Saawariya: Sanjay Leela Bhansali has given a major disaster of a movie. The movie is set in an imaginary town which can be found nowhere on the map, where the whole town is painted blue, the houses and buildings stand by wide canals where gondolas go rowing by, there are fresh water potholes in the shape of jigsaw puzzle. The story of the movie was based on the short story “White Nights”. The story was decent – the execution was terrible. The sets, the grandeur, the opulence overpowered everything and everybody in the movie. If SLB had given half the attention to the characters that he gave to the sets, he could have salvaged the movie. Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor give terrible performances – it is all the directors fault. Sonam Kapoor is tall, dark and handsome; Ranbir Kapoor is fair, dimpled and has a good body – no I did not mix up the hero and the heroine – that’s how they actually are. Everybody has given over the top performances – Sonam Kapoor comes across as delusional – it almost seems as if she making up the character of Imaan and he does not really exist– now that would have actually made an interesting plotline. Ranbir Kapoor imitates Raj Kapoor, and he has been given the tramp look – and he hams terribly. Salman Khan looks scary in the movie – he might have mistaken it to be a horror movie – what with all the blue sets set in the dark – and the heroine wearing long dark robes. The sutradhaar of the movie – Gulabji (Rani Mukherji) – was the only character that the audience could relate with – she did a good job – but her costumes and make up were extremely irritating. If the director is such an aesthetic genius, somebody please explain how can Rani Mukherji and the rest of her clan dancing in colorful chiffon sarees (that are seen on display windows of stores in balanagar), baring their navels look aesthetic. All in all the movie is terrible, the characters never make sense and fail to connect with the audience – SLB attempted to make a fantasy movie – and failed miserably. If SLB called his last movie “Black” he could have definitely called this one “Blue”. In Gulabji’s words – I don’t likes!!
OSO: After watching Saawariya – believe me you will like any movie. I think Saawariya is going to boost OSO’s collections and Farah Khan must be thanking her stars that the movies released on the same date. The movie, as much advertised, is a reincarnation drama along with being a spoof on the 70’s bollywood cinema. The movie is an out and out entertainer. Farah Khan has come a long way since Main Hoon Na – this was a far better movie than Main Hoon Na! The movie does not follow any logic, the director does not display any intellectualism and the story does not hold too many surprises – it is a typical bollywood masala movie, which does not pretend to be otherwise. SRK is lovable in the first half, in the second half he overacts a tad, but is bearable. The first half is set in the 70’s and the scenes related to the-then movies are hilarious. Deepika Padukone looks stunningly beautiful and has good screen presence. Its been a long time since I liked a heroine so much in a movie – she is treat to the eyes. The songs are great and picturized very well. The second half of the movie is ultra-glamorous what with half of the Bollywood stars making an appearance – it is a treat to watch. The movie is not long and boring – it has a few good laughs, good songs, and beautiful faces – a definite entertainer time pass!!
-Moi
