(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 ;)
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