Cast – Shah Rukh Khan, Sayani Gupta, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Yogendra Tiku
Director – Maneesh Sharma
Screenplay by – Habib Faisal
It was pretty tough for me to gather my thoughts and views about this film and thinking clearly as to what was good and what was not. I came out of the theatre pretty dissatisfied, not knowing what was wrong.
The film is about this fan and star relationship gone awry, and is a different film no doubt. It not only has a different story but is also straight as a stick with no side-tracks, no heroine, no song.
What stands out for sure is Shahrukh’s performance. After a long long time, one gets to see him sans histrionics, hamming, melodrama and his larger than life characters.
The way he portrays his look alike fan is not just about prosthetics and make up but the way he’s worked on the body language and mannerisms. Also appreciable is the camerawork that shows the fan character of a smaller and leaner frame but nothing that has not been seen before (remember Paa).
There is a certain unpredictability about what happens next but only in bits and patches. There is certain amount of thrill including a few good chases.
But with this, I run out of my good things list.
What’s definitely lacking is credibility in a lot many portions. There are gaping loop holes in logic. And there’s an overall flatness and sense of boredom to the film that I find difficult to explain. Nowhere in the film I felt involved with any of the characters, which is a must to take you on highs and lows.
It was a dissatisfying product from a director who has given likes of Band Baja Baraat.
Of course we could see that the story had a novelty value and people would see Shahrukh the actor after a long time (since Chak de and Swades)… but viewers would need much more than that to complete the experience.
I would rate it 5.5 on a scale of 10.