Before my review let me share the circumstances under which I saw the movie.
I asked this pretty colleague to see the movie with me and she declined making some excuse. So I went alone and my mood was already screwed up. So if I did not enjoy the movie the makers may have little to do with it.
The movie was made with good intentions. The director duo visualized something like:
“Lets show our audience how good bollywood is. We will have exotic foreign locations, A brilliant story with mind boggling twists, Good actors and prettiest of actresses, excellent music, with exciting videos and visuals, combined with our directorial brilliance let us give the audience an experience they cannot forget.”
‘Good intentions do not a good movie make’. Perhaps they fell short of money and made inexcusable compromises. Now here is what they overlooked:
· Good videos need good choreographers and technicians. If you want to make a “cotton eye Joe”, why not hire guys who know how it is done. Let the goras do it till we learn how it is done.
· Even good actors need to be told how exactly they have to deliver.
· The Indian movie viewer is used to too many twists and it does not entertain him any more
· The movie needs to be clearly understood not by the makers but the public. Too many loose ends .
· Stunts are poor and runoff the mill. If you are not fresh you are doomed.
The reasons why I say these things need explanations and here they are:
1. The music is good and there ia also 1 very good song. But the videos are huge let down. Did the wannabe choreographer think that he could shoot a video with one take? Was he under time or budget constraints? The dancers look all clumsy and so do the leads they have managed to make Saif look like Sunny Deol. The editing was also absolutely poor and on a scale of 20 they get 1!(If only that girl was sitting next to me I may have been more generous)
2. We have seen Akshay can be used well(DCH) and Abbas Mastan have again shown us he can be wasted. So can Jonny Lever. And so can Sameera Reddy. All wasted big time. Anil Kapoor was good and Saif just about did his job. He however showed a lack of confidence in his Youth and has again gone the Sunny Deol way and sports a beard to hide age.
3. Story is full of twists but to the Indian audience it is all expected. We all knew Saif would come back . The end leaves a lot unexplained and leaves the hero not a clear winner but a fugitive who will now hide around with insurance money claimed after his own death. Also who ever thought that our country men appreciate the thought that the hero lets his sweetheart marry his mortal enemy simply to find out what he is upto?
4. The locales are nice but the stunts are not. Next time follow the laws of physics please. When two cars touch one does not always go up 15 feet straight up 90 degrees and come down revolving. That is no longer exciting. Get real . Also if a man falls off a building it should look scary and thrilling.(Also it is not thrilling to eat popcorn alone)
I am too heart broken to write more but if you wanna go see the movie do not go alone. Have a back up so that …. Well You decide.
Pratyush