Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivvan Shah, Jackie Shroff
Director: Farah Khan
What’s it about?
HAPPY NEW YEAR directed by Farah Khan has Shah Rukh Khan in lead as Charlie. Charlie is on a revenge mode to avenge his father’s death due to an accused theft of a very precious diamond. He then assembles a team of luckless ‘losers’ to assist him to steal a bunch of diamonds from a big businessman(Jackie Shroff) at the finale of World Dance Championship where the diamond has been planned to be displayed for one night in Dubai. Charlie and his team embark on all the possible ways to get into the finale illegally. Did SRK and his team succeed to get to the finale? Did Charlie get his revenge? What follows is a series of mini-plots, forced humor and unnecessary songs with a huge cast.
Is it good?
Happy New Year never gets itself clear: whether is it a revenge-saga or is it a comedy-drama or a heist movie? In the process of making a perfect Bollywood entertainer, Farah Khan tries to combine all the genres with very less homework and tries to pack it in a naïve way. At the end, it ends up as a 3 hour long drool. Neither it is witty and humorous nor is it as ingenious as a perfect heist movie. It makes you cringe in your seat at times. The only thing that shines in this crass comedy is its conviction in its main plot, to avenge the death of Charlie’s father. The movie takes its time to get on track. All the six characters are introduced in the stupidest way possible and it follows the same old template of any other Bollywood movie. HNY is best in its last 40 minutes or so. Everything comes together well during the heist even though we’ve seen it a million times. Luckily the comedy works well at its final hours!
HNY is a perfect desi product: brilliant cinematography, grand production values, visually appealing cast and extravagant art direction. The songs are splendid in its allure but, in a movie where dance takes the main-stage, it’s a shame on the makers that none of the songs stand out for its choreography. The movie is deeply flawed; thanks to the undercooked script and poorly handled direction. It never works in most parts.
How have they performed?
SRK acts well but his characterization is half-baked and is misplaced at most of the situations. He tries too hard to get every nuance right and ends up over acting at times. For an actor who has the biggest fan base, it is uncanny in every way that why he chooses such scripts despite having the best resources. Abhishek Bachchan gives one of his career best performances in a tricky dual role. He is jocular and humorous in every way. Deepika Padukone’s character falls for a guy who speaks ‘THE ENGLISH’ well. Yes, you heard it right, ‘THE ENGLISH’. She does justice to her part and is at her glamorous best. Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivvan shah and Jackie Shroff play their cards right.
Who should watch?
Fans of SRK, Deepika and those who love commercial cinema. It has everything in it to become a senseless Bollywood mega-hit. Can be seen for the cinematography alone!
Who shouldn’t?
If you’ve seen all the brilliant heist movies, if you aren’t a fan of insensible and naïve commercial cinema, then this one will give you a headache.
Final thoughts:
HNY is pure Blockbuster material. It takes all the cinematic liberties to justify itself in most of its juvenile encounters in its screenplay. The movie entertains in parts and leaves you longing for more. Given such a brilliant cast, team HNY could’ve concentrated to stick to one proper plot. It gets congested and intolerable at times when SRK utters dialogues from his previous films. This isn’t a memorable one for SRK and Farah Khan compared to their last outing Om Shanti Om.
Verdict: Another B-Town movie which exploits the vulnerabilities of the festive season to attract spectators. Utterly disappointing!
Rating: 2/5
Blogger's Delight! 