The film has everything going for it
and yet fails to deliver. Look at the crew: Gulzar saab back with screenplay
after more than a decade, backing it up with his trademark lyrics; amazing
cinematography by Paweł Dyllus, a cast with genes that sell, a film maker like
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, a story that scans through Punjab, the past and the
lovely landscapes of Rajasthan and its great havelis. Some energy filling
actors, some grand dramatic moments, some amazing music by Shankar Ehsan Loy.
In the midst of this all the film falls flat and falls so badly that the
cinematically illiterate audience that can appreciate the doings of a Khan fail
to understand that cinema and its nuances is more than just happenings on the
screen.
For me the film was an experience, notwithstanding the fact that it has
multiple pot holes and that the film maker has surely lost the plot and more.
His Grammar is totally not in sync with the audience even if the grandeur is.
The story line is simple. Rakesh takes the old tale of a love torn couple from
Punjab killed by tribal lords for defying the verticals of society in romance.
Parallel we have the story of a calf love between school mates Suchitra and
Monish. Suchitra (Saiyami Kher) and Monish (Harshvardhan Kapoor) meet up after
a long gap of years. She has since had her education in the West and he has
been to a Borstal school and has since been on the run. Suchitra is engaged to
marry the local Prince Karan (Anuj Choudary hopelessly miscast). From the
embers of the past romance rekindles and the Chemistry that simply fails to get
the screen on fire tugs the narrative. While the young pair give the film some
amazing moments, like Rohit Sharma they are crying for consistency. Yes, like
the BCCI they manage a good unnamed Godfather.
Watch this love tragedy only if you are a student of serious cinema and are
willing to be shocked by a grammar that is not only inconsistent with what we
have on a daily basis but is per se inconsistent. The film offers some amazing
raw talent that needs a lot more polishing unless it has been so fine tuned to remain
raw and earthly. I would love to see the lead pair again in different
circumstances before anything more is said of their talent. Watch Anjali Patel
for the best performance in the film. She outshines the likes of Om Puri, KK
Raina etc., (not that they have much to do). Above all the film is a visual
delight. For the audience that went ga ga with films like Ravan and Bahuballi,
the film maker pushes the envelope to the next league and is mindboggling. Just
sit back and see the amazing locales and the eye for detail that the film maker
has and the folklore style he introduces to the art of storytelling. The
amazing choreography, the lyrics and the music are a wholly new dimension to
the grandeur of the film. If only the grammar was more consistent. For the film
maker it is Loves Labour lost in the midst of an audience woefully
underprepared to accept any innovation.
Rating: 3 stars
+ Scale
– Inconsistency
L. Ravichander