Learn the rules before you choose
to unlearn everything and make as many mistakes as you could never afford
earlier. Is this the new addition in the rulebook for filmmakers in Bollywood?
If not so, I fear there has to be some scam as how and why Vikas Bahl would
choose a flawed, faulty and fire-less script like SHAANDAAR for his next after
the all brave, bold and one of the best films in recent times QUEEN. Has
creative complacency hit the talent in question? I hope not but SHAANDAAR is a
discouraging example of ‘you never go in a memorial service to just admire the
beauty of the coffin’; unless you are in a black humor production which even
SHAANDAAR is supposedly not.
With SHAANDAAR, Vikas Bahl
tries to show us what fate the candy-floss cinema of Disney would meet if made
in Bollywood. The only fact he probably forgets midway that Disney itself has
tasted the same flavor of disappointment in their first foray, most would not
love to remember as KHOOBSURAT starring Sonam Kapoor. Bahl transports the
viewers straight from the all relatable Janakpuri in Delhi [where QUEEN was
located] to some fancy and fairy place of vast green lawns, serene lakes dipped
in blue moonlight and cosmic castles on the likes of Czech historical architecture.
The plot itself is hugely
borrowed, traditional and uncomplicated but a perfect in all probability for a
fairytale romantic film. An insomniac orphan is brought into an overcast house
where everyone lives under the dark shadow of a controlling, scheming and evil
old lady [the veteran Sushma Seth]. 20 years down the line, the orphan Alia
[Alia Bhatt] still gets consoled by her father [Pankaj Kapoor] that someday,
someone will come in her life to make her sleep. The prince charming enters as
the wedding planner Jagjinder Jogindar [Shahid Kapoor] for the other daughter
of the house [Sanah Kapoor]. Now, this wedding chaos sees the gold-obsessed
Fundwani [Sanjay Kapoor] with his gym-loving dumbbell brother-cum-groom making
it all a business deal with the old-lady. Both the families are on the edge of
bankruptcy and see the other as the only hope for their survival.
Vikas Bahl beautifully
introduces the elements of fine animation to tell the story whenever it decides
to travel in flashback. Those three chunks of animated part are so impressive,
well-designed and technically clean that you wish it lasts for the rest two
hours also, of the total duration of the film. The screenplay and the dialogues
[by Anvita Dutt] are totally uneven, patchy and distasteful. The orphan being
not an orphan but an illegitimate child is never a revelation. And why it has
to be a fact always maintained in a Bollywood film that the male designer will
be a gay in hideout? Bahl earned respects of all sorts for bringing out the undiscovered
layers in today’s women’s personality and with such boldness that one feels
proud to have someone so gutsy but here, his female characters are either too
strong-headed or in too compromising position. A plump, curvy and bulky bride
to be is teased continuously for obvious reasons but waits for her father and
the large-hearted prince to intervene. Sometimes, just one slap on screen ensures
scores of claps inside the theater! You missed it, Mr. Bahl!
With Pankaj Kapoor, Shahid
and his sister Sanah in one frame, SHAANDAAR is more interesting family affair
off-screen than on-screen. The sparkling chemistry between the three Kapoors is
cheering. Sanah impresses with her first acting sting and her lovely and lively
presence on screen. Alia is a complete show-stealer. The innocence she brings
with her matches the emotional need of the character. Niki Walia captures your
attention in her comeback. Sanjay Kapoor’s being there can only be seen as a
justification of budget issues to cast Anil Kapoor.
Overall, SHAANDAAR remains
Vikas Bahl’s over-ambitious, forgettable and flawed expedition to the corrupt
commercial world of box-office driven success where content takes back seat and
the canvas holds the steering wheel. An epic fail! [1.5/5]
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