Phata Poster Nikla Shahid

Last Friday was my last teen birthday! You guys have no idea how sad that made me! Sob, sob.

Mood change!

Every cloud has a silver lining and my cloud had a Shahid lining! (You can post in abuses of all kinds for the PJ at aanchal.srivastava20@gmail.com or like Parde Ke Peeche’s facebook page to show your protest.) After years and years of austerity Shahid Kapoor’s movie release coincides with my birthday to make it a completly memorable one! ^_^

A still from the film. Photo Courtesy: Internet

True to its name, the hero makes a grand entry on screen by ‘phataing’(lol! Sorry! Here i go again! :P ) the poster of Santoshi’s last offering, the Ranbir starrer Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani. This time, apart from the comedy ingredient, Santoshi has added a pinch of elaborate typical Bollywood style action sequences now and then throughout the movie. Shahid does all of it like a pro and with élan.

Frankly speaking, PPNH has nothing new to offer you in its trademark Santoshi style storytelling, except Shahid who I would like to say, made a comeback with a bang! It’s been quite long since one had last seen him in his true elements. It’s his film all the way. He has craft fully carried the film on his strong shoulders leaving little room for complain from his side. He is a visual treat in songs, Dhating Naach and Khali Pili, one thing consistent about him in all these years.  His face is like all the emoticons that you have ever seen, rolled into one. This could have been a bad thing, but when Kapoor pulls all these expressions, he manages to make it work. His performance and the ease with which he has executed the emotional rona-dhona scene with his Maa (Padmini Kolhapuri) or does comic sequences to roll you with laughter speaks loud enough to ring in your ears for ages that he can give stiff competition to his rivals. (Wish I could just go on and on about him, but then, I can already foresee my friends calling it a biased review because personally I love Shahid too much! ^_^ )

Padmini Kolhapuri, as Vishwas’s mother, is full on in her character throughout the film and lends the emotional quotient to the story. Her bonding with her son, Vishwas, is elaborately established before the story can take you anywhere (basically it takes you nowhere!)

A still from a song of the movie, Dhating Naach.
Photo Courtesy:Internet

The ‘plagiarized’ story has nothing out of the box to offer. You feel like Shahid, appearing as those old, ugly, clever, and cheat shopkeepers who’ll take you by hand along the story, throwing in between comic sequences to keep you engaged so that you don’t turn aggressive like the ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ advertisement's customers and demand for your right to a good script. Few sequences here and there are highly comical. One thing Santoshi can never disappoint you on is the way his stories reach climax. Nothing new but still engaging and keeping you on the seat’s edge, the climax is more or less like the one in APKGK.

Apart from Shahid, there are quite a few permanent in Santoshi’s cast who know their work and get down to business right in the start. Darshan Jariwala, Saurabh Shukla and Sanjay Mishra come together to make up for other losses. Trust me! They make the film worth bearing with their ‘rolling on the floor’ reaction deserving acts.

The film is a full on masala commercial entertainer ( I am not sure about this part :P) that has its characteristic features in place:

1) The lead actor dreams high on making it big in Bollywood.

2) He travels to desolate beaches for the Sufi song,

3) The pint-sized star like Singham drops from the air on his feet over flying dust, his body horizontally swaying over the earth as villains come crashing down,

4) Dances on the stage for the item track,

5) Weeps for his mother, hugs his father,

6) Mimics Dev Anand, Amol Palekar for comedy,

7) Mumma has no problems with the almost unknown girl, the good boy has chosen.

Ileana does her job pretty effortlessly- to look pretty in vibrant, evening gowns, sing songs on isolated, exotic locations and keep popping in between scenes. Her dialogue deliveries raises an eyebrow but then you realise it is the language problem. The love chemistry between Ileana and Shahid is extremely weak and is hollow except for a few dance sequences and cheesy lines.

Ileana in the movie.Photo Courtesy: Internet

Salman pitches in this time too being a Santoshi loyal, agreeing to do a cameo. And look! Even ready to take a pot shot at his infamous criminal record!Shahid shines but the movie sinks. Had a lesser talent featured in the film, it would have gone into trash. It is a good two and a half hour entertainment but don’t keep your hopes high. One time watch only for Shahid and his supporting cast.

That night, even though I was dead tired, I went to sleep humming those fun, crazy songs from the movie... as I turned a year older. Indeed it was a really lovely day.

AND for the ones still eager to send me birthday wishes or wanna drop-in feedback on this or previous posts, you surely know what to do! ;)

Saw The lunchbox too, this weekend. Here's how you can know about it :)
http://peechepardeke.blogspot.in/2013/09/a-love-story-redefined.html