Debutant
director, Arbaz Khan’s Dabang 2, a
sequel to the blockbuster hit of 2010, Dabang,
is more of a good business opportunity to its makers than just a film. Dabang 2 feeds on the success of its
predecessor, and heavily at that! It has almost become a rule to produce a
sequel to every successful film that is made in the Hindi film industry, be it
the Dhooms, the Housefuls or now the Dabangs.
But it is clear that magical films do not get made every day and on the top of
it, to reproduce the magic in the sequel without solid content is rather a
weird task.
Dabang 2 happens to be a caricature of Dabang in almost all ways. But this
replica falls short of recreating the magic its predecessor created. Having
said that, Dabang 2 is not particularly a bad film.Director Arbaz Khan and writer Dilip Shukla make
a decent entertainer with some witty and comic dialogues, wacky action
sequences and good performances.
What
keeps this film from being a good film is the simply the story which is
coherently similar to Dabang'sexcept that
Chulbul now has a happy joint family and a pregnant wife. The clichéd and extra
ordinarily influential villain whose ego is periodically tickled by Chulbul and
then a chance for a big revenge is what Dabang had, and is naturally inherited by
its sequel’s script.
What’s
good about this sequel which none of the sequels in Bollywood have managed before
is that, its director maintains the image of its protagonist from the
predecessor rather than going overboard. Chulbul Pandey is as strong and
flamboyant as in Dabang without getting extra powers or qualities. I believe
the character is what the audience will cherish and connect to in Dabang 2. Arbaz Khan as a director
captures some really mature and touching interactions between Chulbul and his wife
(played by Sonakshi Sinha) and celebrates post marriage romance onscreen.
Screenplay
is very amateur and you literally see the film running in a cyclic order of
action-drama-romance-songs making the already weak script annoyingly
predictable. Action is stylised with an effective background score and good
editing, however, it seems overdone in parts. The entry action sequence is lengthy
and monotonous while the finale sequence is disappointing. Music is average and
the funniest part is that each song inherits from its coinciding song from Dabang in terms of singers, tune, setting
and the situation in the story. Dabang 2
is a new pot from the same mould!
Prakash
Raj plays the overpowered villain, he can never disappoint. But don’t expect a Singham level performance because he
surprisingly has a less screen time. Arbaz Khan and VinodKhanna carry their
characters ahead with ease. Sonakshi Sinha cake walks through another role in
the shadow of a flamboyant hero played by a big star. Salman Khan as Robinhood Pandey
or this time the Kung Fu Pandey steals the show. You will find the same
Chulbul, a little fat though, delivering big faced one liners, smacking goons
with ease and going shirtless in the finale sequence. Salman Khan never
pretends to know to act, but pulls it off with sheer screen presence and his
real life dabang attitude reflected
on screen.
Dabang
2 is neither a magical film nor a trash! But it’s earning big buks for its
producer is inevitable just as the consequent production of a dozen more
Dabangs is!
I am going with a 2.5
out of 5 for Arbaz Khan’s Dabang 2. If pure Salman Khan entertainer is what you
are looking for, then Dabang 2 is your destination this festive season.
More than anything else Reema
Kagtis’s Talaash is primarily a story of Mumbai’s
underbelly; a significant part of Mumbai which is treated as cursed and its
inhabitants mercilessly ignored. Co-writers Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar weave a
suspense drama in this dark, yet not dull side of Mumbai.
It all starts with a death of a
film star in a supposed car accident, doubted as a murder. Inspector Srujan
Shekhawat finds himself caught in this complex case which looks too simple on
its exterior. Simultaneously, Shekhawat struggles to face the loss of a loved
one and handling an almost broken marriage with Roshni(Rani Mukherjee). He
befriends Rosie(Kareena Kapoor), a sex worker, who appears very kind,
attractive and helpful to Shekhawat. She puts forward convenient clues at convenient
moments to Shekhawat to push him deeper into the case. The story is not just
about the murder in a red light area of Mumbai, it goes deeper into the
emotions of each character. By the end of it, you certainly sympathize with
every character’s journey in the story and may even identify with their
struggle if not the life.
Director Reema Kagti writes a
gripping screenplay such that even if the story flows slowly, you never really
get weary of it and lose interest. Talaash’s
biggest achievement is its crispy writing, tight screenplay and at times,
entertaining dialogues.Real characters, real locations and a dark bloomy
cinematography add to the effect.
Talaash benefits from a bang on
casting. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as
Taimur, a guy for the bad-jobs, ambitious to have a good life is mind blowing
and a highlight amongst the actors. Kareena Kapoor is decently good, but she
gets it too sophisticated some times. Rani Mukherjee is terrific as a
struggling wife. She gets into every bit of her character’s reality and doesn’t
shy away from having no make-up. Aamir Khan as a cop brings a lot of dignity to
his character. Watch him in scenes with Rani Mukherjee and you will realize the
depth he gets into his role.
Now coming down to what everyone
has been waiting for: The Answer. Being a suspense film, a grand revelation at
the end is apparent. The question is how has Talaash got it? Well, according to me, there can be a mixed
reaction among the audience. To me, purely as a movie watcher, the revelation didn’t
totally appeal. After having invested so much of my concentration in the movie,
I didn’t totally get what I wanted to. Well, surprises make a suspense story better,
but this ‘not really surprising
revelation’ wasn’t as pleasant. Towards the end, I kept hoping the writers
would come up with yet another twist that could be acceptable to me, but they didn’t.
Having said that, this is an individual reaction, and I cannot challenge it. But
do not expect it to deliver a Kahani level
revelation, you could come out disappointed.
Talaash qualifies as a very good film, but certainly not a
spectacular one.
I am going with a 3 out of 5 for Reema Kagtis’s Talaash, watch it for
the film it is, and not just to get the answer to the question, and you wouldn’t
be disappointed.
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, an adventure film based on Yann Martel’s novel of the
same titleis one of its own kind movies,
with a thorough visual bliss!
It is a story of Piscine, a boy named
from a Parisian swimming pool, and self nicknamed as Pi, inhabiting in Pondicherry
with a family that owns a zoo. The family soon starts sailing to Canada in
plans to shift home, with a host of exotic animals, where a storm shipwrecks them
leaving behind Pi and a Bengal Tiger as survivors in the Pacific Ocean. Screenplay runs in flashbacks as Pi, now older, narrates his life since childhood and the deadly ocean adventure he had once been through.
The
film deals with multiple themes including the religion-spirituality Vs logic-reality
conflict, belief in God and then the grand ocean adventure. Now the most amazing
part of the story is the survival strategies applied by Pi, not just against
beating the difficulties of living in the ocean, but the mere effort of a boy
to co-exist with an adult Bengal Tiger without becoming the tiger’s meal
himself, for over 227 days. As fictional as this situation may sound, the
survival of Pi and the tiger seems compellingly believable. The story ends
abruptly though,leaving the viewer to expect something more to come but all he
gets is the end credits. Ang Lee fails to add the emotional quotient that the
theme demands, hence film falls just short of touching your heart, and instead
leaves with just the visual pleasure.
As
mentioned above, the screenplay runs into flashbacks, is smooth and is just as
it should have been. Make sure not to miss the introduction song where the
animals of the zoo are well framed and to watch for. The Pondicherry scenes are
a novelty, the swimming pool of Paris with its crystal clear water (literally),
the ocean at night with coloured fish and stars are totally fascinating. These
are just a handful of examples of the film’s visual brilliance; watch the film
for a flood of such scenes. This is a film where the cinematography and camera
are at their level best! They are easily the film’s biggest highlight. Another
highlight is the make-up. Red and dark skin, marks of Ocean sickness on the boy’s
body look so real that it almost gives you a feel of how it would be like there
in the ocean. Music is suitable for the theme.
Instances of visual brilliance
Amongst
the actors, debutant Suraj Sharma as the young Pi is perfect for the role.
Irfan Khan as the older Pi looks convincingly similar to Suraj Sharma and is
well cast, but that bizarre accent!! The tiger and other animals, partly
animated, are amusing and amazing and examples of what a spectacular job
technology can do today. Adil Hussain is particularly impressive in short role of
Pi’s adamant yet caring father and Tabu too is well cast as Pi’s mother, but
she doesn’t have much to do.
In the
end, as mentioned repeatedly, Life of Pi, serves as a spectacle
than just a film. The visual brilliance compensates for its little flaws and
makes it a kind of a film that hasn’t been made before.
In
spite of having watched it on the front row, Life of Pi didn’t disappoint visually. This movie is most certainly
the best 3D experience produced till date. To enhance the quality of the
experience, make sure to watch it 'only' in 3D, and at a place where 3D is
supposedly the best. For viewers in India, PVR would be a good option(We do not endorse
any brands here).
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi
gets a 3.5 out of 5 simply for how the film looks on the screen rather than for
what the film talks about. Not many films get a high rating for just being an
eye candy, Life of Pi is one of the very few. Go watch it, it can disappoint
nobody.
Considering
the amount of buzz this name created, Jab
Tak Hai Jaan needs no introduction. This Grand Finale of late Mr Yash
Chopra’s series of romantic films has certainly made history owing to the
unfortunate death of its director a month prior to the film’s release. Watching
the film is inevitable to almost every Indian who has been following Indian
cinema for the past forty years or so, that is since Mr Chopra made his first
film. Now whether he has really got it Bang On! this time is a question, but
even if he hasn’t, the film’s success is apparent.
Jab tak hai jaan, is a story of Samar (Shar
Rukh Khan) in his twenties who just about manages his bread butter at London.
He befriends Meera Thapar(Katrina Kaif) a rich father’s beloved daughter, and
soon falls for her. Then, Samar in his late thirties is an Indian army officer in
Kashmir where he meets Akhira (Anushka Sharma), a young, perky intern working
for Discovery. The story unfolds by connecting the two timelines and the two
women of Samar’s life. Now unlike most of Chopra’s films, the hero doesn’t take
any time to convey his feeling to the girl. His films have been maturing and growing
with time. Yash Chopra in his 80s recognizes the subtle changes in the life
style and culture and incorporates them well in the film especially to appeal
to the youth. Chopra’s previous films had characters relating their times and
he does it this time too. This is the biggest strength of Yash Chopra as a
director. Who would have thought of seeing characters casually smoking,
abusing, kissing and having sex in a Yash Chopra film? Sorry to spill the
beans, but I had to appreciate this change in his style of cinema.
Now
what this film lacks is the script. Chopra’s previous films have not necessarily
been realistic, but the characters’ behaviour had been acceptable. Characters
in Jab tak hai Jaan often seems to do
things very synthetically without any logic. It soon turns into a story
manipulated rather than a story logically etched. It uses a lot of clichés for
instance road accidents at a very particular instant. Now, the 1980s audience might
have accepted it, but with so much maturity coming in Indian cinema today, Jab tak Hai jaan lacks conviction in its
basic script.
JTHJ
has been extensively shot in United Kingdom and Jammu Kashmir. Cinematographer
Anil Mehta particularly does a mind blowing job with the beautiful locales of
both the places. UK and London in particular has been captured best to its potential
and become highlights of the film. Screenplay falters and drags the already
weak script. Scenes are unnecessarily elaborated adding to the running time and
soon you see the audience losing patience. The film certainly has scope to edit
down a lot of matter that does nothing but increase the length of the film.
Screenplay is not totally linear, yet it fails to keep any suspense from the
audience. Having said that, the film does provide some really charming moments,
elaborated dance numbers and decent performances.
Jab tak
hai Jaan heavily borrows from all previous Chopra films, Veer-Zara in particular. Screenplay being similar to Veer-Zara’s, it almost feels like the
script writer made a modern day Veer-Zara
trying his hardest to hide that from the audience.
Lyrics,
monologues and poems by Gulzar are impressive and add to the romantic appeal.
AR Rahman can never be a disappointment, but he surely doesn’t give his best
here. The music is functional, considering Rahman’s standards. Wonder when we
will get a Lagaan or a Dil se level work from him again. Choreography
is apt, especially the song Ishq Shava is really well choreographed.
Shah
Rukh Khan as Samar gets to play two opposite poles of Samar’s personality. He
certainly looks younger than he is, but a guy in 20s?? Man, not totally
convincing. But he nails the other part as an introverted insufferable army
officer. He easily is one of the most charming army officers we have seen
onscreen. Katrina tries her hardest but suffers due to a badly written role.
Anushka Sharma is easily the best part of the film. Her perky character, one liners
and charm are the comic relief of the film. But is she getting type cast as the
bubbly perky girl? We will have to wait and see.
As a mark of respect
for late Mr Yash Chopra and his series of romantic films, I leave Jab Tak Hai
Jaan unrated. Yash Chopra is one personality who can make his films successful
even posthumously. I needn’t ask you to watch it, you will watch it anyway,
for Yash Chopra!
Director
Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh is yet
another issue based political thriller. Chakravyuh deals with issue of
Naxalites in various states of India. Firstly, Kudos to Jha for even daring to
take up an issue which had the potential of hurting the sentiments of either
side of the issue.Jha struggles but succeeds
to display the pros and cons of both sides- The police and The Naxalites.
Adil (Arjun
Rampal) is an efficient police officer who takes up the job of dealing with
Naxalite infected area of Nandighat. Soon his best friend Kabir (Abhay Deol)
offers him help by infiltrating the Naxalite group and taking down Rajan (Manoj
Bajpai) who is an influential Naxalite leader. Will Kabir be successful enough is the question.
What is
really new about this Jha venture is the well executed Naxalites Vs Police
firing sequences. Controlling a huge crowd is a difficult task and its
efficient execution shows that Jha has total command on his set. However, apart
from the firing sequences Jha offers the similar sets, locations, dialogues,
characters and actors. It is time Jha reinvents his direction skills by adding
something really new to his work.
Jha has
a grip over his story and knows exactly what he needs to convey, however the
screenplay is typical and dragged. Although the story seems engaging the
extended unnecessary scenes add to the duration and cause impatience among the
audience. The biggest disappointment of Chakravyuh lies in its director’s
falling prey to the so called commercial appeal. In an era of Indian cinema
where mature filmmaking is a key to entertainment, Jha prefers to show some
really unnecessary songs, one of them being a pure item number by Sameera
Reddy. Having songs and more specifically item songs is fine, but does a
Chakravyuh really need it? Besides, Jha’s story telling is still like the 80s
method of spoon feeding the audience with every detail, again, is it really
necessary?
Music
is below average and the item number can hardly attract any eye balls (since
its presence is only for those eye balls). Cinematography is functional and so
is the editing. Being so used to the strong stern Ajay Devgan performances in
all Jha films, Arjun Rampal as a capable police officer looks dull. He tries
his hardest but his performance falls out in a lot of scenes. Here’s one actor
who is expected to give more than he can. Abhay Deol as the short tempered
Kabir looks average in the first half but nails the second. Esha Gupta as Adil’s
wife has limited work to do and does a below average job. Manoj Bajpai can
never be a disappointment when it comes to an abusive, violent dacoit (a
Naxalite in this case). Surprisingly he has a smaller role to play in the film,
but he shines through what he gets to do. Eventually the one actor who shines
is Anjali Patil as Juhi, a female Naxalit leader. From being an abusive,
violent, earthy naxalite to a vulnerable girl, she gets it all right.
I am going with 2.5 out
of 5 for Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh. Chakarvyuh minus the songs and dragged scenes
would have been a 3.5 on 5.
Director and producer Karan Johar’s
Student of the Year is yet another signature KJO film; just that this time around
he risks having three newcomers carry his lavish high budget project on their shoulders
rather than playing safe with a Shah Rukh Khan.
Lavish school, good looking
teenager students, glamorous clothes and a wisely chosen locale of Deheradun,
Student of the Year has it all. In case you have been missing the KJO movie
feel for a few years since My Name is
Khan didn’t have all this, Student of
the Year is your treat.
St Teresa is a dream school which
hosts the Student of the Year competition every year. Abhimanyu(Sidddharth
Malhotra), Rohan(Varun Dhavan) and Shanaya(Alia Bhatt) are amongst the students
of the school who are ambitious to win the contest.The competition soon initiates rivalry,
jealousy among friends and a vicious rat race. Simultaneously the three leads are
caught into a complex love triangle and the fights, ego clashes follow. The end
feels a little abrupt and over dramatic unbelievable sequences wrestle to make
sense, but eventually they fall just short of it.
Sequences are borrowed and
inspired from Kuch Kuch hota hai, Main
hoon na, Harry Potter-The Goblet of Fire and many more; but all that never
bothers. The screenplay is used straight from Jane tu ya Jane na with a friends reunion and the flash backs! In spite
of all this, Student of the Year qualifies as a decent film due to the director’s
entertaining writing, quirky music and good dance numbers.
Vishal and Shekhar do an
excellent job with the music. Music has always been a key point in KJO’s
movies, and Vishal Shekar carry the legacy ahead. Manish Malhotra is a busy man
designing so many glamorous and fancy costumes for the film’s leads and he doesn’t
disappoint. To show the lavishness on the big screen, the cinematography and
editing do proper justice. The camera catches the most spectacular frames of
Deheradun and the rich college campus.
Rishi Kapoor as the gay Dean proves
yet again that he can pull off possibly any role offered to him. Alia Bhatt is
fresh and talented and does most of the opportunity she gets. In the end it’s
the boys who steal the show. The film demands a lot of testosterone and the
boys give it all. Varun Dhavan looks promising but Siddhart Malhotra is the
best in the film.
I am going with 2.5 out
of 5 for Karan Johar’s Student of the Year. Go watch it, if KJO movies are your taste!
Sachin Kundalkar’s Aiyyaa which looked promising enough is
a letdown. Makers of Aiyya were surely confused of its genre. Call it a
romantic comedy, a simple love story or mad out and out comedy, you eventually
realise that the movie fits into neither of the genres. Not that a film must
always fit into a standard genre, but when this confusion directly reflects
onto the script and the screenplay, then boy, it can’t be anything but a
royally rumbling mess!
Menakshi Deshpande (Rani
Mukherji), a middle class Maharshtrian girl of marriageable age is struggling to live life
on her own terms and the friction with her orthodox surrounding aggravates her
desire for independence. And then the confusion between marrying a man of her
choice to a man of her family’s choice follows. To look at it, this confusion,
the clichéd conflict of family Vs personal choice is all done and over with in Indian
cinema. The only novelty of Aiyyaa is
that it shows a woman’s lust and obsession for her love unlike the regular
drill of a guy being charmed by the girl, and Aiyyaa ensures to cash on it. The film has been wisely promoted
with the trailers highlighting the lust of its female lead character in skilfully
choreographed songs. However, very soon does this start to seem overdone and
the viewer eventually becomes weary of watching Menakshi feel her crush’s body odour.
Kundalkar writes over the top,
whacky and unreal characters to create comic moments in the film. But he hardly
succeeds in getting it all right because the scenes are poorly executed. This is
a movie which floats between being a realistic believable film to being a
thorough comedy. The Director chooses a theme with potential but fails to give
it the right shape. Aiyyaa could have been a good piece of work had the story writer
and director Kundalkar kept his intentions right.
A major highlight of the film is
its dances. Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant grabs the opportunity of
choreographing various styles of dancing all in one film and she makes the most
of it. Music is functional with some catchy tunes. Dreamum Wakepum which has already hit high on the charts is surely Oh la la! inspiredbut doesn’t fail to amuse the audience. Cinematography is fine.
Prithviraj as Menakshi’s crush,
Surya, doesn’t have much to do. Limited dialogues and a blank face make it a
weak debut for him. Subodh Bhave as a kind hearted fiancé is perfect for his
role. He looks decent, talks decent and dresses simple just what his character
demands. Rani Mukherji as Menakshi is undoubtedly the hero of the film. From
talking fluent Marathi to dancing on a Dremum
Wakeupum to doing a belly dance, Rani excels in all. It’s a Rani Mukherji
film, and watch it if you are her fan.
I am going with a two of five for Sachin Kundalkar’s Aiyya. Out of the
two, one star belongs solely to Rani Mukherji. Watch it for her but that is only if
you are ready to ignore its flaws.
Innocent and charming
English Vinglish, touches your heart from the very first frame.
English Vinglish(EV) deals with
simple hidden dilemmas faced by an Indian housewife, stressing mainly on disability
of fluent English speech. It highlights the unintentional ill treatment given
to people in India unable to speak fluent English . Shashi Godbole, played by
Sridevi is a housewife facing severe internal inferiority due to her disability
of speaking English. And the inferiority is cultivated by none other than her
own family. She happens to travel to the States for a wedding and lands up into
a quick English learning class.
Director and writer Gauri Shinde
has a well grip on her script and her characters are properly etched. It is
difficult to believe that EV is her debut as the confidence in the
direction is so apparent. She captures the simplest conversational difficulties
a non-english speaker would encounter while travelling alone abroad. The situations
are so realistic that one would enquire whether the director had herself gone
through the same.
The script has its shares of clichés;
for instance, the characterizations of Shashi’s classmates are typical and formulaic,
although they never bother. The screenplay is simple and linear, just as it
should have been. The background score perfectly blends with the situations. Special
mention to the fantastic music by Amit Trivedi; the music is melodious and
flows with the emotions in film. The camera in the first half is shaky giving
the film an absolutely unnecessary arty feel.
Sridevi is perfectly cast as the vulnerable
housewife. The subtle changes in her facial expressions and body language when
her characters changes phases are to watch out for. Her speech in the finale
sequence proves that no one but Sridevi could have played this part. Amongst
the supporting cast, Adil Hussain as a dominant Indian husband is well cast and
so is the the charming French cook played by Mehdi Nibbou.
EV has a simple but a valid message to give. The simplicity of the story telling
stuns you when it makes the viewer suddenly identify to one of the characters’
actions/dialogues. This is one film which relates to possibly every Indian
family living in India or abroad. EV will praise you for being nice and hit you
for being not so nice!
I am going with an out and out 4
out of 5 for Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish. Watch it if you belong to an
Indian family!
Adapted from a gujrati play, OMG! is a simple, subtle
film which makes one think about how today’s world deals with God and religion.
Kanji Bhai
(Paresh Rawal) is a middle class Hindu atheist whose shop is demolished during
a minor earth quake. Being financially helpless, he demands payment from the
insurance company he had been paying premium to. After the company denies the
payment owing to the company’s contract which says no payment against ‘act of God’
(earth quake), he urges to file a case against God!
As
fictional as this sounds, the story develops into real and believable
circumstances making it relatable to today’s world. The story stresses on the
ongoing modern world ‘babaism’, religion
as a business and people’s idea of what God really is!
What
stands out is the scene writing and dialogues. Especially the court scenes which
are crisply written, with apt and hard hitting dialogues. The dialogues own
this film!
Paresh
Rawal in an author backed role justifies why he is one of the greatest actors
India has seen. Akshay Kumar in an extended cameo as the modern day Lord
Krishna plays is part right. Amongst the supporting cast, Mithun Chakraborty as
the witty spiritual guru is hilarious with his feminine body language.
OMG! may not have the best direction,
music and cinematography, yet it steals the show purely on the merit of its
theme and script. Here’s a cake with minimal icing but a very spongy interior
unlike so many others which offer grand icing with hard and minimal interior.
I am going with 3 out of 5 for director’s Umesh Shukla’s OMG! Oh My God! .Watch it for its performances and for what it preaches!
Heroine touches the life of a Hindi film
female actor superficially, without conviction and surety. Mahi Arora (Kareena
Kapoor), an over emotional, obsessive, vulnerable, weirdly dynamic and decently
talented film star, is at the peak of her career, when she realises her married
lover (Arjun Rampal,), a star himself, isn’t interested in committing to her.
Her obsession for him turns to frustration, which reflects on her work. And the
clichéd career downfall follows, with drugs and alcohol (not to forget). The
story continues with a new lover, new career peak and eventually a downfall
again.
Unlike
for most of his movies, Bhandarkar fails to give his film a plot. The film suffers
as it almost seems like a bunch of episodes unintentionally woven together.
Heroine could have been a better film, had it been a well etched story right at
the scripting levels.
The
director does provide us with some realities of the Mumbai film industry
popularly known as Bollywood. For instance, the ignorance of the film
production towards a senior artist played by Helen, by not offering her a
vanity van and letting her rehearse her dialogues under the sun. Or the over
dominant wife having a say in the casting of her husband’s heroine. Keeping
this handful of scenes aside, Bhandarkar has nothing new to offer in Heroine. Alcohols, sex, drugs, homosexuality
were all part of his previous films with just a new addition of a leaked sex
tape. It’s time for Bhandarkar to reinvent his direction style to keep up with
the viewers’ expectations.
The film is glamorously shot with focus on Kareena’s look.
The costumes are apt. Music is disappointing, but it hardly bothers. Real film
studios, popular cafes of Mumbai, hotels and restaurants are widely used
filming locations.
Arjun
Rampal is competent as a confused male superstar, but the script doesn’t give
him too much scope to perform. Divya Datta is perfect as the cruelly compelling
PR. Randeep Hooda is again competent as the charming cricketer. The one who
gets a fake deal from something that looked like a humungous opportunity is
Kareena Kapoor. In spite of being sincere and fine with her performance,
Kareena suffers due to a badly written role. Her character makes such silly
mistakes that they hardly look real. Eventually, the audience finds her
character stupid and hardly sympathizes with her. Yet Kapoor looks glamorous,
acts with faith and gives her best. She is the reason one might recommend a
watch of Heroine
The director had previously declared this one to be his
career’s best. Surely it isn’t! Heroine could have been a great piece of work,
had the director written a better story. The film however belongs to its lead
actor Kareena Kapoor. I am going with 2 out of 5 for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine, watch it iff you must!
