You have a family - the Mehras - that's on the brink of bankruptcy but can still be ridiculously extravagant just to keep their heads high in society. Kamal Mehra, a "self-made" big-shot, who lives by the "Log kya sochenge..." mentality. His wife Neelam Mehra, who stays in the marriage just because she doesn't know anything else, or has nowhere else to go, and just simply bears her husband's antics, while dealing with her weight issues. Throw in a 25-year old heir who wants to live his own life, but is unable to break free from his father's leash. And a daughter who is seeking her own identity and place in the family, while battling with her own inner demons.
Trust Zoya Akhtar to delve into human relationships and chances are she'd turn into an immaculate surgeon, turning it into an epic as against 'a puke'. Well, she does it for the most part, here, say around 78% of the movie.
"YOU can do THIS ALSO!!?? #incredible!", tweeted Deepika Padukone at Ranveer Singh on his performance after watching the film. I totally agree!!! I think he is EPIC!! He may not be a Greek God on screen, like Hrithik, but his sincere effort and hard work shows. Right from the scene where he just laughs to being a great listener to his sister and his friends (like in the classic EPUKE scene) to the interactions with his parents. Ranveer brings life and character into Kabir Mehra much more than Reema Kagti, Zoya, Farhan and Javed Akhtar put together on paper. He is ~T-H-A-T~ good!!
Anil Kapoor. Is. Terrific. Period. How much ever one talks about his act, it ain't enough to do justice to his rendition... His expressions, his dialogue delivery, his idiosyncrasies - none of them miss a beat.
Priyanka Chopra. Oh, what an actress she is!!! Always been, will always be. Be it in dealing with her parents' eccentricities, letting go of her love Sunny, or in bed with her husband Manav... she exhibits vulnerability to a tee... and is mind-blowing.
The chemistry between her and Ranveer is adorable! So much so that it may be difficult to pull off another convincing act as lovers in the near future - after Gunday and this - having played the risky "Siblings" card, here. But you never know... Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai pulled off a Devdas (2002) after playing bhai-behen in Josh (2000). Just needs a convincingly good script, I suppose.
Rahul Bose is a magician and I wish he had more screen time, and wasn't merely puppetised conveniently.
Zarina Wahab holds her own as Priyanka Chopra's nagging mother-in-law and Rahul Bose's mommy.
Shefali Shah is a natural. She plays a good supporting character that is not a scene-stealer but is very sincere. One has seen her in similar roles before and she deserves a lot of credit, once again.
I was wondering if Rishi Kapoor should have instead played Mehra saab before watching the film, but am glad Anil Kapoor is an excellent choice. Full marks to Zoya for the casting, for her ensemble cast steals the show.
Farhan Akhtar has written dialogues in the past, too, and this one is not amongst his best works. He is good to watch on screen, though, and I was reminded of Imraan from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
The music is refreshing in the first half, and the first song in the 2nd half could have raised the bar easily, but disappointed.
The song "Pehli baar" is interestingly well-choreographed for the most part... and you will see how Zoya gives importance to the minute details, even in this song, which ends with Anushka displaying her strategically placed tattoo (she asks Ranveer itni bhi kya jaldi hai when he asks her where her tattoo is, in an earlier scene). Ranveer and Anushka display natural chemistry throughout.
There was room for the Pluto narration to be more creative. Or a better or even a funnier baritone. Aamir Khan's voice-over was a little different, here.
Very silly ending. A callithump - but for what joy!? That's what separates this movie from becoming an extremely good film. In reverse, it actually makes it quite ordinary. Endings may have to be more realistic in Bollywood cinema. Especially with the Christopher Nolan of human relationships in Indian cinema - Zoya Akhtar - always displaying a high sense of IQ and EQ, which happens to be her forte.
The movie does give you ample to think about, but is still no Piku, for it's lack of direction. It seems to thrive on a typical Bollywood happy ending. At the end of it, Zoya probably hasn't conveyed enough and you wonder why the heck should you care for people holidaying somewhere in Eurasia. It is hard to believe that a self-made man would just shun his thoughts and beliefs overnight. In the spur of a moment. Snap! Just like that... not very believable. We loved the Mehras despite their faults and fallacies, as I'm sure many could associate with them. Most families are dysfunctional and it did not have to get mushy-mushy in the end. Or slapstick! The director could have just let it be...
The film has many wonderful moments: Like the scene where Pluto and Sunny have their moment together, and Pluto shows how much he'd like Sunny to stay back. Or the sequence between Sunny and Manav about women's authority and freedom in today's times.
The movie's length - just shy of three hours - still works, but it doesn't have conviction.
Like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, this one is largely a youthquake, but I wondered if the names of her last two movies needed to be reversed. Would have been more apt, I think...
I go with 3-and-a-half out of five for this heartening one-time watch.
Trust Zoya Akhtar to delve into human relationships and chances are she'd turn into an immaculate surgeon, turning it into an epic as against 'a puke'. Well, she does it for the most part, here, say around 78% of the movie.
"YOU can do THIS ALSO!!?? #incredible!", tweeted Deepika Padukone at Ranveer Singh on his performance after watching the film. I totally agree!!! I think he is EPIC!! He may not be a Greek God on screen, like Hrithik, but his sincere effort and hard work shows. Right from the scene where he just laughs to being a great listener to his sister and his friends (like in the classic EPUKE scene) to the interactions with his parents. Ranveer brings life and character into Kabir Mehra much more than Reema Kagti, Zoya, Farhan and Javed Akhtar put together on paper. He is ~T-H-A-T~ good!!
Anil Kapoor. Is. Terrific. Period. How much ever one talks about his act, it ain't enough to do justice to his rendition... His expressions, his dialogue delivery, his idiosyncrasies - none of them miss a beat.
The chemistry between her and Ranveer is adorable! So much so that it may be difficult to pull off another convincing act as lovers in the near future - after Gunday and this - having played the risky "Siblings" card, here. But you never know... Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai pulled off a Devdas (2002) after playing bhai-behen in Josh (2000). Just needs a convincingly good script, I suppose.
Rahul Bose is a magician and I wish he had more screen time, and wasn't merely puppetised conveniently.
Zarina Wahab holds her own as Priyanka Chopra's nagging mother-in-law and Rahul Bose's mommy.
Shefali Shah is a natural. She plays a good supporting character that is not a scene-stealer but is very sincere. One has seen her in similar roles before and she deserves a lot of credit, once again.
I was wondering if Rishi Kapoor should have instead played Mehra saab before watching the film, but am glad Anil Kapoor is an excellent choice. Full marks to Zoya for the casting, for her ensemble cast steals the show.
Farhan Akhtar has written dialogues in the past, too, and this one is not amongst his best works. He is good to watch on screen, though, and I was reminded of Imraan from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
The music is refreshing in the first half, and the first song in the 2nd half could have raised the bar easily, but disappointed.
There was room for the Pluto narration to be more creative. Or a better or even a funnier baritone. Aamir Khan's voice-over was a little different, here.
Very silly ending. A callithump - but for what joy!? That's what separates this movie from becoming an extremely good film. In reverse, it actually makes it quite ordinary. Endings may have to be more realistic in Bollywood cinema. Especially with the Christopher Nolan of human relationships in Indian cinema - Zoya Akhtar - always displaying a high sense of IQ and EQ, which happens to be her forte.
The movie does give you ample to think about, but is still no Piku, for it's lack of direction. It seems to thrive on a typical Bollywood happy ending. At the end of it, Zoya probably hasn't conveyed enough and you wonder why the heck should you care for people holidaying somewhere in Eurasia. It is hard to believe that a self-made man would just shun his thoughts and beliefs overnight. In the spur of a moment. Snap! Just like that... not very believable. We loved the Mehras despite their faults and fallacies, as I'm sure many could associate with them. Most families are dysfunctional and it did not have to get mushy-mushy in the end. Or slapstick! The director could have just let it be...
The film has many wonderful moments: Like the scene where Pluto and Sunny have their moment together, and Pluto shows how much he'd like Sunny to stay back. Or the sequence between Sunny and Manav about women's authority and freedom in today's times.
The movie's length - just shy of three hours - still works, but it doesn't have conviction.
Like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, this one is largely a youthquake, but I wondered if the names of her last two movies needed to be reversed. Would have been more apt, I think...
I go with 3-and-a-half out of five for this heartening one-time watch.
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