Shaandaar Movie Review: Shahid and Alia Shine, the Film Doesn’t

Shaandaar has many things going right for it. Right from the word go. It is touted to be India’s first destination wedding film, the sets and the canvas look splendid, the songs are quirky and peppy, and most importantly, the film has a refreshing pairing of Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

But, sadly despite the aforementioned strengths and pluses, the film’s director, Vikas Bahl, flounders and fumbles several times before the extravagant destination wedding reaches its final destination. Vikas, an able director when it comes to simpler stories and smaller budgets, seems to be binging a bit too much on the producers’ generosity this time around. The covert messaging of the film remains fairly simple and straightforward, like how it was in Vikas’ last directorial venture – the much-appreciated Queen, but the means to the ‘final destination’ seems too convoluted and pointlessly blingy. The director seems to have developed an unexplainable fascination with comic books, fairy tales and animations, and he literally puts all of that in a single film. And the end result is not exactly what he hoped it to be when he chose the title of the film.

Shaandaar tells the story of a once-superrich-now-bankrupt, but forever dysfunctional Indian business family and the lavish wedding it plans for its slightly obese daughter Isha (debutante Sanah Kapoor) in London. Isha’s father (Played by Pankaj Kapur) hires a wedding planner with a curious name – Joginder Jagjinder (Shahid Kapoor) who falls for Isha’s sister Alia (Alia Bhatt). The two hit it off instantly and bond over late night escapades as both of them, we are told, suffer from insomnia. Also in the fray is the groom’s family which has a weird obsession with anything gold – this wolf pack is led by the groom’s elder brother (Sanjay Kapoor). What follows next is a muddled mix of rom-com between Alia and Shahid with Pankaj Kapur playing a protective father with perfection, and a Queen-style sermon via Sanah Kapoor on how it is not a girl’s fault if she is fat.

To be fair, Shaandaar’s first half is fairly enjoyable when you just begin to somewhat like the peculiar characters that the film has to offer. But the director’s grip over the film drops a fair bit in the second half as soon as the screenplay (Anvita Dutt Guptan) starts to meander in a dreamland. A dreamland where there are too many VFXs, cloudy flashbacks and Disney-style animated storytelling.

But, all is not unwell with Shaandaar. Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor share a sparkling chemistry and it will not be an exaggeration to call it the most refreshing pairing to have hit the Hindi films in the last few years. Shahid Kapoor looks dapper and seems to have gotten back his boyish, exuberant charm. Apart from being an eye candy (all females in the film, Alia’s grandmother (Sushma Seth) included, drool over our Kapoor boy), Shahid is also amply funny and suitably restrained throughout the film. Alia Bhatt is her usual sweetened self with a sprinkle of genuineness and beauty. Pankaj Kapur too is on fire, displaying his unique brand of dry, subtle humor. In fact, Kapur/Kapoor father and son share a terrific vibe on-screen and along with Alia, remain the brightest spots of Shaandaar. The trio gives us some genuinely heartwarming and funny moments and you wish they never ceded space to other actors in the film.

Every time a protective Pankaj Kapur and a charming Shahid Kapoor squabble over Alia, you will see a smiley curve emerging on your face. Special mention should be made of a small sequence featuring a little banter over the number ‘36’ – it is a fine display of the trio’s effortless sense of humor and the comfort they share with one another.

Sanah Kapoor also makes a confident debut and shows no nerves in her portrayal of a fatter sibling of the film’s leading lady. Her fine acting talent is letdown by a poorly developed character that struggles to remain relevant throughout the film. Other members of the support cast are almost all too loud and unreal with Sanjay Kapoor easily taking the top prize and ending up looking like Anil Kapoor’s poor comical caricature.

Shaandaar’s production values are quite rich but the intermittent animation seems more distracting and self-indulging than essential. There are also some poor attempts made at invoking dark humor but it simply doesn’t fit well in the lavish backdrop of the film. The film’s soundtrack is pretty solid, courtesy Amit Trivedi, and the songs have also been creatively picturized, especially ‘Gulabo’, which is a visual treat.

Overall, Shaandar is a film full of all the right ingredients but somehow the final serving is not tempting enough. The second half of the film is simply boring at places with the screenplay offering no big challenges to its principle characters. Even that Karan Johar guest appearance fails to register itself as a key moment in the film. It is another matter that after Karan’s cameo is long done and gone, you end up wondering if he would have done a better job in directing this film. After all, big budget and big cast is not everyone’s saddle to handle.

At best, Shaandaar is a lost opportunity. It finds itself suspended between the director’s dream world and the producers’ love for opulent, ‘big and fat’ Indian weddings. Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor almost carry the film through on the strength of their chemistry but they are regularly pulled down by a motley of directorial distractions.

Watch it if you can digest a soup of Karan Johar and Phantom (Anurag Kashyap) styles of filmmaking!

Rating: **1/2 (2.5 out of 5 – Average)

'Haider' Takes the Kashmir Dare and Is Almost There

Shakespeare would have been proud of Vishal Bhardwaj, it's a given. One cannot imagine better Indian adaptions of Macbeth and Othello than Maqbool and Omkara respectively. I mean, even if you match title to title, Maqbool and Omkara sound super cool, and these names have a certain 'ring' much like their Shakespearean counterparts. With Haider, Bhardwaj does something unusual and daring, he amalgamates the bard's Hamlet with Kashmir. The resultant is a dramatic and dark cocktail of personal strife and collective sorrow of Kashmir, sorrow that has been mostly ignored by the mainstream Hindi cinema.

Kashmir is not just a shooting location in Haider, it is one of the film's main protagonists. Full credit to Vishal Bhardwaj for an imaginative, sensitive and well-researched portrayal of Kashmir of the mid-90s, the era when the state was battling incessant militancy and unease. It requires a lot of courage and conviction to call a spade and a spade and Bhardwaj does exactly that when he calls AFSPA as 'chutzpah'. It is by far the most quirky take by any Indian film on the draconian law that gives sweeping powers to the armed forces in the strife-torn areas. There is no chest thumping about nationalism nor there is any over-dramatic cry for the 'Kashmiri' cause. Haider beautifully balances its narrative by giving a voice to grievances of all the sides, however, it largely focuses on the plight of the average Kashmiri who is torn by the unrest in the valley.

But apart from a brave, honest and intimate take on Kashmir, Haider also boasts of a heartfelt portrayal of mother-son relationship. Tabu and Shahid Kapoor put up pitch perfect performances as Gazala Meer and Haider respectively, to gift us one of the best Ma-beta jodi of Hindi cinema in recent times. With Hamlet as its inspiration, this mother-son duo share a unique bond that is simmering with love, longing and a strange shade of hatred from Haider's side. Tabu steals the show as Shahid's mother and it is such a joy to watch the great actor on screen after so long. One could only wish to see more of her on the silver screen and thank Vishal Bhardwaj for giving this acting powerhouse another meaty role post Maqbool.

Shahid Kapoor shows yet again that he is a terrific actor and comes up with a layered performance that is at times restrained and mostly vulnerable. Irrfan Khan makes a huge impact in a very brief role as the mysterious Roohdaar and Kay Kay Menon looks cunning enough as Haider's uncle Khurram. Shradha Kapoor comes of age in role of Arshi and takes a big leap in the acting department. She shares a lovely chemistry with Shahid, and the two light up the screen every time they find some room for romance. The film's cinematography (Pankaj Kumar) is first rate, so is the soundtrack and background music. Also, the film's dialogues are truly memorable that are sprinkled with doses of humor, intrigue and pain.

But everything is not hunky dory with Haider. The second half seems a bit dragged specially after a stunningly impactful first half. Bhardwaj fails to resist the temptation of getting into self-indulgence and pretentious symbolism towards the fag end of the film. So, there are graveyard caretakers singing 'So Jao' and digging graves for themselves, Haider holding and talking to a human skull as if it were a trophy and this over-dramatic sequence also a has a young boy watching and asking questions. Trying to pass on a commentary on Kashmir's present and future, Mr. Bhardwaj? It does not come out well, eh? Also, at times conversations on Kashmir seem a little forced and contrived. Kulbhushan Kharbanda's character gives us a sermon on how one 'inteqaam' would only lead to another inteqaam, and it only comes across as the director's attempt to balance out the anti-India or anti-army tirade in the film.

But overall, Haider is a fantastic film and to see or not to see it is never a question. But is it Bhardwaj's best work till date? I would stop short of claiming anything like that and would still rate Maqbool as the affable director's finest work.

Rating: *** 1/2 (Very Good)

'Teri Meri Kahaani' is Simply Boring

'Teri Meri Kahaani' grabbed my attention because of two main reasons. First, the film was directorial venture of Kunal Kohli, a man who I think has not got enough praise for two wonderful films that he has made- Hum Tum and Fanaa. His other two films- Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic and Mujhse Dosti Karoge (Such terrible names!) were box-office disasters, but were reasonably 'watchable'. Secondly, I was impressed with the film's title and the tagline (Thrice upon a love story). 'Teri Meri Kahaani', for me, is a wonderfully simple and effective name for a film. A name that can intrigue both the metro junta and the people from the heartland. And I am stressing so much on the film's name because nowadays there is a marked decline in the 'quality' of film names. If films like 'London Paris New York' and 'Cocktail' could have been named better, 'Dangerous Ishq' is perhaps the most horrible mainstream Hindi film title I have ever heard of.  However, film names are an entirely different topic of debate. For now, let us focus on Kunal Kohli's 'Teri Meri Kahaani'.
 
The film is a love story (but of course) set in three different eras, 1910, 1960 and present day 2012. The idea of the film, I hear, is copied from some immensely popular Taiwanese film called 'Three Times'. But this notion, whether true or not, is of little concern because 'Teri Meri Kahaani' in its own self is a heavily flawed and uninspiring film. It is tough to believe that this film comes from the director of Hum Tum and Fanaa, and Shahid Kapoor seriously needs to introspect about his choice of films and the direction in which his Bollywood career is heading!

The biggest lacuna of Teri Meri Kahaani is its very ordinary plot and screenplay. There is nothing worthy in the story to mention about, and quite surprisingly, even the expected chemistry and camaraderie between Shahid and Priyanka is missing! Out of the three story tracks, only the one set in the 1960, Bombay, leaves some kind of impact. Sadly, the present day love track looks tired and predictable while the one set in the pre-independent India looks over the top!

Unlike Love Aaj Kal, which beautifully explored definition and significance of love in two different generations, Teri Meri Kahaani does not even intend to dig deep. There are far too may songs, too many Shahids and Priyankas, virtually doing the same silly stuff in all the three romantic tracks. Even though the film is only 2 hours long, it feels like a lifetime. It is one of those films that perfectly fits the cliched bill of 'boring'. After the climax, you wonder what the filmmaker tried to convey? Did he try to sell us the idea of reincarnation and love breaking the barrier of 'saat janams'? If yes, then where was the 'connection' between the three tracks? If no, then what was binding force of these different tracks? Or, were these three stories totally independent of each other? Too many questions. But still, you dont bother much. The proceedings are so boring!

Shahid Kapoor portrays his usual self. He is simply functional. Nothing outstanding. Priyanka Chopra is also her usual self. She is simply functional. Nothing outstanding. The script lets the actors down. Had Kunal Kohli invested even half the effort, which he puts in erecting those 'fake looking' sets and milieu of 1910 and 1960, into strengthening the script, this Kahaani might have been different. As a director, Kohli fails to drive any point home. Music by sajid-Wajid is not good to ears. Somehow. There are 5 songs in the film, but only Mukhtasar is hummable. Cinematography, which is such an important element in a film that travels in different time spaces, is below the mark- flat and uninspiring. There is nothing that the camera does to help the viewer travel to 1910, Lahore or 1960, Bombay.

There is sheer lack of novelty, verve and charm in the film. Twenty minutes into the film and you are bored. You wait for the intermission, hoping it would bring something 'new'. Expectations trashed. Twenty minutes post interval, and you start praying for a quick 'climax', again hoping that the end would definitely throw in some surprise. Expectations trashed. Again.

This one is avoidable. Most Definitely. And Shahid Kapoor, please put your hands up. And be counted. Please.

Rating- *1/2 (Poor)