A family drama in a wedding set up with focus on a supposedly orphan girl who has positive outlook to all the negatives in her life.
The director who offered you ‘Queen’ in 2014 now delivers ‘Shaandaar’. If ‘Queen’ was Butterscotch, then ‘Shandaar’ is plain Vanilla.
Story: Bipin Arora(Pankaj Kapoor) brings home an adopted girl who grows up to be Alia(Alia Bhat). Alia is an Owl and an insomniac. Jagjinder Joginder(Shahid Kapoor) also suffers from the same but is unaware of the term ‘insomaliac’(insomnia) and fears the night and darkness. He is a professional Wedding Planner who skillfully manages the nitty gritty.
This also involves shaking a leg – get a cue from ‘Band Bajaa Baarat’? Alia’s sister Eesha(Sanah Kapoor) is being married to the brother of Harry Fundwanis(Sanjay Kapoor) the ultra rich Sindhi, who has all the rich as his fans, and who is so obsessed with the Sindhi community that he even claims Queen Elizabeth and Michael Jackson to be Sindhis. This marriage is a business deal for both the elite Aroras and the rich Fundwanis, each trying their best to ensure that the couple gets married coz a fat girl marrying a stud with eight & half packs looked unlikely, and both parties want to be bailed out of bankruptcy. Meanwhile Jagjinder and Alia fall in love much to the dismay of the girl’s father.
Weak plot: Though the cast performance was flawless, they were let down by the poor script. One could not figure out the core story as each of the characters overshadowed the other leaving Shahid and Alia’s romance as insignificant in the drama. Alia’s character is such that the viewer is made to believe that she never sleeps which is difficult to digest coz she appears to be fresh & lively at all times. She finds sleep only in the company of Shahid which again looks made up to suit the love angle, hence unconvincing.
Cast Performance: Sushma Seth as Bipin’s mother & the affluent Kamlaji Arora was wonderful and so was Pankaj Kapoor as Alia’s dad. Shahid was brilliant and his dancing skills nicely exploited by his character. Sanjay Kapoor suited the role of the Sindhi who sports a ‘$’ pendant signifying a rich Sindhi. Sanah Kapoor as Alia’s fat sister was praiseworthy. Karan Johar was great executing ‘Mehendi with Karan’ doing the Q&A round which was part of the wedding entertainment program.
Songs: Amit Trivedi has done remarkably well with the foot tapping music. However, the songs did not gel with the film sequences. ‘Shaam Shaandaar’, ‘Gulaabo’ and ‘Nazdeekiyan’ were shot brilliantly but just managed to fit in. The rest seemed like fillers. Nevertheless, the dance choreography was good.
Direction: Vikas Bahl had delivered a brilliant product ‘Queen’ which had a strong script. Though ‘Shaandaar’ had an excellent cast, their potential could not be exploited due to the poor script. Not sure if there was scope for improvement as all the gaps were nicely filled but overall the movie fails to awe you. Cinematography was mind blowing right from the start. The locations were nicely picked and animations were quite effective & impressive.
Comedy: The film is not hilarious but offers you light amusement here and there which is not enough for it to qualify in the comedy genre. A helicopter is called ‘Flying Ghodi’ and there are a few funny lines – Forgive them, they are not Sindhi’s; Bahar Nana Patekar aur Ghar ke andar Amol Palekar? You will also find a video chat on SKPYE and a parcel delivered by Fed Up Couriers – the Director’s creative re-branding of SKYPE and Fed Ex.
Shaandaar Abbreviations: PP – Pairi Pauna; FTB – Father of the Bride; BTB – Bride To Be.
Question unanswered: What does 36 on a T-Shirt mean?
So what’s good: It seemed the characters were picked from a fairy tale comic book. The creativity put in each of character shows that the homework was well done accompanied with logic and reasoning. You will love Alia’s character, who in spite of all odds in her life has a positive outlook and a spirit that thwarts negativity. Her father Bipin plays a crucial role in developing this personality by giving her encouraging dreams daily on paper which she stores in a box to be dreamt later when she falls asleep. Joginder is shown as a mature businessman who respects privacy. Eesha as the fat sister of Alia is shown fighting her insecurity and coming out victorious.
Conclusion: ‘Shaandaar’ is a light family entertainer. It has nothing that can draw people to the big cinema halls except that it belongs to the big banner ‘Dharma Productions’ and is a product of Vikas Bahl who captivated you with ‘Queen’. This film may not be liked by all audiences as some may find the screenplay boring and slow at a few places. The movie is not bad and also not a must watch but those who dedicatedly follow the Friday routine may go for it.