Saawariya
Reviewed by Aramita
*Spoilers Ahead*
Ranbir Raj is an idealist by nature, a vagabond, who one day arrives in a surreal, almost ethereal town. He finds work in a swanky nightclub as a lead singer/musician. He meets and greets the residents while spreading his infectious charm everywhere he goes. He makes friends with a streetwalker and charms his way into an elderly lady’s home as a tenant. No bad for a days works! One night, as he notices a mysterious girl standing alone on a bridge, little did he know then, that one poignant moment would affect his life forever.
There is something special about a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. whether it was Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas or Black. His movies are mostly credited for being simple tales told in a beautiful manner....On the flip side, he is often criticized for his slow, sometimes boring narratives (Black) and obsessive importance to opulence and grandeur (Devdas).
Saawariya doesn’t rank as his best work to date, it’s also not his worst - that honor goes to Devdas.
In a nut shell - the Saawariya starts off promisingly, but derails halfway into the film (Sakina’s tale), it comes back on track soon, only to get derailed again (Climax).
There isn’t a set story. Saawariya is a situational movie, detailing the invents of four nights. Hence there is no past history of characters reveled, we don’t know why they are the way they are. Sometimes the character’s actions are mysterious and downright confusing. Why did Imaan leave? Why is he coming after a year? What couldn’t he write to Sakina? Why was Gulab so angry at Raj when he wanted to spend the night with her? Why does Sakina knowingly, lead Raj on?
Due to that, we can’t connect with them and our heart doesn’t go out to any of the characters, except Raj. He is the only character we feel for throughout the movie.
Performances: Ranbir steals the show. Great debut! He looks convincing as the young, drifting, dreamer who is hopelessly in love. But he’s not perfect, his expressions in many scenes are exaggerated and at times he goes over the top, specifically in his dancing scenes and dialogue delivery.
Sonam is strictly okay, no great shakes. And one can’t really blame Sonam for it. Her subdued character doesn’t give her the scope to perform, and at most places she has only one fixed expression. Sakina isn’t at all like (Bhansali’s) usual strong female characters. An okay debut.
Rani is perfect! Playing a brash yet likable prostitute. Gulab isn’t your cliche streetwalker, she can wak engleesh, she can tak engleesh, she wears designer saris and has perfect make up. Rani delivers a laudable performance. Best part - No rona dhona for once.
Salman is just an extended guest appearance, playing the, quite mysterious character Imaan. After hearing a rumor that he has a 45 minute role and he has worked 50 days for this movie, I was surprised to see so little of him. He should have had a bigger role, it would have made the proceedings more interesting. We just had to settle for the ten minutes of screen time he has. An okay performance.
Zohra Sehgal is good as Lilian. Funny at times, has good scenes with Ranbir.
Begum Para is not important.
Reasons to watch:
1.) Ranbir Kapoor. He’s a confidant, competent, chap, who has given the best performance in the film. He needs to work on his expressions, dance, and get a haircut! Other than that, no major complains.
2.) Beautiful music, with some equally striking visuals and wonderful background score. Saawariya title, Yoon Shabnami, Chabeela stand out in terms of picturisation.
3.) Beautiful sets and art direction, effectively sets the mood of the film.
4.) The fresh look and feel of the newcomers, plus the chemistry between the lead pair.
5.) Rani’s streetwalker act. It should shut her critics who feel she can only cry convincingly.
Reasons not to watch:
1.) Complete lack of storyline. Disappointment in the writing department.
2.) Disappointing ending. Unsatisfactory.
3.) Too many songs in the narrative. They pop up like every ten minutes. Pari and Jaan -e-jaan could have been snipped.
4.) Slow paced at times. Drags towards the end, despite being only 2 hours ten minutes long.
5.) Sonam and Salman’s poorly sketched characters.
Overall, Saawariya isn’t cinema that will be lapped up by "aam janta". It caters to a niche audience, much like Black.
Like any SLB movie, its unique, beautiful, but also tests the viewers patience. Its an innovative attempt at movie making. But not without flaws. Top marks to Bhansali and the entire technical team of Saawariya for the out of fantasy, surreal world they have masterfully created. If only SLB had paid more attention to his writing, then he did for the color of the walls, we might have a brilliant movie. Alas, we’ll settle for just a good one.
In madam Gulabji’s lingo - I likes.
Rating: 3.5/5
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saawariya Movie Review
Om Shanti Om - Movie Review
Om Shanti Om
Reviewed by Aramita
*Spoiler Warning*
"Jab bhi koi cheese dil se chaho, to puri kayanaath usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jati hain"
A junior artist, falls for a superstar back in the 70’s. He loves her more than anything, she loves someone else, that someone else pretends to care, only to betray her later. It all comes down to a thrilling climatic sequence involving love, loss, betrayal and sacrifice.
Cut to, 2007. Superstar Om Kapoor is affected by thoughts and memories of things that never happened and people he never met. Fate leads him to an abandoned film set, where in 30’s years ago, a terrible crime had occurred. What happened? Why it happened? Who was behind it? What is Om’s connection with it?
"Picture abhi baaki hain haan"
The film starts off at a song picturisation of Om Shanti Om from Karz. Where SRK and Farha (brief appearance) are extras who are fighting over Rishi Kapoor’s jacket. Its a mad yet fun kick start to the proceedings....Most part of the first half follows in the same fun fashion. The situations keep your interest alive and the best part is that this half moves at a very racy pace, leaving no time for boredom to settle in.
The dramatic conclusion to the first half is impressively shot and even gives you an impression that the proceeding are going to get much more serious from now.
But as soon as we get into the second half, the satirical situations are back.
Though largely engrossing, the latter half drags a bit. The cheesy ’plan’ cooked up to capture the one at fault, can indeed be executed only in a Bollwood film. Farha hasn’t been able to make up her mind on exactly what she was trying to achieve in the second half, as it suffers from being a weird mesh of serious and parody storytelling.
Thankfully, the ending wrapped it up quite nicely. A total Bollywood ’ishtyle’ climax... with a masked ball and all! And the little twist in the end. Gotta admit, didn’t see it coming.
Keeping in mind the theme of the film, which is a spoof on cinema from 70’s to 07, the humor aspect is very limited in the film. Much of the ’parody’ moments will bring a smile on to your face and even get a chuckle or two out of you. But overall, the humor is mostly underplayed, except for a few scenes where it goes over the top. Farha needed to strike a balance, as in comparison, Main Hoon Na was much more funny as a parody.
Big stars, small stars, average stars and even non stars. All graced the film with their special appearances. Kudos to SRK and Farha for getting together such an impressive array of personalities in one song, let alone one film.
The Filmfare Awards seemed gimmicky, yet it was fun seeing so many celebrities making fun of themselves. The SRK scene, where he’s being nominated for two movies is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek play on him repeating himself in all his films. Watch out for the Akshay’s scene, it was a complete copy of..... well, you will know when you see it. Did Farha think she will get away with that?
Performances: Shahrukh Khan is delightful. Yes, he does go over the top. But that is expected, since everything in the film is a spoof on our typical ’masala cinema’ old and new. He’s good in first half as Om Prakash Makhija, the struggling junior artist who is madly in love with a superstar. In the second half he plays a spoiled brat Om Kapoor, who just happens to be a superstar. SRK enacts both roles with ease, as the overacting junior artist in the first half and the untalented superstar in the second half..... come to think of it, he’s basically just playing himself!
Considering this is her first film, Deepika Padukone has performed well up the task. She looks great and dances wonderfully. Her expressions and dialogue delivery is good. She is perfect as Shantipriya, but has done a strictly okay job as Sandy in the second half.
There is chemistry between SRK and Deepika, that to my utter shock! I didn’t expect romantic chemistry considering the age difference. But as Kajol aptly stated - "SRK can romance a cow and make it look like chemistry".
Shreyas Talpade as Pappu Master delivers a competent performance. His camaraderie with SRK in first half is great. The two of them share some wonderfully funny and poignant moments together.
Kiron Kher is great as a comical, pseudo filmy mother.
Arjun Rampal also performed very well. He enacts the role of the evil producer Mukesh Mehra with conviction. Definitely one of his best.
Deepika, Arjun and Shreyas perform well, even though they were working alonside a seasoned actor like SRK . So full marks to director Farha Khan for getting the best out of the cast.
Songs were awesome and their picturisations, equally impressive! Dhoom Tana is brilliantly shot, Deepika dances very well in it. Main Agar Kahoon’s set was gorgeous and pictisation, top notch! Deewangi was like ten minutes long and I even didn’t want it to end. Daastan -e OSO, the climax number – brilliant again, the song and picturisation.
Cinemotography (V. Manikandan) is brilliant! Dialogues (Mayur Puri) are effective, sometimes even poignant. Sets and art direction (Sabu Cyril) is good, the main OSO set is pretty as a picture. Editing (Shirish Kunder) could have been better, 10-15 minutes could have been trimmed off the latter half. Background score (Sandeep Chowta) is par-excellence! Visual Effect (Redchillies.VFX) is done pretty well.
Choreographer turned Director Farha Khan, promised that her second cinematic venture - Om Shanti Om is going to be a complete "Paisa Vasool" entertainer. And it is. Not minus a few flaws though. But it still manages to do what it promised, provide 2 hours 40 minutes of pure masala entertainment.
Just don’t expect meaningful cinema, if you do, then the jokes on you mate.
Take it with a spoonful of salt.
Rating: 3.5/5
