Khoobsurat- A Movie Review

(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)

Director : Shashanka Ghosh

Producers : Rhea Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Siddharth Roy Kapoor

Writer:  Indira Bisht

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Fawad Afzal Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kirron Kher, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aamir Raza Hussain, Gargi Phule, Aditi Rao

Music:   Sneha Khanwalkar, Badshah, Amal Malik

Genre: Romance

Rating: ***

Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

Khoobsurat is an artificially sweet Disney romance. It has a predictable and clichéd story; fluffy Mills and Boon/ undeveloped Jane Austin like characters; scattered charming and fun moments, extreme overacting by Sonam Kapoor; and debut in Bollywood by Pakistani dramas fame suave Fawaad Khan.

Loosely based on  1980’s Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khoobsurat  which was a hilarious comedy about a vivacious girl ( Rekha as Manju), who tries to make a strict household  with a matriarch ( Dina Pathak as Nirmala) in the family, have  more fun in life! 

The Director of 2014 Khoobsurat, Shashanka Ghosh  reworks the movie as a romance in royal settings where the Rathores of Sambhalgarh are led by the discipline loving Nimala Rathod ( Ratna Phatak/Dina Pathak's daughter), where Sonam Kapoor as Dr Mili Chakravarty, a physiotherapist with  crude and uncivilized manners and  hyper personality enters the rajmahal to help cure the wheel chair bound dad Shekar Rathod  while flirting with the uptight handsome prince Vikram Rathod-  Fawaad Khan.

 The story is clichéd and lacks warmth. It has few charming moments and funny dialogs but doesn’t flow through out.  The hero looks more distracted than attracted with the heroine, the chemistry is missing. The transformation of all characters in the progression of the movie is ill-defined and unreal and it obviously has a predictable climax. 

The director lacks in developing even the characters. Sonam Kapoor who is supposed to be a fun loving cool doctor, comes out  more as a  silly, annoying, childish, giddy  teenish, selfie loving, un-restrictive blabber mouth  with  whack dress sense ( was Sonam, an apparent fashionista blind to what she was wearing!)  and uncivilized manners ( since when did girls start putting the legs on the dashboard in front of the steering wheel,  mind it not just the dashboard ).  Of course overacting by Sonam Kapoor makes it more unreal and overkill.  Though Vikram Rathod's character  is not developed either  except for carrying about his business in formal attire and driving vintage cars and giving smoldering glares, the popular Pakistani  drama actor Fawaad khan with his  Bollywood debut  makes an interesting presence with his brooding handsome profiles and deep voice. 

Other performances which carry the movie are Kiron Kher as Mili’s Punjabi Skype and Facetime loving mom Manju, who goes by  Manju instead of mom! ( it may be the directors way of  emphasizing that  the old Khoobsurat had Rekha as Manju !). It may be Kiron Kher’s nth performance as Punjabi mom hence she does it naturally.  Ratna Pathak carries her roles as matriarch convincingly so does Amir Raza as the  wheelchair bound husband of the dominating queen. Prosenjit Chaterjee as Mili's dad also has his presence.

The music is a mix of good and bad.  The picturization of 'engine ki seeti' song was silly enough for me to walk off to refill our popcorn.  

Is it worth going to the theatres for a watch? No, unless you are a Pakistani actor Fawaad Khan fan who wants to catch him in his suave elegance after his success in dramas like 'Zindaji gulzar hai' and 'Humsafar' etc ;)  Did I get it right my dear Pakistani friends ;)