One thing is evident about the grand, super-hyped Diwali release Sawariyaan: It would have been impossible without the newcomers Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor! Why??..Well, because only newcomers would give the eccentric Mr. Bhansali the unquestioning liberty to have things invariably his way. They would be the mere puppets and mirrors of his actions....
After watching the movie I was surprised as to how most reviews gave the movie a one-and-a-half star, its way too much for such a self-obsessed non-artistic venture! Only one review which gave it 3 said that you have to be in a rhapsodic mood and is for aesthetes. I would say exuse me yet again and can safely claim that no frame in the movie is shot in the taste for good art. Its garish, plentiful, overdone and looks amateur and ofcourse blue throughout- the most melancholic blue ever that it gets on to you.
I presumed right at the start that the setting is some different galaxy altogether, but then all references point to post-independent India, so I couldn’t even grant a cinematic liberty in that case. The movie has a gandola moving through cannals and under the ’puls’ ala Venice and suddenly the canal ends in a place resembling Karachi ! Ofcourse the aerial view that Raj shows Sakina from the clock tower looks like they are in Hogwarts, but the movie is far from magical or even cruel wizardry!
Ranbir Kapoor is alright and I wonder why he is burdened by forcing the mannerisms of his legendary grandfather on him. Sonal Kapoor giggles like she is psychotic and has nothing more that I can write about. Salman Khan is in the film for 5 minutes almost. Rani Mukerjee is good, but how much can she do anyways.
And as for the director, he can safely retire or he would need to be put in rehab because such self-obessesive indulgence which cost the nation of a million, its for food supply for 2 whole days is seriously hazardous to anyone. All I can say is forget HDDS or Devdas or even Black, I cannot believe that this is the same man who made such a solemn and tender romance that was Khamoshi!