'Angry Indian Goddesses' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Angry Indian Goddesses'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Displays The Various Emotions Of Womanhood...'

Expectations

In a male dominating society our Hindi films have also been highly obsessed over narrating the tales of male friendship. We had many iconic films celebrating male friendships and when it came to the same, featuring females, there were very few films to name. Though, one did see minor references in few old films like ‘Swarg Narak’ or ‘Shriman Shrimati’ followed by films like ‘Aisha’, ‘Dor’, ‘Cocktail’, ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, etc. The friendship bond in these films was minimal, due to which the expectation level reaches at sky level after watching the first promo of ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’, which claims to be one of its first kind of film which celebrates female friendships. Thus, let’s find out whether ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ will manage to make its right mark and be at par with films like ‘Dil Chahta Hain’ or might end up as one more half-baked product with good concept attached to it.

Story

‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ is a story of Frieda Da Silva (Sarah-Jane Dias) who invites her friends Pamela (Pavleen Gujral), Madhurita (Anushka Manchanda) and Suranjana (Sandhya Mridul) to her home place in Goa. Frieda is getting married and thus wanted her best friends along with her cousin Joanna (Amrit Maghera) and maid Laxmi (Rajshri Deshpande) to be part of her happiness. The girls bond with each other and celebrates Frieda’s happiness until one dark night when hell sets loose. What happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is one liner and works only due to the moments attached with the film. The movie starts with good fun and slows down in the middle portions of the film but as the second half arrives the move sets on its right course. Every character have their own style, problem and habits, making them interesting and enjoyable. There are many engaging moments like the outburst in the start of the film followed by girls cheering Sarah over her dress, discussions related to mannerisms of guys, responsibilities of a girl, humiliation faced by females, Sarah sharing her secret, whole of Adil Hussain track and its aftereffects, etc. All these scenes and enjoyable minute moments keeps you glued with the film. Sadly, the badcensorship, weak screenplay in the middle part of the film and couple of side tracks dilute the intensity of the film. The finale part lacked the hard-hitting factor. The cinematography is apt as per the requirement of the film.

Direction:

Director Pan Nalin narrates a tale about few female friends and weaves a story around their happenings. He finally gives us a much required film, celebrating the female friendship and also addresses many unspoken topics. It’s due to his sensibilities the movie despite of its flaws, ends up to be a good watch.

Performances

Sarah-Jane Dias is superb in the film and looks smashing. Pavleen Gujral entertains you with her simplicity. Sandhya Mridul gives yet another good performance. Adil Hussain in small part is impressive. Amrit Maghera and Rajshri Deshpande lends good support. Anushka Manchanda was not up to the mark. Tannishtha Chatterjee was wasted. Arjun Mathur’s blink and miss appearance was nice.

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

So despite of bad censorship, half-baked screenplay and couple of minor glitches, on an overall basis, ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ is a decent watch for all those who believe in equality as it displays the various emotions of womanhood. 

Rating - 3.5/5

LINK - http://cinemarkets.com/Page_three/review_detail/angry-indian-goddesses-cine-review

'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama' (*ing - Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Swara Bhaskar, Anupam Kher. Directed by Sooraj Barjatya)

'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Colossal Pauperism..'

Expectations:

Before the arrival of 'Maine Pyar Kiya', the Rajshri banner was known for its small budget simple films. Most of these films starred new comers or narrated the tale set in rural parts of India, but with melodious music and family values attached to it. It was the young vision of director Sooraj Barjatya, which enhanced the level of this traditional banner with his debut film 'Maine Pyar Kiya'. A romantic film which was modern and fresh with all the family values attached to it. Despite of having a flop, one movie actor Salman Khan and a less known T.V actress Bhagyashree, Sooraj confidently released the film with new technology of 4 track stereophonic sound. The movie went on to become one of best romantic films from our country. Similarly, in order to survive piracy Sooraj's second film, 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' was released in selected cinemas. The cinema halls just like in case of 'Maine Pyar Kiya' were enhanced and refurbished but this time with better seating and dolby sound. They created the whole marriage celebration atmosphere by adding lights and decorations in those cinema halls. This unique strategy worked in favour of the film and ended up making this film a blockbuster landmark film. 

Though, the marketing strategies mellowed down in his later releases and in case of 'Vivah', it was restricted only to the small towns and single screens. Sooraj’s latest film marks the comeback of superstar Salman Khan in the banner with their film ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’. The movie has been shot in a grand way and is released in totally different style than what Rajshri have been doing in past by releasing it in maximum cinema halls from our country. ‘PRDP’ has superstar Salman Khan, the grandness of Rajshri banner, festive season and a mammoth release but, along with all these positive points it also has to pass the acid test of mega expectations attached to it. Thus, let’s find out whether ‘PRDP’ will managed to give us yet another typical Rajshri-Sooraj Barjatya type of film catering to the family audiences or might be like all those big product type of films which are made only to encash over the past glories attached to it.

Story:

‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ is a story of Prince Vijay Singh (Salman Khan) who is gearing up for his royal coronation to become a king. Sadly, Vijay’s relationship with his step siblings (Neil Nitin Mukesh, Swara Bhaskar, Aashika Bhatia) has soured down, due to which his step brother tries to kill him. Vijay Singh survives the attempt with help of his loyal manager (Anupam Kher). Till the time Vijay Singh recovers, the manager places Vijay Singh’s lookalike Prem (Salman Khan), who visits that town in order to meet his idol princess Maithili (Sonam Kapoor). What happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is highly inspired from the popular adventure novel ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ and also has few shades from films like ‘Raja Aur Runk’, ‘Dil Hi To Hain’, etc. The predictable plot has been stretched to its fullest with back to back three songs in the start of the film which are abruptly placed. Despite of that, the first half is still watchable leading to a thin line second half which keeps going on and on without halting at any point. The last hour of this almost three hour long film is the worst part of the film which involves over dramatic track of Samir Dharmadhikari leading to unconvincing track of Armaan Kohli followed by predictable fight between Salman and Neil leading to fake goodbyes with a filmy reunion ending. The flow of the film is so slow and lethargic that despite of lot of things happening out there, still there is nothing concrete happening in the film. Though few scenes involving Salman Khan and Anupam Kher followed by Salman and Swara Bhaskar are good and has that typical Rajshri flavor indulged in it, such movies need more of such scenes. Despite of such grand set up and huge grandeur attached with the film, the movie looks fake and artificial. There are some bad scenes like the whole football track, flashback scenes, Armaan Kohli’s track and few more which disengages you from the film at many points. The cinematography is good and movie has been presented in a grand way. 

Music & Direction:

Music has been one of the highest point of the Rajshri banner. Even with less known music directors, they managed to create magic frequently. Sadly, here, despite of having Himesh Reshammiyaa the music is not up to the mark of Rajshri banner. ‘Prem Leela’ has Salman Khan flavour in it. ‘Aaj Unse Milna’ is typical Rajsrhi style of song and has the soul intact. The title track is the best track from the film and has been brilliantly choreographed. “Jab Tum Chaho’, ‘Halo Re’ and other songs are unwanted. ‘Tod Tadaiya’ is worst placed song in the film.

 After the release of ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, director Sooraj Barjatiya was blamed of being stuck in one particular style. He tried to break it with ‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ which ended up as one of his worst film. He mildly came back with his stuck style in ‘Vivah’ and in ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, even that is missing. He fails to create those magical sweet and emotional moments and focuses more on the style and gloss attached to the film. The simplicity is nowhere to be found in terms of writing nor direction.

Performances

Salman Khan looks great in few scenes but in the later part looks highly beefed up and totally stiff. The required innocence is invisible making him look methodic. The charisma due to which Salman has managed to pull many weak films is highly missing and seems fake at times. Sonam Kapoor looks smashing in traditional avatar, but fails to do justice to her role. Swara Bhaskar and Anupam Kher does their part with total grace. Deepak Dobriyal, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Manoj Joshi, Sanjay Mishra, Samir Dharmaadhikari and Suhasani Mulay are wasted. Armaan Kohli reminds of his ‘Jaani Dushman’ act.  

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, the movie lacks the required dum needed for a typical Rajshri banner type of film. It has few comical and emotional moments along with couple of enjoyable songs, but besides that, there is nothing cherishable in this film. Maybe the presence of Mohnish Behl, Reema Lagoo and Alok Nath would had filled the weak spot but if only wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Similarly, in case of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ instead of being a royal entertainer this movie ends up as a result of colossal pauperism.

Ratings - 1.5*/5

'Ranbanka' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama' (*ing - Manish Paul, Ravi Kishan & Pooja Thakur. Directed by Aryeman Ramsay)

'Ranbanka'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'The Obsessed Lover's Saga..'

Expectations:

Right from the Ashok Kumar or Dilip Kumar days, our Hindi films have witnessed various shades of obsessed lovers. The 70’s witnessed many young actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and few more venturing into this grey territory. But, it was Yash Chopra’s film ‘Darr’, which established Shahrukh Khan as the violent obsessed lovers after which films like ‘Fareb’, ‘Anjaam’ and many more started adding to this genre. Actor Ravi Kishan also, worked in an unofficial Bhojpuri version of ‘Darr’ which co stared Manoj Tiwari and Nagma. This Kamaal R Khan produced film had Ravi Kishan playing the role of Shahrukh Khan and after a long time returns back in almost similar avatar for his new film ‘Ranbanka’. Though this time it revolves around a married female and her family. So let’s find out, whether ‘Ranbanka’ will manage to make its mark or might end up being yet another weak clone of films made under the same genre.

Story:

‘Ranbanka’ is a story of an engineer Rahul (Manish Paul) who is transferred to Mathura along with his wife Priya (Pooja Thakur) and son. The city is terrorized by a local goon Raghav (Ravi Kishan) who is the younger brother of MLA Prakash Singh (Rudra Kaushish). One day, Raghav accidently bumps into Priya after which he falls in love with her. He threatens Priya to marry him if she wishes to see her family alive. What happens next, is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story line is good and has basic shades of the movie ‘Darr’. There are couple of good scenes involving Ravi Kishan and Pooja Thakur but besides those few scenes and a decent story line there is nothing much to boast about in this film. There are back to back many loud scenes especially related to establishing the menacing character of Ravi Kishan or Pooja instigating Manish Paul to kill Ravi Kishan, these scenes could have been avoided. Also, there are few side tracks like honour killing, etc which dilutes the flow of the film. The love struck expressions of Ravi Kishan are hilarious followed by the intense looks of Manish Paul. The movie defies logic in many scenes as one wonders why a female is seen changing clothes without locking the trail room in a men’s showroom. Every scene involving Manish Paul fighting is unintentionally funny. There is a scene where he plucks a glass piece from his face and one can see the makeup coming out. Also, his character seems to be inspired from the character of Akshay Kumar from the movie ‘Brothers’ as he keeps getting beaten up and only then, hits back. 

Music & Direction:

There are three item songs in the film. The first one revolves around Lord Krishna, but the other two are just added for skin show and titillate the rural audience.

Director Aryeman had debuted as an actor in Amitabh Bachchan-Akshay Kumar’s film ‘Family’. He ventures into a new territory and comes up with a decent story line but fails to execute it properly. The movie ends up like a regional film with forced drama and loud performances. 

Performances

As per the end credits this movie is Manish Paul’s debut film but due to delay and non-support from him, ends up as a small film which will go unnoticed.  He seems to be clueless in the film and fails to deliver in the emotional and dramatic scenes. Pooja Thakur is fine in few scenes but in rest, looks like an over glamorous wannabe actress. Ravi Kishan begins his part with grace later, gets loud and repetitive. 

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

 Dum??? Well there is some dum related to its basic story line, but besides that, the movie is a weak product of an obsessed lover’s saga.

Ratings - 1.5*/5

'Four Pillars Of Basement' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama' (*ing - Dilzan Wadia, Allya Singh, Shawar Ali, Imran Khan & Anant Jog)

'Four Pillars Of Basement'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Debris Of Overacting'

Expectations:

Every week along with the popular films there are few small films which get released including few non-starrer films. Most of these non-starrer small films have new faces associated with it along with some noticeable character actors, whose faces are highlighted in the posters in order to attract the viewers. These films are made with small budget without any proper screenplay or technicalities attached to it. Many times, the films are produced by one of the lead actors in order to launch themselves in this glamorous world of Hindi cinema. The posters are pasted in the film based areas of the tinsel town for few days with couple of shows to its credit and within few days disappears without any trace. This week we witness ‘Four Pillars Of Basement’ which claims to be an out and out thriller. Thus, let’s find out if this movie matches up to its tall claims or might end up being yet another low grade film made only to fulfil some personal commitments. 

Story:

‘Four Pillars Of Basement’ is a story of Riya (Allya Singh) who ends up working late in her office on the Diwali night. She and her boss (Anant Jog) are the last ones to leave the office but Riya’s tyre gets punctured. At that time she meets up the security guard Sameer (Dilzan Wadia) who is obsessed with her and traps her in the basement of the building. Riya tries hard to contact her fiancée (Shawar Ali) and brother (Imran Khan) but fails due to network failure. Riya keeps hiding in the basement but Sameer has some other plans for her. What happens next is what the entire film is all about. 

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is shamelessly copied from an American/Canadian thriller film ‘P2’. The scenes are frame to frame placed from the original film without any creative input. The screenplay lacks proper adaptation and has abrupt scenes attached to it. The girl gets molested by her boss and in next scene she is absolutely normal. Similarly, no one can escape from the building but Shawar Ali and Imran Khan manage to sneak in from nowhere. Even in an intense moment the movie breaks in to a romantic song where Dilzan is obsessed with himself only and has majority of scenes shot only on him. The C.G.I work is terrible and matches up to the level of 90’s TV serials. The bad camera angles trying to focus on the cleavage of Allya Singh makes the movie look cheap and vulgar at times. 

Direction:

The director makes a bad and cheap version of the movie ‘P2’ and ends up torturing his audience with loud performances by its lead actors. The actors are not only loud in terms of their vocals but also by their acts. The movie has loads of repetitive moments and illogical scenes attached to it. 

Performances

Dilzan Wadia looks like an uglier version of actor Sahil Khan (‘Style’ fame). He keeps on blabbering throughout the film with his loud ‘Gabbar’ style of dialogue delivery. Not only this, he also sing songs with his bad voice and horrible facial expressions. Dilzan has a face which can be used as a mask in some cheap TV horror show. It’s tough to decide between Dilzan and Allya, who screams badly in the film. Allya Singh tries to do unnecessary skin show and fails to act. All she has to do is scream and run in the film, she ends up doing both the parts very badly. Shawar Ali, Zakir Hussain, Anant Jog, Imran Khan and others are wasted.

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, there is no dum in this terrible film which ends up like a debris of overacting and never ending torture for its viewers. 

Ratings - 0*/5

'Titli' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Titli'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Dark Chocolate'

Expectations:

Before the arrival of a multiplex era, our Hindi film industry was mostly divided into three different styles of film making. The majority part was dominated by the popular entertaining cinema and a niche part belong to the artistic type of films, followed by a small sect of films which were known as the middle of the road type of realistic films. The whole scenario started to change with the arrival of the multiplex era and films like ‘Satya’, ‘Chandni Bar’, ‘Bandit Queen’ and others. These movies had a realistic cinema as its core content, but were presented in an engaging manner due to which they managed to rake in decent box office numbers. The success of such films inspired more film makers like Anuraag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee and others to churn out more hard hitting realistic type of films which also catered the international film festivals. In recent times, we witnessed many big banners known for making out and out commercial money spinners venturing into the small world of quality based films and the latest to join them is ‘Yash Raj Banner’ with their small offering known as ‘Titli’. This movie has already been screened at prestigious film festivals and finally witnesses its local release. Thus, let’s find out whether this new attempt by the ‘YRF’ banner will add as a new milestone in our Hindi cinema or might end up yet another good concept based film, which is made only to lure the film festival audiences. 

Story:

‘Titli’ is a story of Titli (Shashank Arora) and his brothers (Ranvir Shorey and Amit Sial). The trio follows their family business of carjacking and other criminal acts. Titli wants to leave his brothers and follow his own dream of managing a parking area in a popular mall. But, his brothers have other plans for him due to which they get him married to Neelu (Shivani Raghuvanshi), so that they can add her also in their criminal activities. In short span, Titli comes to know that Neelu has her own dark secret and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is something different and has lots of twist and turns attached to it. The narrative part in the first half is nail biting followed by a hard hitting but bit slow second half. There are some fantastic scenes like Ranvir trashing Shashank over money followed by him basing a delivery guy in front of his family, the brothers seeking Shivani’s hand for marriage, Shanshak and Shivani meeting Ranvir’s wife and many more which manages to engage you. Then there are some dark, disturbing and hard-hitting scenes like Shashank and Shivani’s first crime act which scares her drastically, Shashank and Shivani’s bed room scenes followed by the domestic violence out there, Shashank taking Shivani to meet her lover, Shashank fracturing Shivani’s hand and few more. It will take time for a viewer to forget these disturbing images. On the flip side, there are a few scenes involving Shashank’s change of heart, which demands more explanation followed by bit, slow screenplay in the middle part of the film. Right from the visual similarities in all the three brothers to the minor part of their personal lives (Ranvir’s obsession for good food, Amit’s silent homosexual love track, etc) to the house location which looks like a rotten hell, ‘Titli’ has some of the finest and minute detailing one could see in the recent times. Similarly, the cinematography is of top notch.

Music & Direction:

The background music by Karan Gaur acts like an additional screenplay in the film.

Director Kanu Behl who co-write and assisted director Dibakar Banerjee in ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ manages to create a huge impact with his directorial debut. Its due to Kanu’s fine sensibilities one tends to feel the skin of each and every character in the film. Kudos to his way of presenting this hard hitting film in such an engaging manner and ending it in such a way that it justifies the association of the ‘YRF’ banner which is mostly known for making romantic films. The movie seems like quenching the thirst of all good and meaningful movie lovers.

Performances

It’s good to see Ranvir Shorey back in such an intense role. The makers have extracted the potentiality of a fine actor. Shivani Raghivanshi is highly impressive and has a bright future. Shashank Arora does his part with total grace. The dilemma inside his head gets totally visible on his face due to his natural acting. Amit Sial, Lalit Behl and Prashant Singh lends good support.

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???(Spoiler Alert)

Dum??? Well, if you love good, meaningful cinema then this movie has lots and lots of dum for you. The masses might shy away from this movie, but for others, it gives you the feeling of watching something different, something good and something meaningful which ends up being a must watch type of film. The movie and its happenings will haunt you for a long time. Way back in the 90’s ‘Yash Raj’ presented a violent love story in the form of ‘Darr’ and after almost two decades, they give us one of the most unusual love story which is like a dark chocolate, which despite of being bitter is still cherished only by all those who have elegant taste of fine stuffs. 

Ratings - 4*/5

'Hallucinating Day Dream...' - 'Shaandaar' Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'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