Thursday, October 22, 2015

Shaandaar - Falls short of being Shaandaar but...

A story of two insomniacs played by Alia and Shahid who happened to meet by accident (literally). Jagjinder Joginder, [Shahid Kapur (or Kapoor)] is a wedding organizer for Vipin's (Pankaj Kapur) daughter Isha (Shahid's real life sister, Sanah Kapoor), step-sister of Alia (played by Alia Bhatt). It not a wedding, it's a business deal with the (funnily called) Fundwani's represented in the film by Sanjay Kapoor.
Directed by Vikas Bahl (also directed Queen), screenplay by Anvita Dutt, Shaandaar starts off on a high note with the Sindhi-Punjabi pre-wedding hullabaloo. The 1st half has more bling than Bappi Lahiri has ever worn in his life till now. A nice Sindhi-Punjabi cocktail of comedy and jokes. But could've been better.
In the department of acting, Shahid and Alia nailed it. I liked Alia's acting in this more than any other film. Pankaj Kapur's acting as always puts life into the scenes he's in and helps the overall film. I was hoping to see more of Sanjay Kapoor, but he's been underutilized. Karan Johar has a cameo. But the surprise came in the form of Sushma Seth and more than anyone else - Sanah Kapoor. Although I don't believe in awards but, Sanah Kapoor may win some for her debut. Sanah Kapoor is cute and funny.
Getting to the music, Amit Trivedi's music doesn't disappoint and the songs, even though too many are not boring. For this film I thought I should pay attention to the lyrics of the songs, and must tell you Amitabh Bhattacharya's (and Anvita Dutt's) lyrics really get stuck into your mind. The song 'Gulabo' has to be the best among the lot.
Coming to the direction, Vikas Bahl returns to directing with this one, after giving us the hit in 2014 (Watch 'Queen' if you haven't yet). Comparisons have already started pouring in and it isn't looking good for both Shaandaar and Vikas Bahl. No denying that Shaandaar has its own share of flaws and lows, but those are negligible if considered as an overall part of the film. Shaandaar is a very different take on destination weddings (other films include Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani). Screenplay and dialogues by Anvita Dutt are not bad. A lot of acronym talk and lot of inspiration from the current lingo of the millennials (current trend visible in most Bollywood films).
This could definitely be a parallel universe story of lives of Sindhis including the weddings. Overall it's ABS (A Big Sindhi) wedding, full-on Bollywood masala film, with lots of body talk (fat, gyming, etc.) with a tiny bit of reference to other films including Top Gun, with a lot of Microsoft product placement and a message worth learning from. I liked it and for those yet to watch it, it's a one time watch for everyone's acting.