Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. Born into a family where her parents, Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, and elder sister Pooja Bhatt were actors and filmmakers,
Rating : 6 /10 Release Date : 15th April, 2016 Time : 143 minutes Director, Writer : Maneesh Sharma; Music : Vishal-Shekhar (songs), Andrea Guerra (background score) Starring : Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tiku, Sayani Gupta
A young boy (Gaurav) is obsessed with Shahrukh Khan, the star (named Aryan in the movie), and coincidentally looks like him too. In fact the high point of his life is winning the local star look-alike show. And then, on SRK�s birthday, he decides to make the trip to Mumbai and meet his idol � with dreams of handing him the trophy he won, hugging him etc. Things don�t go to plan (understatement of the century) and when he returns from Mumbai, he decides to make the star pay � especially as he was found wanting on one of his favourite sign off lines � �I am what I am because of my fans, if the fans aren�t there, I am nobody�.
It�s a fascinating premise � who in India doesn�t recognize obsession after all, and what if that infatuation turns sour - and it�s fabulously enacted by Shahrukh, but thanks to two bloated chase sequences and an end that goes nowhere, it pulls you down. There is a strong message somewhere � but it�s lost in all the filmy touches and several implausible moments.
Our boy has the cutest, most supportive parents imaginable � and his normal life pretty much revolves around his idol. Several touching scenes � the imaginary conversations in our head, the wall to ceiling posters, the fighting with others for our star � we would recognize these traits, after all, we all have idolized someone at some point. And, we�ve all felt at some time or the other, that our stars have let us down, they sometimes let success and adulation get to their head, become arrogant, forget why, who made them big in the first place. And in this film, the star�s biggest fan, decides to teach him a lesson.
SRK is very good, after a long while. It�s been ages since he did a film with some meat, substance and this couldn�t have been an easy project to say �Yes� to � so kudos to him for agreeing to it, making it come alive with a great performance. Unfortunately, at script level, there were too many inconsistencies � events happen that have a close to zero chance happening in real life � and the end just didn�t connect. Wasn�t something else possible here ?
As a total aside - it was nice to see Dubrovnik, a lovely, quiet Croatian coastal town feature in a Hindi film � Star Wars VIII, Game of Thrones have also been shot here, quite extensively too.
Obsessions, especially those not our own, don�t make for easy viewing, especially on the big screen. Several moments when you wish the character didn�t do what they did, you cringe, face-palm, which ensures that the repeat viewing potential of this movie is nil. But then, as our star obsessed fan points out several times � what they do isn't done or possible for others to understand. And at the end, who are we to judge ?
Rating : 7/10 Release Date : 27th February, 2015 Time : 111 minutes Director, Writer : Sharat Katariya; Music : Anu Malik Starring : Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Misra, Alka Amin, Sheeba Chaddha, Seema Pahwa
Ayushmann doesn�t get along with his father (Sanjay Misra) � he feels his life has been ruined because of him, being forced to give up studies early, sitting in their small shop in Haridwar, and now being forced to marry early. To a girl not of his choice.
Bhumi is sweet, vivacious but is plump, with a round face. She met Ayushman in an arranged marriage scenario and even though she is more highly educated, she felt he was nice and so said yes � to a family that is a little less well off vs theirs.
Sanjay Misra, with things not going well with the shop � the era of cassettes slowly giving way to CDs � is keen that his son marry her because it seems like she has a nice demeanour. And because she is a B. Ed, which means she will teach, earn money and be able to help with the household expenses.
After their marriage, she cant understand why he wont talk to her. Snide remarks are made by the family about her education. And Ayushman is a bit of a loser, a sulky one, directionless, resenting everyone around him, jealous of his friends success � when a friend comes and shows a pic of his to-be, svelte bride he feels its only to rub it in as his wife is overweight.
She�s trying her best � including buying new nighties, putting on English pictures on a friends TV / VCR to seduce him but despite her best attempts, he remains sullen, withdrawn. And then one day things get out of hand.
The first half is fantastic. The language. The houses. The by-lanes. The songs. The way they talk to each other � more the insults � Sanjay Misra always ready to use his chappal on his son, Bhumi�s younger brother calling her a chudail when she asks him how she is looking�
The second half completely loses its way � as usual, the director and script-writer don�t seem to know what to do with the lovely characters they�ve created, leading them to an unlikely, filmy climax. Ayushman is good, but his character isn�t someone you really want to be friends with plus you don�t really get what he is upto, why his thought process is the way it is or changes. Sanjay Misra and the rest of the ensemble cast really shine in their roles. But the film truly belongs to Bhumi Pednekar � she lights up the movie with her expressions, dresses, dancing, dialogue delivery�
If cassette shops, Kumar Sanu, arranged marriages at a temple / introductions by a priest, RSS shakha type meetings with men in shorts and a small house where the family sleeps outside on charpai�s mean anything to you, Dum Laga Ke Haisha is definitely going to be fun and will take you down the sweet bylanes of nostalgia.
PS : One of my pet peeves - if you go on the YRF website, you would imagine you should get the entire cast listed, especially if your film is reliant on excellent character actors...shouldn't you ?
