Yesterday we saw the just released "Ek Ladki ko dekha to aisa laga" (ELKDTAL) - a love story with a never-seen-before-in-Bollywood twist.
Lets analyze the movie -
STORY AND SCREENPLAY
At the heart of it, it is a simple story which is quite simply narrated. Yes the core plot is unconventional, but the writer has smartly built the overall narrative around it in a very conventional bollywood style. In fact, had it not been for a bold core theme, the movie would be yet another light frothy rom-com with nothing much to talk about.
Its a pity that the promos of the film pretty much disclose the core plot of the love story because in the absence of that big reveal, the audience pretty much goes through the first half of the film knowing what the story is building up to and that makes the first half of the film a little tedious honestly. The movie truly begins post intermission, and with that the screenplay takes off at a different level altogether. Beautifully etched together and tightly woven between plots and sub plots the movie flows quite seamlessly.
The scenes that deal with the backstory have been beautifully written and depicted.
The other highlight of the screenplay is that it has etched all the supporting casts rather well - they come together as a delightful ensemble and pretty much keep the movie afloat in first half, when pretty much nothing consequently is happening otherwise.
On Screen play i would give the movie a score of 3 out of 5.
PERFORMANCES
I love films where supporting cast has well defined characters and an opportunity to lend their flavour to the film - Dum Laga ke Haisha, Badhai Ho, Andhadhun.... ELKDTAL (acronym for the movie i am reviewing!!) joins this illustrious bunch in this regard.
Anil Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao, Juhi Chawla, Seema Pahwa, Brijendra Kala are all brilliant as always!
Even Abhishek Duhan (i dont think i have seen him in a film before) was a perfect casting as the brother and did not take an off step from his character. Regina Cassandra was another perfect cast - in a very short role she was delightful. She shares all her scenes with Sonam Kapoor and in each scene, one can safely say, she outshines Sonam Kapoor.
Sonam as the principal character, unfortunately, is flat and uni-dimensional.
She does her role ok, but misses the opportunity such a powerful role offers to lift the film overall.
One must acknowledge that it is a daring role to perform, one that many mainstream actors or actresses may not have the guts to take on. On that count i give her credit. Of the current lot of actresses she has the strongest track record of performing in female-centric films (Neerja, Aisha, Khoobsurat...)
Overall on Performances i would go for 3.5 out of 5.
To support cast a strong 4 but to Sonam's weak performance pulling down the overall score.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
A story based in a small town becomes especially challenging as one has to create the "mahaul" of that small town. This has been quite ably done by the team - the houses, gallis, terraces and the overall look and feel of the film is bang on and refreshing!
Music is good and in the right amounts - no unexpected disruptive songs.
Overall a good effort which raises the movie. To the technical team i give 4 out of 5.
Overall - ELKDTAL has a lot of things that work for it and a few critical things that don't. But what makes it a "must see" is the daring bold subject that it deals with. Yes the movie does give in the bollywood cliches and yes it does serve a bitter pill quoted in saccharine-sweet bollywood formula but that pragmatism is essential for a commercial film in a country where masses are yet to mature to deal with such subjects with sensitivity. Yes, this film is a test to our sensibilities, the grave scene where the principal character reveals her "sach" to another character, evoked laughter in the hall!
It is that laughter that makes it essential for each and every one of us to take the first step in the direction of knowledge - watch "Ek Ladki ko dekha to aisa laga".
Overall - 3.5 stars!!
No comments:
Post a Comment