Bollywood World

Rating : 3/10
Release Date : 22nd October, 2015
Time : 144 minutes
Director, Writer : Vikas Bahl; Co-Writers : Chaitally Parmar, Anvita Dutt; Music : Amit Trivedi;
Starring : Shahid Kapur; Alia Bhatt; Pankaj Kapur; Sushma Seth, Sanah, Sanjay Kapoor, Vikas Verma



This is a desperate attempt at cuteness

Frogs, an animation back story, dreams drawn on strips of paper, horses, damsels that need rescuing (or someone to make them sleep), glitzy sets, flying ladybugs, more abbreviations than in the Oxford dictionary, a cuddly kind of love, an unending supply of songs, Karan Johar, fireflies, Sindhi jokes rehashed, gold, a touching father-daughter relationship, imaginary cups of tea (with two cubes of sugar), fake moustaches and the gravelly voice of Naseeruddin Shah � everything is thrown at us in the vain hope that something sticks, something connects � anything to distract our attention from the fact that there is no story � and the only thing with real substance in the film is Sanah


Add to this potpourri, a dominating matriarch (Sushma Seth) � who has decided that Sanah, her grand-daughter (born to her son, Pankaj) will get married to a golden, glitzy, garish Sindhi family (headed by Sanjay Kapoor) - a kind of a business deal to save them from impending bankruptcy. The fact that Sanjay�s brother, the groom, Vikas, is a gym / protein shake obsessed, narcisstic idiot with eight (and a half) pack abs, and precious little else doesn�t make them think again. Nor does the fact that he so obviously doesn�t relish getting married to the slightly overweight but pretty, smart Sanah, make the entire clan even pause for thought.



Alia, meanwhile, is a poor, little, wee anath, brought home by Pankaj, against the wishes of his mom or his wife. Obviously, there is a predictable secret somewhere but no one really questions the otherwise jelly-in-front-of-his-mother Pankaj or dissuades him from doing so. Alia is an insomniac, reads a lot of books, is a trivia queen but like all good girls, is waiting for her prince to come and put her to sleep.


Enter Shahid. The wedding organizer in the rented mansion / hotel. Who also doubles up as lead dancer. He doesn�t hit it off with Pankaj. Does with Alia. And you can, pretty easily, fill in the rest of the blanks�


Alia and Sanah (Pankaj�s daughter in real life too) stole the show with their performances. Shahid and Pankaj tried just that teeny-weensy bit too hard. The rest hung around in the background for their two bit parts


This was an attempt at a fairy story. A kind of a reverse Sleeping Beauty � where an insomniac prince is needed to make the insomniac princess fall asleep � and learn to dream. Will work for you if you�re under 12. Or like songs. And big fat Indian weddings (pun intended). Or sets with twinkling lights, heart shapes and cuddly-wuddly stuff. But will stretch interminably and senselessly for all others. Vikas Bahl, after Queen, this Shaandaar failure ? Et tu ?!

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 18th September, 2015
Time : 138 minutes
Director, Co-Writer : Nikhil Advani; Co-Writer: Anshul Singhal; Music : Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Starring : Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Abhishek Saha, Vivan Bhatena



You know he�s nerdy because he wears specs. You know she�s cool and hip because she paints, has tattoos, wears really short shorts and carries Rs 20 notes in her bag with her phone number written on them� He takes but an instant to fall in love and wants a deep, committed relationship while she wants something time pass, as she hasn�t checked out the �merchandise� in their college yet. And with a start like that, isn�t heartbreak inevitable ? Booze (lots of it), a suicide attempt (featuring a bottle of phenyl that looks like a beer bottle), fights and a rebound one night stand follows, but will they lead to true love finding a way ?


And then, just when you thought it was going to end, is a big twist � something so incomprehensible, so ludicrous, it made the movie fall and fail�


What works are the moments of zaniness (only a few, like when he�s examining toilets, the parents visit to the campus or the opening credits), a decent soundtrack (despite being over-populated with songs), a good supporting cast (especially Abhishek and Vivan) and superb sets / visuals. What falls flat are the repeated, almost desperate attempts to be really cool, quirky (the impossibly overwrought boss, the band at the end), the irritating sister, the stretched heartbreak with the �I will forget her� alternating with �I will get her back� portions and the overall silliness of the plot.



What also doesn�t work is the lead pair � neither is able to truly bring credibility to their characters. Imran is completely unconvincing as the love-sick lover � he doesn�t look like the type who would go to pieces if his girl left him � and he tries too hard to emote. Kangana�s struggle is more with her character, which being flawed doesn�t leave her much scope. And she�s also done the wild chick a bit too often, so the novelty has worn off.



What we get is a terrible, confused, mess of a story, almost as if the makers didn�t know whether to make us laugh or to cry and then fall flat trying to make us do both. The characters are stereotypical, make us feel nothing for them and the ending is a desperate attempt to wring some emotions from us. Though it only made me cringe and hold my head in my hands, while laughing hollowly�