Happy New Year : Movie Review

Entertaining in parts, average on the whole

Farah Khan, considered to be one of the torchbearers of paisa-vasool entertainers, usually manages to create enough anticipation & hype with every film. King Khan Shah Rukh Khan’s collaboration with her as producer / actor is an icing on the cake, with the expectancy levels & ‘viral’ effect soaring high!

Previously, the duo delivered two blockbusters viz. Main Hoon Na & Om Shanti Om. Subsequently, Farah with Akshay Kumar experimented on Tees Maar Khan, but failed to weave magic at the box office.

With her latest offering, Happy New Year, Farah tries to leave no stone unturned, setting up a huge canvas for the film, and bringing in a huge ensemble star cast on board, led by her lucky charm SRK of course.

Plot

The story begins with Chandramohan Sharma alias Charlie (Shah Rukh Khan), who earns a living by street-fighting, despite being a Boston University topper. His only purpose in life, is to avenge the humiliation, his father Manohar Sharma (Anupam Kher) underwent due to the false accusations & subsequent imprisonment imposed upon him – courtesy Charan Grover (Jackie Shroff)

Charlie plans a grand heist with his close aides Temhton Irani alias Tammy (Boman Irani), Jagmohan Prakash alias Jag (Sonu Sood) and his nephew Rohan (Vivaan Shah), a teenage hacker. He adds two commoners viz. Nandu Bhide (Abhishek Bachchan), a dahi hundi player & Mohini Joshi (Deepika Padukone), a bar dancer.

They intend to rob a certain set of valuable diamonds which Charan Grover’s security team is in-charge of. Coincidentally, the location where the stones are safely kept, shares its premises with the venue of a World Dance Championship. The only way to execute the plan without creating suspicion is by participating in the contest. Whether the team manages to achieve the objective through loads of twist & turns is what forms the crux of the story.

Synopsis

The initial plot may give you an impression of a full-on entertaining edge of a seat thriller, with surprises in every alternate frame. But remember, it’s a Farah Khan film, intended towards being a no-brainer masala pot-boiler.

The film does entertain for sure, undoubtedly, but in bits & pieces. Whenever it appears that the story is gathering momentum, the writers try to tickle your funny bone (sometimes forcefully). This formula works to begin with, but slackens the pace and your enthusiasm later.

There are loop holes at few instances, though the flow of narration is not awkward. However, it’s advisable to leave behind logic & high expectations before entering the cinema hall.

In my opinion, Vipul Shah’s Aankhen (2002), also based on a similar theme, was the closest to have balanced both comedy & thrill to the best possible extent.

Technical aspects

Cinematography by Manush Nandan is fantastic. Keeping in mind the wide canvas of the film, as mentioned earlier, he captures & projects the best of locales (esp. Dubai) through stunning visuals.

The music by Vishal Shekhar is good, but not their best, to be honest. Barring Manwaa Laagey, or India wale (to a certain extent), the other songs do not create too much of an impact.

Dialogues & one-liners are quite funny, esp. the references to 90s films (trademark Farah / Sajid style)

Editing, by Anand Subhaya, could have definitely been tighter.

The stunt & action sequences are superb no doubt, but out of context at times.

Performances

USP of the film are the performances by the lead actors. The average screenplay is elevated to a large extent by them.

Abhishek Bachchan is the best of the lot with his amazing comic timing, body language and screen presence. He comes up with an impressive act after a long time.

Deepika Padukone plays her part well. She manages to pull off one of her best acts in recent times.

Boman Irani does complete justice to the role, however, a bit loud at times

Sonu Sood showcases his untapped potential, portraying different shades viz. comic, action & emotions.

Vivaan Shah perfectly fits into the character of a geeky teenager, caught up between virtual & real worlds!  Nevertheless, he has a long way to go.

Jaggu dada (Jackie Shroff) is pretty convincing as the bad guy.

Shah Rukh Khan, anchor of the ship, unlike previous Farah khan films is luckily, not asked to overdo him-self, perhaps because of his character. Rather, despite being the protagonist, he aptly underplays himself at times, and gives the right kind of space to the supporting co-actors. It is good to see him perform with so much restrain & naturalism after long time.

Among cameos, Anupam Kher, Daisy Irani do well.   Anuraag Kashyap & Vishal Dadlani’s portions, were highly disappointing.

Overall an average entertaining film, perhaps good for a one-time watch.

Rating:  **1/2

HAIDER: Disturbed Heaven on Earth!

Haider : Movie Review

Over the years, William Shakespeare’s work has fascinated lot of film-makers throughout the world.  The Hindi Film industry has also time & again tried its hands in indigenizing the literature stalwart’s tragic plays & novels, with very few directors succeeding in a sensible & path-breaking adaption.

Among them, its Vishal Bhardwaj who rules the roost so far, having made Macbeth (Maqbool) & Othello (Omkara) earlier. With Haider, his latest offering, he completes the trilogy, drawing inspiration from one of the most popular tragedies, Hamlet, amidst the backdrop of Kashmir in 90s.

The story begins with Dr Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha) treating a militant for appendicitis in his own house, much against the wishes of his wife Ghazala (Tabu). The militant group is tracked, gunned down by the Indian army, and Dr Meer arrested for interrogations.

Haider (Shahid Kapur), the son of Dr Meer & Ghazala is doing his research on poetry at Aligarh University.  On his return he learns that his father is missing and the house (where he grew up) completely dilapidated & burnt down.

Haider, perturbed by the incident, rushes to his paternal grandfather’s place to get more details.  He is further enraged & shocked to see his mother & uncle, Khurram Meer (Kay Kay Menon) laughing around, seeming to enjoy each other’s company, as if nothing has happened.

Unable to get satisfactory answers from his family, Haider decides to take control & starts looking out for his father with the help of his girlfriend Arshia (Shraddha Kapoor).  One fine day, a spooky guy Roohdaar (Irfan Khan) who calls himself Dr Meer’s ‘Rooh’ or spirit, gets in touch with Arshia & Haider, claiming to know inside information about Haider’s dad.

Haider’s pursuit to unravel the mystery behind his dad’s disappearance, figure out the family secrets (if any) and resurrect his complicated love-life is how the plot unfolds here on.

Writers Vishal Bhardwaj & Basharat Peer (of Kashmiri origin), maintain a neutral stand on the Kashmir issue.  It would be rather unfair to comment on the exact authenticity or reality of depiction. Cinematic liberty has been taken at quite a few places, but they manage to cover it up by subtly following the Shakespearean philosophy, where every character has ‘grey’ shades within him / her.

However, one needs to focus on the intent behind the film i.e. ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’, which also gels with the date of its release 2nd Oct, i.e. Gandhi Jayanti.

Technical aspects

Cinematography by Pankaj Kumar is completely in sync with the erratic scenarios in Kashmir viz. sometimes gloomy, or disturbing, suddenly snowing, or even romantic. Hat off to Pankaj for this visual delight!

The music by Vishal Bhardwaj himself has a strong Kashmiri folk flavour to it, which makes it very authentic.

Words penned by the legendary Gulzar  sahab as usual are pure lyrical ‘uncut’ gems.

Dialogues filled with satirical humour wrapped in urdu poetry carry the essence of the original play. Shakespeare’s famous ‘to be or not be’ has been not just been translated be also aptly used in the right context as ‘Main Rahun Ki Main Nahi’

Background score is good, but a trifle louder than Vishal’s previous work.  Editing, in my opinion, could perhaps have been a bit tighter.

Performances

Movies based on such sensitive themes largely depend on the on-screen performances, and undoubtedly, every actor in this film is a revelation !

Kay Kay Menon as usual delivers yet another brilliant performance, gets into the skin of the character with utmost ease

Narendra Jha is an actor one needs to watch out for. He is like a ‘sutradhar’,  mouthing some of the best lines in the film in his deep, mesmerizing baritone.

Irrfan Khan in a cameo role is spooky & interesting. One wishes he had been given more screen space.

Shraddha Kapoor plays her part well. Playing a young Kashmiri journo, torn among different relationships, yet trying to be happy, she does complete justice. However, there were couple instances where a slight spillover of her Aashiqui 2 character was felt!

Lalit Parimoo & Aamir Bashir provide adequate support.  Sumit Kaul & Rajat Bhagat are amazingly funny. Their character’s fascination with Salman Khan is one of the highlights of the film!

Tabu, makes a terrific come-back. Her intense scenes with Shahid are first-of its kind in Indian cinema. Although, there does exist a thin streak of Oedipus complex between the two characters, Vishal Bhardwaj ensures it is restrained & non-vulgar keeping in mind the Indian context.

Shahid Kapur is just outstanding. The complex character of Hamlet, with varied emotions is perfectly portrayed by him. In his career best performance till date, the youngster proves why acting runs in his lineage.  His veteran father Pankaj Kapur’s acts in Shakespearean plays during his National School Drama days have always been a revelation to budding actors.

Overall Haider is a hard hitting, disturbing film, filled with power packed performances by all the actors.

Rating:  ***1/2