Week after week of having watched movies that were either based on real life incidents like Talvar & The Walk (read: good but intense)or for that matter random comedies like Singh is Bling & Pyar ka Punchnama 2 (Oh! please excuse me) the Bollywood film lover in me was yearning for a full on Bollywood Masala film. My wish and many other viewer’s like me was granted in the form of ‘Shaandaar’.
Though after watching the trailer I didn’t have great expectations from the film but as the film title literally means in English, the film is fabulous. It is refreshing and quite similar to the movies made under Dharma Productions banner, and why not, after all this movie has been produced by Karan Johar. With this information out, one can expect to see a larger than life emotional saga of a family but with a tadka/ tempering of comedy in it.
The Plot:
It’s all about a wedding that is fixed to happen in return of a business deal between two tycoon families. There is an adopted daughter, a sister dealing with the weight issue, a 8 1/2 packs idiot, a hot wedding planner, a loving father and two witch like ladies. Yeah and not forgetting the Sindhi uncle! Rest, I would leave upon you to watch, predict and enjoy. 🙂
*Cast:
Talking about the star cast, in the main lead is seen the fairly young looking pair of Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt while the film has an elaborate supporting cast. Amongst the supporting cast, the people who outshine others are Pankaj Kapoor, Sushma Seth and Sanah Kapoor.
Some others that are seen in supporting cast are Nikki Aneja, Shibani Dandekar, Sanjay Kapoor and Anjana Sukhani.
What Worked For Me:
The chemistry between Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Their pair in no way looked odd rather they looked cute together.
The animations used at the start of the movie and in between at some places reminded me of the animations that were used in Kunal Kohli’s superhit film ‘Hum Tum’. The animation sequence at the start, in fact, acted as a base to develop the story upon.
The music by Amit Trivedi and the choreography by Bosco & Caesar is really good and most songs are already chartbusters.
The way the situation within a family is dealt with a modern touch and with comic elements aptly timed here and there so that there is no scope of melodrama and negativity.
What Didn’t Work For Me:
The length of the film. The film duration of 2 hours and 21 minutes excluding interval is what I will classify as long.
The film had way too many songs and because of that in the second half despite all the efforts put in to entertain the audience, one feels a little bored.
The story could be more concrete and not just become a visual display of a high-society marriage party.
Some scenes could have been easily edited out and few others could have better comedy to go with especially the scene where the body of Sushma Seth’s character is set ablaze.
Lastly though Karan Johar has an excellent screen presence in his television show Coffee with Karan and other reality shows, what is he doing in the film? A cameo which doesn’t looks to be too classy.
Verdict:
Off course, one cannot compare this to some recently made fantastic movies like Queen, Tanu Weds Manu Returns or Haider of Shahid himself. However, considering ‘Shaandaar’ as an individual film, I feel that though it might not get critical appreciation, but it is going to please the masses.
From a viewer’s perspective, I would rate the film as 3 / 5 having subtracted half a star only for the length of the movie and the over-abundance of songs. Overall there is a bit of everything in the film so a paisa-vasool Hindi flick. Watch it!
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