Haven’t we all experienced it again and again? We rest our hopes on a particular movie, we wait for months for its release and finally when the movie releases and we complete the viewing, we come out of cinema halls with our heads spinning, our chins dropping and our heart broken.
On the contrary, there are times when we keep on ignoring the promos and previews of a particular movie and carry zero anticipation about its arrival. Somehow we end up going to watch that movie either just to kill boredom or just because a friend recommended it. And when we come out from the theatre, we have smiling lips, refreshed minds and elated hearts. The latest offering of Yash Raj Production house titles “Band Bajaa Baaraat†is one such movie.
This production house had broken my heart so many times in the recent years that when they started promoting this latest movie with a debutant hero and a heroine which had failed to impress me at all, I totally ignored the promos and openly announced that this is another of those wannabe romantic comedies with beaten to death storyline. Though the movie doesn’t initiate any revolution in the world of film-making, yet I will admit and confess that I was horribly wrong in my presumptions about the film. Lets find out how wrong I was…
Pleasant surprises of the film…
• Before anything else, the casting is the trump card of this film. The irony is that this was the top most reason why I neglected the movie before its release. But in reality the rightly cast actors provide the most pleasant surprise. (I’ll talk a bit more about performances later on).
• Direction by the debutant Maneesh Sharma is extraordinary. If 2009 had gifted Bollywood with talented directors such as Ayan Mukerji (Wake up Sid) and Zoya Akhtar (Luck by Chance), then Maneesh Sharma is the gift of 2010 for the film industry. His treatment to the subject is so natural and simple yet so engrossing and charming.
• The screenplay and dialogues by Habib Faisal are beautiful. They are intelligently written, yet simple to understand and appreciate.
• The cinematography is wonderful.
• Though it is not extraordinary, yet the music by Salim-Salman is well suited for this film. The songs didn’t sound too pleasing on audio but their video presentation makes them sound really good. Especially the choreography of “Ainvayi Ainvayi†makes it stand out.
• The first half of the film is simply outstanding. It is so pleasing to watch fresh faces who are so relatable speaking and doing things which we not only enjoy, but also yearn to become a part of.
Any Glitches??? Definitely yes…
• The second half is not as gripping as the first and it drags just a little bit more than required.
• The climax is the weakest point of the movie. Being a romantic comedy, it was bound to have a climax similar to this but still they could’ve opted for a better way to execute the ending (something which was very effectively done in another rom-com of this year “I hate love storiesâ€)
Not any more negatives in my point, and keeping in view the strength of the positives, these minuses can be ignored.
The Baaraatis (performances)
• You might call me bragging about it but I don’t why I have a feeling that a new star is born. I’ve had this feeling twice in recent memory. Once when I watched Shahid in “Ishk Vishk†and second time when I watched Ranbir Kapoor in “Saawariya†and now after quite some time the new dude Ranveer Singh has caused me to have this feeling once again. I didn’t like him at all in the promos but my goodness does he impress with his performance or what? He maintains a perfect composure throughout the movie and is beautifully restrained. He is not only a good actor, but a “star†of days to come.
• Anushka Sharma annoyed me to limits in her earlier two films but I suppose she has found a magician somewhere who has transformed her into a wonderful performer, as what she displays in this movie is total control over each and every expression and dialogue. She looks beautiful and acts very maturely.
• All the supporting cast, though fresh and unknown, is highly impressive.
Overall
“Band Baaja Baaraat†is one of the most pleasant surprises of this year. It reemphasizes that old saying of not judging a book by its cover. This is a beautiful and simple little movie which has merits of restoring faith among the people like me who had eventually given up on Yash Raj Banner.
I recommend all of you to join this Baraat and let the Band Baajaa entertain you and I thank all those friends who recommended me to join.
My Rating: 3.5/5 (it was supposed to be 3, but an extra 0.5 for it being such a pleasant surprise