This Tune Doesn't Impress

Aalaap Movie Review In Brief
Four young men try to address the issue of Naxalism through music


Aalaap Movie Review Verdict
Despite an impressive star cast, the movie fails to touch any chords…


Aalaap Movie Review Story Plot
Rahul (Amit Purohit) is a youth icon in Chattisgarh for his cultural activities as a college student being groomed by Bhaiyyaji (Vijay Raaz) for better things whereas Pitobash Tripathy, Harsh Rajput and Aabid Shamim are rebellious youngsters, who forma rock band. When Rahul meets the trio and convinces them to team up with him for a state wide cultural function, all four form develop a deep bond. However, their lives get affected when they see an army truck being blown up by Naxals and when they realise that the government measures are ineffective, they decide to use their music to bring love and peace to the conflict torn region.

How the quartet gets embroiled in the battle lines drawn by anti-Naxal cop RP Singh (Abhimanyu Singh), Naxal leader Gopal Reddy (Murli Sharma) and Naxal sympathizing doctor Bharti (Rituparna Sengupta) forms the rest of the story…


Aalaap Movie Review Performances
The movie truly has an impressive supporting cast in the form of Murli Sharma, Vijay Raaz, Raghubir Yadav, Omkardas Manikpuri and Abhimanyu Singh and they do full justice to their roles, despite having hurdles in the form of a weak script and poor dialogues. The main cast comprising Purohit, Rajput, Pitobash and Shamim too perform passably though Purohit's Rahul comes across as too 'goody-goody' and the other three seem to be rebels without a cause, whose anti-Establishment attitude is not really explored efficiently.


Aalaap Movie Review Direction
Though the concept of a rock band trying to bring peace in a volatile environment is quite interesting; the execution part prevents this movie from being a laudable effort. At times, the director seems confused about whether he is making a musical film or a film on the Naxal issue. Moreover, why would four youngsters, who are apparently born and brought up in violent Chattisgarh, suddenly get affected and traumatized by one single incident, is something that is not explained clearly. The script and screenplay is not up to the mark and nor is the cinematography and other technical aspects.


Aalaap Movie Review Music
The music by band Agnee is not so bad as such with songs like dil yeh awaaz de, pa pa ra pa and ek nayi roshni though the one item number 'chadhti jawani' is sure to evoke a cynical smile (why does every director want an item number, without regards to the plot and theme of the movie, is what you will probably end up wondering)


Aalaap Movie Review Final Word
Like mentioned earlier, the film has an impressive star cast but all in all, the movie is not as impressive as one would want it to be…