The movie has no script and is just filled with sad fillers. "Sad" because the attempts at what are supposed to be jokes are just that: S-A-D...!
Alia Bhat stands on her own, matching more than just Shahid Kapoor's dance steps. What a natural she is, again, after Highway. She has worked very hard to keep up to Shahid's dance steps and it really shows. Also some great choreography work by Bosco-Caesar.
I wonder what Vikas Bahl had in mind making the movie. If he has indeed translated what he had in mind onto celluloid, then I'd question the lead actors' sense of script selection... and even the producers'!
And while I was not surprised at Karan Johar opting in to produce the film, I sure question Fox Studios' production of some of the recent Bollywood movies that have been senseless. Like this one, for example.
Two songs by Amit Trivedi are very good, and so is the theme background score.
As for Shahid Kapoor, his dad Pankaj Kapoor and his half-sister Sanah, they seem to be having a ball of a vacation in the United Kingdom. The Kapoor lad is pleasing to watch, and there were places in the movie where he reminded me of Shah Rukh's "cute" Raj or Rahul acts in the mid to late-nineties. But you still lose it when you see him in this, after "Haider".
The beautiful locations are the only strong point of the movie. Be it Carlson Tower in Leeds or Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire, Anil Mehta brings them to life with his fine cinematography.
The Eddsfield Airfield hallucination reel about the magic mushrooms with brownie combination was a good attempt, but could have been really made hilarious. The director could have taken a cue from "Death at the Funeral" (the UK version). I wish mainstream Indian film-makers realized that being loud alone DOESN'T equate to good comedy.
The humor is crass and while Piku was a genius work in talking about constipation, this one draws many a yawn with stupid jokes on "You're so fat"- and a Qawwali on it, too! It was only apt that people were walking out of the door by that time.
One may sue the director for the misnomer title. For Shaandaar is a misnomer title... the film is anything but that! Forget that, it does not even live to half it's name... (yes, there wasn't even "Shaan..." in Shaandaar). There is such a lack of story that even producer Karan Johar stepping in with a "Mehendi with Karan" sequence only adds to the woes.
The Low Force Waterfall location sequence and the song sequence of "Gulabo" totally mesmerized me. But the lack of script and direction still does not justify the Rs. 150 ticket purchase. Sad that a great actor like Pankaj Kapoor gets to appear in such meaningless films. I doubt he'd do another Maqbool. (Is Vishal Bharadwaj listening?)
And for the record, Goathland Station (of the Hogsmeade station in Harry Potter fame) now has a dud shot there, too.
How I wish Bahl had made this before "Queen"! And sincerely hope he is not just a one-film wonder. I'm serious: The Indian audiences deserve much, much better than this.
Alia Bhat stands on her own, matching more than just Shahid Kapoor's dance steps. What a natural she is, again, after Highway. She has worked very hard to keep up to Shahid's dance steps and it really shows. Also some great choreography work by Bosco-Caesar.
I wonder what Vikas Bahl had in mind making the movie. If he has indeed translated what he had in mind onto celluloid, then I'd question the lead actors' sense of script selection... and even the producers'!
And while I was not surprised at Karan Johar opting in to produce the film, I sure question Fox Studios' production of some of the recent Bollywood movies that have been senseless. Like this one, for example.
Two songs by Amit Trivedi are very good, and so is the theme background score.
As for Shahid Kapoor, his dad Pankaj Kapoor and his half-sister Sanah, they seem to be having a ball of a vacation in the United Kingdom. The Kapoor lad is pleasing to watch, and there were places in the movie where he reminded me of Shah Rukh's "cute" Raj or Rahul acts in the mid to late-nineties. But you still lose it when you see him in this, after "Haider".
The beautiful locations are the only strong point of the movie. Be it Carlson Tower in Leeds or Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire, Anil Mehta brings them to life with his fine cinematography.
The Eddsfield Airfield hallucination reel about the magic mushrooms with brownie combination was a good attempt, but could have been really made hilarious. The director could have taken a cue from "Death at the Funeral" (the UK version). I wish mainstream Indian film-makers realized that being loud alone DOESN'T equate to good comedy.
The humor is crass and while Piku was a genius work in talking about constipation, this one draws many a yawn with stupid jokes on "You're so fat"- and a Qawwali on it, too! It was only apt that people were walking out of the door by that time.
One may sue the director for the misnomer title. For Shaandaar is a misnomer title... the film is anything but that! Forget that, it does not even live to half it's name... (yes, there wasn't even "Shaan..." in Shaandaar). There is such a lack of story that even producer Karan Johar stepping in with a "Mehendi with Karan" sequence only adds to the woes.
The Low Force Waterfall location sequence and the song sequence of "Gulabo" totally mesmerized me. But the lack of script and direction still does not justify the Rs. 150 ticket purchase. Sad that a great actor like Pankaj Kapoor gets to appear in such meaningless films. I doubt he'd do another Maqbool. (Is Vishal Bharadwaj listening?)
And for the record, Goathland Station (of the Hogsmeade station in Harry Potter fame) now has a dud shot there, too.
How I wish Bahl had made this before "Queen"! And sincerely hope he is not just a one-film wonder. I'm serious: The Indian audiences deserve much, much better than this.
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