Is the Alia Bhatt and Shahid Kapoor starrer "Shaandaar" really worth all the hype and hoopla; or then does it prove to be the proverbial damp squib like many others of it's ilk; well read on to uncover the truth not the hype........
At the outset; let me admit that my better half and me sauntered into a city multiplex primarily because the two of us are are huge Vkas Bahl (director and writer of Shaandaar) fans and not because we are enamoured by either Alia or Shahid for that matter........
My biggest grouse with the film is that for the hell of me, I couldn't fathom what "Shaandaar" really was despite conscientiously and arduously lapping up it's near two and a half hour expanse; was it a fairy tale; situational comedy; farce; spoof; India's first destination wedding movie (as the movie's blurb goes) or then an unwitting tragedy of mammoth proportions that raises serious doubts about Bahl's credentials as a director to be reckoned with...........
As for the story or rather abject lack of it; here goes, one fine convivial day a little simpering Alia (Alia Bhatt who goes by her own name in the movie) is brought home by her doting and adoring Papa (veteran actor Pankaj Kapur) who is completely and utterly ruled over by a covetous and utterly conscienceless mother (Sushma Seth) and better half (Nikki Aneja).........
Alia a self confessed insomniac who is given a wish/dream every night by her concerned father so that she can see them when she goes to sleep makes peace with her other family members who constantly keep raising the "orphan" taint and prefers to exist in a fairy land when event planner Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor) enters her idyllic world and throws it topsy turvy...........
One may be forgiven for thinking that a fairy tale romance that will take your breath away and leave you swooning in wonderment is about to unfold; alas Bahl seems to have a lot on his plate and your fond hopes and aspirations are cruelly and unceremoniously dashed as the proverbial big fat Indian (read Sindhi wedding) makes it's utterly pretentious entry and begins to rule the roost...........
What follows is one cliche after the other; utterly tasteless and banal "gay" jokes; a supposed suitor who is obsessed with his eight and half pack abs to the point of excess; two utterly penniless and conniving families who are trying to outdo the other the other in pomp; pageantry and bling; so that this business arrangement or then should I say agreement can go through to and supposedly revive the sagging fortunes of both the families who are willing to clutch at straws and everything else besides in a totally mindless enterprise to regain lost ground.......
What compounds matters is the fact that every scene is bloated with excess that leaves you tearing your height out in consternation; utterly meaningless songs that have little or no connection with the unfolding narrative soon begin to make their appearance and leave you even more bewildered and consternated than you were to begin with...........
While there is no denying that Shahid; Pankaj Kapoor and Alia Bhatt try better than their best to breathe life into this utterly morbid enterprise; they are conspicuously let down by shoddy writing and the complete absence of a coherent and logical script and screenplay that leaves their characters half baked and sterling efforts going to waste........
Pankaj Kapoor's daughter from his second wedding Sanah Kapoor (Shahid's half sister) is the only saving grace in this rigmarole as she is spunky; real; irreverent; endearing and gracious all at the same time and her act of disrobing herself (now don't start getting the wrong ideas) in the climax scene of the film where she gives it to her utterly disgusting and stereotyped suitor is the only scene in this anything but "SHAANDAAR" film that deserved a standing ovation in my humble opinion........
RATING: 1.5/5; to be strictly avoided unless you are a glutton for punishment..........
At the outset; let me admit that my better half and me sauntered into a city multiplex primarily because the two of us are are huge Vkas Bahl (director and writer of Shaandaar) fans and not because we are enamoured by either Alia or Shahid for that matter........
My biggest grouse with the film is that for the hell of me, I couldn't fathom what "Shaandaar" really was despite conscientiously and arduously lapping up it's near two and a half hour expanse; was it a fairy tale; situational comedy; farce; spoof; India's first destination wedding movie (as the movie's blurb goes) or then an unwitting tragedy of mammoth proportions that raises serious doubts about Bahl's credentials as a director to be reckoned with...........
As for the story or rather abject lack of it; here goes, one fine convivial day a little simpering Alia (Alia Bhatt who goes by her own name in the movie) is brought home by her doting and adoring Papa (veteran actor Pankaj Kapur) who is completely and utterly ruled over by a covetous and utterly conscienceless mother (Sushma Seth) and better half (Nikki Aneja).........
Alia a self confessed insomniac who is given a wish/dream every night by her concerned father so that she can see them when she goes to sleep makes peace with her other family members who constantly keep raising the "orphan" taint and prefers to exist in a fairy land when event planner Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor) enters her idyllic world and throws it topsy turvy...........
One may be forgiven for thinking that a fairy tale romance that will take your breath away and leave you swooning in wonderment is about to unfold; alas Bahl seems to have a lot on his plate and your fond hopes and aspirations are cruelly and unceremoniously dashed as the proverbial big fat Indian (read Sindhi wedding) makes it's utterly pretentious entry and begins to rule the roost...........
What follows is one cliche after the other; utterly tasteless and banal "gay" jokes; a supposed suitor who is obsessed with his eight and half pack abs to the point of excess; two utterly penniless and conniving families who are trying to outdo the other the other in pomp; pageantry and bling; so that this business arrangement or then should I say agreement can go through to and supposedly revive the sagging fortunes of both the families who are willing to clutch at straws and everything else besides in a totally mindless enterprise to regain lost ground.......
What compounds matters is the fact that every scene is bloated with excess that leaves you tearing your height out in consternation; utterly meaningless songs that have little or no connection with the unfolding narrative soon begin to make their appearance and leave you even more bewildered and consternated than you were to begin with...........
While there is no denying that Shahid; Pankaj Kapoor and Alia Bhatt try better than their best to breathe life into this utterly morbid enterprise; they are conspicuously let down by shoddy writing and the complete absence of a coherent and logical script and screenplay that leaves their characters half baked and sterling efforts going to waste........
Pankaj Kapoor's daughter from his second wedding Sanah Kapoor (Shahid's half sister) is the only saving grace in this rigmarole as she is spunky; real; irreverent; endearing and gracious all at the same time and her act of disrobing herself (now don't start getting the wrong ideas) in the climax scene of the film where she gives it to her utterly disgusting and stereotyped suitor is the only scene in this anything but "SHAANDAAR" film that deserved a standing ovation in my humble opinion........
RATING: 1.5/5; to be strictly avoided unless you are a glutton for punishment..........
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