Far from Shaandaar

I have a strong suspicion that the filmmaker (Vikas Bahl) intended to say something profound. If this is commercial cinema than it is all wrong with the seeming metaphysics. If this is an excursion with the Avante Garde then its seeming humour puts the exercise in a trance. Resultantly the film falls between two stools – only to find some fine actors and stars alongside!

There are long spells in the film that do not make any sense and the journey from one incident to the other so disjointed that you are required to keep following the tedious storytelling with a needless degree of concentration only to realise that the effort is a waste. Also the caricatures of characters and the manner in which most of them are etched leave a sense of amateur feel.

You are caught up with this destination wedding where the Auroras headed by Kamala Devi (Sushma Seth in arguably her worst outing ever) are waiting for the marriage and thereby striking a relationship with Harry Fadwani (Sanjay Kapoor–yet again being the horrendous actor he always has been!). The Aurora family is like one in Tollywood–multiple brothers, sisters etc none of whom make any sense.

However, the important family is headed by Bipin (Pankaj Kapur) and has wife (Nikki Aneja Walia), obese daughter Isha (Sanah Kapoor) who is the b2b (bride-to-be) and the effervescent Aalia (Alia Bhatt) who was brought in to the castle and family many decades ago in the form of a cartoon character and aided by a voice-over by Naseeruddin Shah who earns a customary acknowledgement. Now Isha’s marriage to Harry Fadwani’s equally pigeon headed sibling is also the occasion for a merger of the respective business houses.

The two families have not heard of anything called due diligence or are in the midst of suffering a stroke of intelligence paralysis. Both families are in the doldrums and both hiding this from one another but living life in such opulence that even the sharpest mind would not suspect. Bipin and his family on the way to (Scotland is it?) the destination wedding run into this young charmer Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor).

The principal characters Alia and JJ both suffer from insomnia from childhood. However, through the day they seem to be in a daze that makes you wonder what exactly the problems they carry are! Now while the groom and bride-to-be are not in love, the bride’s sister and the wedding arranger JJ are in love. Dad Aurora does not approve but matriarch Kamala Devi is charmed by JJ so everything he does goes.

In the finale when all the guys are shooting their pistols and shouting their guts, the skeletons from the cupboard come crumbling down and resultantly the wedding and the merger are derailed.

It is a pity that the ever so good and reliable Pankaj and beta Shahid are caught up in an inextricable muddle. This film is a Vishal Bharadwaj meets Sooraj Barjatya or to be precise ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ meets ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’. Chaos. Keep away.

Film Name : Shaandaar

Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Pankaj Kapur

Direction : Vikas Bahl

Genre : Drama

Likes : Shahid and Alia

Dislikes : Abstract beyond redemption

Rating :11/2

By L Ravichander