award. The critical and commercial success motivated this
talented director to make something different and his individual directorial
debut happened with Kangana Ranaut starrer film ‘Queen’. This movie was a not
only successful at the box office, but also ended up being a path breaking film
because to its fantastic direction and ace performances. The impact was so high
that the viewers for a longer period, failed to come out from the hangover of
this film. It ended up being one amongst the list of highly watched and loved films
from our country and can be watched over and over again at any given time.
Thus, right from the announcement of Vikas’s new film ‘Shaandaar’ the
expectations were sky high. To top it up the movie has Shahid Kapoor and Alia
Bhatt starring in it after giving us one of their best performances last year (Haider
& Highway) respectively. So let’s find out whether ‘Shaandaar’ will match
up to such humongous expectations or might be yet another path breaking film
under this genre of romantic films.
Story:
‘Shaandaar’ is a story of Bipin (Panjah Kapur) and his
daughters, Isha (Sanah Kapoor) & Alia (Alia Bhatt). Alia despite of being an
adopted child, is favourite of Bipin, but is disliked by his wife (Niki Aneja)
and mother Kamala Ji (Sushma Seth). In
order to save her bankrupt family, Kamala Ji fixes up Isha’s marriage with
Robin (Vikas Verma) who is brother of a multi millionaire Pandwani (Sanjay
Kapoor). The whole marriage takes place in a castle and is managed by Jagjinder
Joginder / J.J (Shahid Kapoor). During this process, J.J and Alia starts loving
each other and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.
Screenplay & Technicalities:
The story is one liner and couple of fresh tracks attached
to it. But, on an overall basis it’s a tried and tested type of story which is
totally predictable. The first half starts with fresh note and has some good
comical moments indulged in it. Scenes like Shahid-Pankaj meet, Sanjay Kapoor’s
entry scene, Shahid-Alia mime chat at breakfast, Brownie-Mushroom effect, mehendi
with Karan track and few more keeps you entertained in the initial phase of the
film. Sadly, once these comical tracks fades out the movie goes on a repetitive
and dragging mode in the later part. The bankruptcy track, father- adopted daughter
track, forceful marriage track and few more are totally stale and have been
shown countless times in our films. The insomniac track is interesting, but
ends up being a victim of a half baked product. There are multiple characters
in the film and almost everyone gets sidelined in the second half, till the
finale of the film. The finale part has its funny moments but as said earlier
is predictable and has been presented in totally bizarre manner. There are plenty
of stuffs happening in the film, but at the same time there is hardly anything
happening in the film. The screenplay lacks detailing and seems like a result
of a forced product involving big names and moolas attached to it. The movie
highly excels on technical basis and has a decent animation track attached to
it. Also, the cinematography by Anil Mehta is of top notch and gives the movie
its much needed looks. The movie is ‘Shaandaar’ in terms of its visual
presentation.
Music & Direction:
Music by Amit Trivedi is good but not among his best works. ‘Shaam
Shaandaar’ goes well with the mood of the film. ‘Gulaabo’ is interesting and
appealing. ‘Nazdeekiyaan’ fails to blend with the flow of the film. ‘Senti Wali’
is too dramatic. ‘Raitaa Phailgaya’ is enjoyable. Remix versions of ‘Eena Meena
Deeka’ and ‘Neend Na Mujko Aaye’ fails to create the magical impact like how ‘Hungama’
did in ‘Queen’.
Director Vikas Bahl tried to attempt a fairy tale type of
romantic film and partly succeeds in few scenes featuring Pankaj Kapur
(animated part) along with Shahid and Alia, plus the huge backdrop of grand
wedding attached to it. Sadly, this movie is nowhere in comparison to his best
work ‘Queen’ and not even ‘Chillar Party’. The freshness is in parts and the
movie seems like a garish attempt and has less of soul attached to it. The
comical track works along with fantastic presentation but the half baked
screenplay ends up as a party popper. It’s sad that whenever a good director
gets hold of big budget film, they fail to do justice to it, proving the point
that such directors can create only wonders when they make films with tight
budgets and tough conditions.
Performances:
Shahid Kapoor looks fabulous and all his
fans who love him in a romantic avatar, will enjoy his visual appearances.
Though, this movie is way below the caliber of Shahid after watching him in
film like ‘Haider’. Nevertheless, he does his part with total grace and adds up
as the positive point in the film. Alia Bhatt is cute and slips easily in her character.
One does wonder, why the makers emphasize more on her bikini scenes (especially
in the end credits) rather than focusing more on her acting skills. Pankaj
Kapur lends good support but has nothing new to offer. Sana Kapoor is sweet and
reminds us of her mother Supriya Pathak. Sushma Seth and Vikas Verma are fine
in their parts. Sanjay Kapoor, Anjana Sukhani, Niki Aneja, Kabir Shaikh, Shibani
Dandekar, Chittaranjan
Tripathy and others are wasted. Cameo by Karan Johar is welcomed.
So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???
Dum??? Well the movie has some enjoyable dum in the first half, followed by few comical moments and songs. It
might be liked by the diehard fans of Shahid and Alia, but will be a huge disappointment
for all the fans of Vikas Bahl. Even if we don’t compare ‘Shaandaar’ to Vikas’s
last film ‘Queen’, this movie works only in parts and fails miserably in the
finale portion. On an overall basis, ‘Shaandaar’ is like having a hallucinating
day dream, which starts on an exciting note and ends up like a dragging dream
which distracts you from the reality.
Ratings - 2*/5
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