An over-the-top laughter riot
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
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| Shaandaar (2015) - By Vikas Bahl |
Our Rating: 6.0
IMDb Ratings: 8.1
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Romance
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur
Country: India
Language: Hindi
Runtime: 144 min
Color: Color
Shaandaar is Indian
filmmaker Vikas Bahl’s follow-up to the 2014 blockbuster film Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar
Rao, with wedding once again as its central theme. A joint venture of Dharma Productions
and Phantom Films, Shaandaar stars
Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur, Sanjay Kapoor, and Shushma Seth in the
pivotal roles. The movie revolves around an orphan girl named Alia, an insomniac,
and her adoptive family. Alia’s condition worries his adoptive father and he
keeps feeding her with fairytales hoping they will eventually cure her by inducing
some dreams. But, it’s all in vain until one day she is swept off her feet by
someone special.
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| Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar |
While the theme of wedding is quite common to Hindi films, Shaandaar toys with the idea of
destination wedding—it’s a trend that’s fast picking up in India and Bollywood
these days has pockets that go deep enough to pounce on any such promising opportunity.
In Shaandaar, Vikas Bahl takes some
creative liberties such as opting for the use of animated cartoons to narrate
certain sections of the film including the opening and closing sequences with Naseeruddin
Shah’s voiceover narration. Although, this technique is new to Hindi cinema,
filmmakers around the world have been employing this creative technique to
spice up the conventional narratives. One is reminded of Quentin Tarantino’s use
of Japanese Anime in Kill Bill: Vol. 1
(2003).
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| Pankaj Kapur (right) in Shaandaar |
While watching Shaandaar,
one is repeatedly reminded of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It appears to be a conscious choice on the
part of Bahl and team to create a wonderland of sorts for their comic-book
characters to inhabit. Alia is bored by her monotonous life and finds solace in
the fairytales fed by her adoptive father. Like Alice, she is driven by curiosity
as well as the desire to live an adventurous life. And, just like Alice, she has
the gift of imagination. Carroll’s wonderland is a home to a panoply of
colorful characters. While the characters in Shaandaar are nowhere near as vibrant, they nonetheless are fun to
watch with their endless idiosyncrasies. Let us not forget that at the end of
the day Shaandaar is a commercial
Bollywood film!
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| A Still from Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar |
As far as Hindi cinema is concerned, films that revolve around
wedding are the safest bet at the box-office. It’s the kind of cinema that the
Indian masses crave for—a formula that just cannot fail in a diverse and
colorful country like India. For, we Indians love to celebrate. The dozen or
two religious festivals are just not enough. Festivities are an innate part of
our lives. And marriage functions are the grandest of them all. We don’t see
marriage as merely a union of two individuals; it’s essentially an alliance of
two families. It’s an occasion that gets everyone excited—be it the children,
the young, or the old—for it is perceived as the greatest celebration of life.
In short, the marriages are a singularly viable business. For Bollywood, it’s a
bankable subject like no other. Evidently, some of the biggest commercial hits
in the history of Bollywood have been the films revolving around the theme of
wedding. Given its rather innovative theme of destination wedding, it would be quite interesting to see how Shaandaar fares at the box-office.
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| Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt performing a dance number in Shaandaar |
Overall, Shaandaar can
best be described as a nonsensical entertainer that epitomizes commercial escapism
in modern-day cinema. While the movie lacks any real substance, the creative
thought that went into it needs to be commended. Probably, the movie’s greatest
strength is that it makes us laugh, nonstop. It’s over the top but it is fun nonetheless.
Barring Pankaj Kapur, who delivers a solid performance, the acting on display
is pretty average. The film features a flashy, tasteless cameo from Karan Johar who’s the movie’s co-producer.
The trend of vanity cameos is fast picking up in Bollywood. Shaandaar, while, for the most part, makes
little sense, it is a perfect way to spend time with one's family during the
festival season. So, go for it, if you are looking for a popcorn flick, else
stay put!
Readers, please feel free to share your views/opinions in the comment box below. As always your insightful comments are highly appreciated!
Note: A version of this review was re-published in the Huffington Post.
References:
Note: A version of this review was re-published in the Huffington Post.
References:
Shaandaar (2015) Trailer (YouTube)
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