As
defined on the ‘know-it-all’ Wikipedia online page; coffee table books are an
oversized art & literature piece, positioned best in the shelf to inspire
conversation. Subject matter is predominantly non-fiction and pictorial.
Nothing changes if you dare to compare the same with debutante writer-director Vibhu
Puri’s highly ambitious HAWAIZAADA. Both can make you mesmerized with their picture-perfect,
magnanimously shot visuals in its in-detailed presentation but that’s it. There
is hardly any room for content there. So, keep flipping the pages till you find
the levels of your enthusiasm fading down to minimum. And then, leave it for
another. These days, they have plenty in stores for you.
Despite
having great possibility of being a well-intentioned period drama-cum-thrilling
biopic, HAWAIZAADA offers nothing but plain air sure more than what you buy in your
favorite wafer pack at the shop around the corner. Before Wright Brothers could
go beyond imagination and invent an airplane, there was an enthusiastic Indian named
Shivkar Bapuji Talpade who deserved all the respects for being the real pioneer.
A plot fascinating enough for a motion picture, no second thoughts on that! But
then you have to see what Vibhu does with that further.
Take
inspirations from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s extravagant Victorian era-inspired hugely
unbelievable sets; make your leading character as dynamic, animated and charming
as if he’s not from a historic background but out of a fairytale and then put
plenty of gloss in everything that comes in your way. It has been a confirmed Midas
touch for Bhansali’s fictional outings. Vibhu, one of his worthy successors
tries the same with a biopic and fails miserably. You are left in constant doubts
as to appreciate the efforts of such gigantic talents of the industry or to
mourn the opportunity getting wasted on such large scale.
Rajesh
Khanna says in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ANAND, “Yeh duniya ek ranmanch hai,
jahaanpanaah…aur hum sab iski kathputliyaan” (The world is a big stage, my lord…and
we all are nothing but the puppets). I have never seen a biopic so theatrical that
you just want to remove the disclaimer and enjoy it as a fictional drama. This
Bombay of 1895 never looked so decked up. Shastry [Played by Mithun Chakraborty]
as a cranky scientist lives in a dumped ship on the shore and it is barely any
lesser than a well-established museum.
On
the performances, Ayushmann Khurrana charms with his trademark flirtatious looks
and killing smile. I hoped to see the compliments like ‘Awww, how cute he is!’
getting up the next level with ‘Wow, how good he acts!’ but looks like I have
to wait a little more. Pallavi Sharda of BESHARAM fame is better than her last.
Mithun repeats himself but doesn’t fail at all. For the rests, it’s the child
actor Naman Jain and Jameel Khan who show some kind of believability to their
characters.
Having
said that, HAWAIZAADA does have some of the most impressive efforts on the
set-designing & writing front [dialogues & lyrics never fall short of
expectations] but the completely off-track romance, bumpy screenplay, lack of much-needed
realistic approach and the overtly dramatic Broadway like production-style make
it a droning, dull and monotonous watch. [1.5/5]
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