Shakalaka Boom Boom is a film that tries to pack in too much at one time; it explores the lives of two musicians. One who is at the top and one who has the potential but still has to work to get to the top. It explores the emotions of jealousy, rivalry, competition, greed, ambition, lust and power. Unfortunately the film goes over the top in spite of having a concept that is relatively fresh for bollywood. However the storyline is not original and has been inspired from the Hollywood flick Amadeus. Suneel Darshan’s direction too is outdated and the screenplay is extremely amateur with no rational or logic in the plot. Innumerable songs are thrown in to add spice but instead manage to only irritate the audiences. The female protagonists don’t have any specific role to play but instead just act as arm candy and display ample skin show. The acting too is below average. Overall the film lacks appeal and is below average.
The story has been written and directed by Suneel Darshan and the screenplay has been done by Rajesh Pandey. The star cast includes Bobby Deol as AJ, Upen Patel as Reggie, Kangana Ranaut as Ruhi, Celina Jaitley as Sheena, Anupam Kher etc. The music has been composed by Himesh Reshammiya.
AJ is the current king of the music world in New York, he has everything adulation, praise, money and power. He is one of the best singers and composers that the music industry has seen. Outwardly he has it all, but deep down he is an insecure man and can do anything and everything to stay at the top. But the music industry is a ruthless world and ‘here today gone tomorrow’ describes this world well. But AJ wants to remain at the top and does everything to stay at the top. But the new kid on the block Reggie who is young, talented and charming is threatening AJ’s position.
Reggie is young and ambitious and he too will do anything to reach the top. Reggie refuses to let anything come between his ambition and the top position. Sheena a public relations manager sees Reggie’s potential as an upcoming and talented singer; she befriends Reggie and is also enamored with his charm. But Reggie falls for the young pretty Ruhi who is also an upcoming starlet. But this is a game of greed and ambition, and hence AJ decides to take another route to success. He befriends Reggie and offers to produce his album, Reggie too willingly agrees. But he is unaware that AJ is about to backstab him by playing the nice guy. Will AJ succeed in manipulating Reggie’s music career or will Reggie wisen up to AJ’s games? In the midst the two girls are also being used and are drawn in to the game of deceit and ambition? Who will win this game?
Suneel Darshan has managed to get his concept of two musicians at war within the music industry right; it is an innovative and fresh subject for bollywood. He has also portrayed the finer nuances of the music world, like ambition, greed, deceit, lust etc aptly. However the script could have been better and even Suneel Darshan’s execution of the material is barely average. There are many loopholes as several of the scenes defy logic and rational. Suneel Darshan has attempted to make his film a complete bollywood potboiler, with loads of music, dance, drama etc but at times he goes over the top in these aspects. There are too many songs and the drama too goes overboard. Also the performances are not satisfactory. Overall the film is below average.
The film could have also been edited and trimmed further as there are several unwanted scenes. The climax of the film too is not very captivating and turns out to be a disappointment. Also the pace of the film at the beginning is slow and hence begins on the wrong note. Cinematography is good only during the song sequences, but at other times the colours look loud and garish. Also the look of the two musicians no doubt needs to be catchy and attractive, but they too appear loud and garish. The female protagonists don’t have too much to do in the film except show plenty of skin and gyrate around. Music by Himesh Reshammiya doesn’t really leave much of a mark and the numbers are just okay. Dialogues by Anurag Kashyap are okay in some places but at times are overtly dramatic and corny.
Performances by the lead actors and actresses leave much to be desired. Bobby Deol goes fairly over the top in his portrayal of the top musician, his attempt at humour falls flat and his hysterics are over done. Upen Patel as the wannabe top musician still has a long way to go, his performance too is not up to the mark. Kangana Ranaut doesn’t have much to do and although it is a light role she seems wasted. Celina Jaitley goes overboard with the sexy oomph part, her performance is below satisfactory. The rest of the actors are just about fare.
On the whole Shakalaka Boom Boom has been unable to capitalize on its story as the script and screenplay are extremely weak. Darshan’s style needs to be upgraded. The film is below average