RNBDJ had enough hype aroused. Touted as the next biggie from Yash Raj Films camp, directed by Aditya Chopra (who makes a comeback after Mohabbatein) and presenting Shahrukh Khan along with their latest discovery Anushka Sharma.
The 'Chance Pe Dance' song fails miserably in trying to accomplish the feat of having beats, so irresistible that almost anyone is pulled to the dance floor. The item number 'Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke' doesn't sound like an item number or interesting or ...anything. Salim Sulaiman need to take a cue from Vishal Shekhar's Deewangi from Om Shanti Om. Overall, the music is dull and boring. Read rediff's review of the movie's music here.
Besides, the production house left no stone unturned in their effort to get publicity. Have a dekko at the number of competitions that they launched pertaining to RNBDJ.
The movie managed to collect so much cash in it's first 10 days to be declared the biggest hit of 2008 so far. Read more here.
And after watching the movie, I would say that I tend to agree more with Raja Sen (for a change) than I do with Suparn Verma.
Story: Circumstances force Taani (Anushka Sharma) to marry Surinder Sani (Shahrukh Khan). Taani's fiance dies in a bus accident just before marriage. Taani's father dies of heart attack before requesting his favorite student Surinder to marry Taani. Taani doesn't love Surinder and makes it clear to him at the onset of their newly married life.
However, Surinder is head over heels in love with Taani and is hell bent on impressing her. Bobby (Vinay Pathak) succors Surinder in this and transforms Surinder into Raj. (It had to be Raj - after all, it's an Aditya Chopra movie, remember DDLJ, Mohabbatein.)
Another series of instances and Taani is left in a position to choose between Surinder and Raj. In a weak moment, she confesses her attraction towards Raj. However, all ends well.
The biggest ask from the movie is that of a tighter screenplay. Vinay Pathak marvels and actually steals limelight in quite a few scenes. Anushka is good, specially considering that she is a newcomer. No complaints in the cinematography department. Music plays a pivotal role in how well a choreographer can do. That can explain not a impression carving dance from Shiamak Davar and Vaibhavi Merchant.
Last but not the least, the item number featured Kajol, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji trying to imitate Nargis, Sadhana, Helen, Mumtaz and Neetu Singh. Bipasha and Preity couldn't do much justice, whereas Kajol, Lara and Rani did a job par excellence.
Some great moments and good comic scenes can have a weak story converted into a big blockbuster and here's how by Farah Khan, the directory of OSO.
1. Cast SRK and a newbie hottie: Deepika Padukone.
2. Generate enough hype and arouse good amount of interest in media, public.
3. Throw in some good music.
4. Project it as remake of one movie and make it a remake of another one.
As far as the last point is concerned, I am talking about obvious comparisons being made to Karz and the movie turning out to be a remake of Madhumati. What saddens me the most is not a single review out there gives credit to Madhumati. Leave alone the makers.
Well, now with these 4 stellars, the pot-pourri is ready to be presented. :)
Here's the story for those who have not yet seen the movie or read about it elsewhere.
Story: Om Prakash Makhija (SRK) is a 70s junior artist smitten by the then popular actress Shanti (Deepika Padukone). He saves Shanti's life from a fire mishap that happens during one of the movie shoots giving him a chance to get close to Shanti. The latter however is already in love with her secret husband Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal). Mukesh is an evil man and is tired of Shanti not helping him get a certain producer's wealth and daughter. He kills her and in the process kills an already heart broken Om.
Here is when the Karz like part starts. Om is reborn as Om Kapoor, son of a famous actor, who gets stardom spoon fed to him. Certain incidents help OK (Om Kapoor) remember his previous birth and that's when he decides to take revenge from Mukesh. He finds Sandhya/Sandy (Deepika Padukone) and convinces her to fake as Shanti's ghost to force Mukesh to confess his crime.
The climax is a ctrl-C, ctrl-V version from Madhumati. I would highly recommend my readers to watch the classic.
Do you wonder where's Shreyas Talpade and Kiron Kher? They are Om's best friend and mom in his previous birth. Trying to set up the Karz link.
Going back to the review...
Everyone acted well and the movie did have its moments. I liked the 'Bhaago' scene. The spoof on Filmfare awards was well executed too. However, Akhsay Kumar registering the title of 'Return of Khiladi' is going a bit too far.
Deepika is a delight to watch and does well for a newcomer. She already has bagged quite a few roles, thanks to the success of OSO.
However, Arjun Rampal disappoints. He had my hopes high... Vaada and Elaan justify this.
Shreyas Talpade is wasted in a miniscule role. He deserves much more. Watch Dor, Iqbal to know what I am talking about.
And what to say about SRK. He's after all SRK and enough has already been written about him over so many years. He's managed to get Star Screen Best Actor award for Chak De! India this year already, much to my surprise, as I would have handed over the trophy to Abhishek Bachchan for Guru. On a side note, did you know that 'Chak De! India' was first offered to Salman Khan? Read more here. And that Salman Khan had even turned down Baazigar, before it proved to be a major milestone in SRK's career.
OSO's music is good and Vishal Shekhar are impressive. Well, not as impressive as they were last year. If you remember, I had already handed them a trophy for best music last year.
Farha Khan is good but she needs to improvize in the script and story department. Atleast, the good part is that it's not like Welcome, where all the good comic scenes are out in trailers.
Not anybody can fit into AB's shoes and this take off on Don has proved it right. After all, 'AB ban-naa mushkil hi nahi, naa-mumkin hai' :).
But, let's admit that Farhan Akhtar did a good job at making another Don. It's just that SRK falls short of trying to fit in AB's shoes. Kareena might look beautiful but she has to learn a lot in acting department. Priyanka is good but Zeenat's Roma was different. Boman Irani is a good actor but Iftikhar had his own chemistry working in 1978's Don. Only Om Puri was the closest match to the old Om Shivpuri character.
There would be definitely surprise for viewers who have seen the earlier Don. There would be disappointment too, especially when you meet SRK's version of Vijay.
Story: Do I really need to write anything in this section? :-) But if you still want it, read it over here.
Definitely, I would give 4.0 to Farah Khan's choreography on the song 'Khaike Paan Banaras Waala'. 3.5 to Farhan Akhtar, 3.0 to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for their effort in music department, 2.5 to SRK and rest.
