IBTimes Rating: 2
The makers of "Shaandaar" seem to have focused so much on bringing out a super entertaining and fun looking trailer and songs that they completely forgot that what matters is the movie itself.
Yes, everything from the location to the choice of actors looked great and "zany", but the film is riddled with extremely predictable storyline and mediocre performances. While Shahid Kapoor is a visual feast and even creates a few laughs, rest everything is plain boring.
Director Vikas Bahl seems to be confused about if he wants the legend Pankaj Kapoor to be funny or serious and Alia's so-called brat-act is very shallow.
The movie starts as an animation with Bipin Arora (Pankaj) bringing home a little girl Alia (Alia). While his mother (Sushma Seth) and wife (Niki Aneja) make their displeasure evident, no one really questions who the little girl is and where she came from.
Alia suffers from insomnia and hence doesn't know what dreams are like. Bipin gives her hand-drawn cartoons, which by the way move, every night in the hope that someday Alia will sleep and dream about the cartoons and the magical world. Though the father-daughter relationship is well-explored in parts it doesn't really bring out anything.
Shahid's Jagjinder Joginder aka JJ is adorable with a boyish charm, but fails to help the movie break the monotony. JJ-Alia's equation and the subtle romance is cute but gets lost between all the hullabaloo of the larger-than-life wedding.
Between all this, some things are downrightly lame. Why does Alia get lacy thongs on her plate for breakfast is something that is still a mystery. Though we now do know why Sanjay Kapoor never really made a mark in the industry. His character is not only annoying but the kind you just want to sush after a while.
Sanah Kapoor looks cute and has performed decently well for a debutant but the character isn't something that makes an impression.
What stands out in the movie are its songs â€" Shaam Shaandaar and Gulabo â€" which take attention away from the wafer-thin plot line.
After "Queen", we really expected Vikas Bahl to come out with something of the same standard if not better, but those dreams too are lost. Shahid going from something like "Haider" to this is painful to watch.
All in all, the shaandaar hype that was created before the release raising expectations of the viewers now seems like a ploy and the film falls flat on its face.
Watch it only if you can solely keep your eyes on Shahid without really concentrating on the story line. Our rating for "Shaandaar" is 2 stars, out of which one is just for Shahid's efforts to hold the film together.
