Shaandaar Movie Review: Fluffy Fare

When Vikas Bahl had made the highly entertaining yet touching Queen, the industry welcomed him with open arms and waited for the talented director to serve up another fresh and delicious offering.

However, though Shaandaar might be fresh with regards to the visuals, delicious it is not. Starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur, Sanjay Kapoor and others, Shaandaar comes across as a fairy tale trying its best to be accepted by adults.

Alia (Alia Bhatt), the ostensibly adopted daughter of business magnate Bipin (Pankaj Kapur), is an insomniac, who spends her nights reading and accumulating knowledge on every subject under the sun (or rather, the moon!).

When Alia and the family head off to Europe for the destination wedding of Bipin's eldest daughter Isha (Sanah Kapoor), little do the father-daughter duo realize how the trip is going to change their lives. Of course, the wedding is a mere business deal orchestrated by the tyrannical but bankrupt matriarch Kamla Arora (Sushma Seth), who mutters dialogues lifted straight from the Dil Dhadakne Do script where Anil Kapoor justifies marrying off his son to the daughter of a potential financial backer.

While at the idyllic European countryside, Alia develops a romantic relationship with Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor), the wedding planner, who too can't seem to sleep at nights. The two insomniacs manage to have the time of their lives, while matrimonial politics continue in the background.

Shahid is decent in his role as the street-smart JJ while Alia is blessed with that cuteness usually associated with puppies and kittens. Pankaj Kapur is dependable as always while newcomer Sanah puts in an earnest effort, leaving the hamming to Sanjay Kapur and the rest of the cast. Karan Johar is wickedly witty in his cameo and we hope to see more of him on the silver screen.

Bahl, who had impressed us with Queen, fumbles the ball here on various occasions. Indeed, the director seems to favour gimmicky situations over logic- Shahid Kapoor, despite being an urbane wedding planner operating in Europe, doesn't know what insomnia is and pronounces it as 'Ín Somalia'! Such jokes do not entertain but merely confirm our suspicions that the director is taking his audience for granted. Of course, because Isha is getting married to a Sindhi boy, there are dozens of Sindhi jokes, which again seem to be aimed at making up for the lack of a solid story.

If that was not all, there are many animated scenes, which make the film seem very unreal and fake, like a fairy tale written by a kid pretending to be an adult. In one scene, Alia picks up a ghastly green frog (animated, of course) from a stream, almost kisses it, cuddles it and carries it around with her all the time. Why Bahl thought this would impress viewers or make them go 'Áwww', is something that only he can throw light on...

At times, the film gets real creepy-like when the family members start chuckling and guffawing in relief when they discover that their wheel-chair bound matriarch has died a sudden death. Sure, she was a tyrant, but standing around her corpse and chuckling merrily seems downright sinister.

The music is quite nice (especially the title track, Gulaabo and Raaita Phail Gaya) and might be the only highlight of the film.

The film does have its funny moments, but overall, the treatment of the story is such that it fails to touch your heart. Better luck next time, Mr. Bahl.