Even though there have been many films which have been made on the theme of weddings in Bollywood, there has never been a movie that dealt with the concept of destination wedding. This week’s release SHAANDAAR is one such film that treads on the never-before attempted theme of destination wedding. Will SHAANDAAR prove to be a goldmine at the box-office or will it be bite the dust… let’s analyze.
SHAANDAAR starts off with a cartoon animation (flashback) story narrated by Naseeruddin Shah, wherein he ‘introduces’ the audiences to Bipin Arora (Pankaj Kapoor) and his adopted daughter Alia (Alia Bhatt). The animated narration then moves on to a real life ‘accidental meeting’ between the wedding organizer Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor) and Bipin Arora, when Jaginder’s bike crashes into Bipin’s car. Bipin is travelling with his wife and two daughters Alia and Isha (Sanah Kapoor) and this is when Jaginder’s eyes spot Alia and he falls for her at that very moment. The story then moves to Isha’s destination wedding named ‘Shandaar’ in the exotic countryside of UK. And the man in charge of the entire proceedings is none other than Jagjinder Joginder. The whole wedding is nothing but a ‘financial arrangement’ (read ‘deal’) between Bipin Arora’s mother aka Dadimaa (Sushma Seth) and the ‘richy rich’ Sindhi family helmed by Harry Fundwani (Sanjay Kapoor), who wears his ‘Sindhi-ism’ up his sleeve and also around his neck! The bankrupt Aroras think that the marriage with the Fundwani family will get them out of bankruptcy. Understanding the ‘importance’ of her wedding with the Fundwanis, Isha starts to compromise at every step for the sake of her family, despite being endlessly ridiculed by her would-be husband Robin Fundwani and his friends. On the other hand, love starts blossoming between the two insomniacs Jagjinder and Alia, something that Bipin doesn’t seem to approve of. While everybody is really busy with the wedding preparations, Jagjinder and Alia leave no stone unturned in making Isha feel special. During one of the wedding events, the whole family, desperate for veg food, ends up eating hash brownies and mushrooms and get high. It is during this time that Bipin rattles down a startling revelation about his real relationship with Alia. What is the actual relationship between Bipin and Alia, does anyone bother to listen to Isha and her feelings, does Isha ultimately get married into the Fundwani family for her family’s sake, what ultimately happens to Jagjinder and Alia’s insomnia and do they find a cure for the same through love, is what forms the rest of the film.
The film’s director Vikas Bahl, whose last film was the National award winning QUEEN, makes a different kind of film this time. SHAANDAAR has a fairy tale kind of feel to it with lots of VFX, animations, exotic UK locations and big expensive sets. The film is very high on glitz and glamour. It is a larger than life film, with funny and quirky characters (dominating grandmother, scheming mom etc.) and to a large extent, that does the trick for the film. Vikas has extracted good performances from most of his actors. He has also tackled issues such as adoption, family relationships and sacrifice, ‘compromised relationships’, insomnia and most importantly one’s body size and self-esteem issues due to the same, very smartly. Even though the film does not have a strong storyline, the humorous sequences keep the audiences engaged. The film starts lagging in its second half though but manages to save itself in time. The climax of the film is a bit silly, but it lands up working in the favour of the film.
Now for the performances. Shahid Kapoor, who was last seen in the hard-hitting HAIDER, does a complete U-turn with his character in SHAANDAAR. His performance is extremely endearing, affable and loveable. His onscreen chemistry with Alia Bhatt is excellent. He also has a funny jugalbandi of sorts with Pankaj Kapoor in the film. He maintains his youthful charm and grace throughout the film. And it is due to this natural charm of his, this Kapoor lad is bound to make his young fans go weak in the knees. On the other hand, there’s Alia Bhatt, who seems to be getting better with every passing film of hers. By now, she has repeatedly proven that how effortlessly she can get into the skin of every character that she portrays. SHAANDAAR is no different. Her portrayal of her on screen character Alia will definitely find resonance with every dreamy eyed girl out there. The veteran actor Pankaj Kapoor is a (refreshing) delight to watch in the film. His chemistry with Shahid is good and extremely natural and believable. Sanjay Kapoor, as the ‘over-the-top-and-boisterous’ Sindhi is funny. On the other hand, Sanah Kapoor makes a lasting impact with her debut film. The rest of the characters help the film move forward.
The music (Amit Trivedi) of the film is enjoyable. The film’s music definitely acts as one of the film’s highlights. The veteran cinematographer Anil Mehta does an extremely superlative job in the cinematography department and is hugely responsible for making the audiences go spellbound with the film’s visuals. SHAANDAAR boasts of excellent production values. The film’s dialogues (Anvita Dutt) are simple and lucid which will definitely find resonance with the audience, especially the teenagers, who also happen to be the film’s target audience. The film’s editing (Sanchari Das Mollick) is good. Though the scenes like ‘Mehendi With Karan’ and ‘Monday-becomes-Tuesday’ seemed forcefully added and stretched in the film.
The film’s highlights include the animation sequences, which sets up the mood and gives it a fairy tale look. Also, the ‘qawwali’ scene is definitely one of the scenes to watch out for.
On the whole, SHAANDAAR is a feel good movie that will make you leave the cinema hall with a smile on your face, despite its flaws. It will mainly appeal to the youth who seem to be the target audience for the film.
Courtesy : http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/
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