Hawaizaada

Directed by: Vibhu Puri

Starring: Ayushman Khuranna, Pallavi Sharda, Mithun Chakraborthy

Released: 2015

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Loosely based on the life and alleged achievements of Shivkar Talpade, who is sometimes credited as a maker of the first unmanned plane, which he supposedly constructed with the help of Vedic texts as leads for proportions and materials, Hawaizaada is a product with an ambition to be part Lagaan, part Bollywood extravaganza. I would have enjoyed the film a lot more if it didn´t feel like a huge Saawariya hangover. Mind you, Saawariya is to me a gem of a film, one of my most favourite movies ever. But here the inspiration with Bhansali style of making films is so rampant it actually out-Bhansalies the Bhansali. The one thing missing though is the mystery, atmosphere and deep feeling of it all. Cinematography is stunning and details poetic and wonderful, yet the picturesque beauty lacks soul.

Not only the fairytale-like, colour-harmonized sets larger than life feel familiar. Ayushman Khuranna as Shivy feels familiar too. As if "Raj" from Saawariya just stepped into another story with a different face. They are both young, carefree, optimistic and playing instruments, not worrying of where they are to sleep tonight or what tomorrow will bring. They both fall for a girl who is beautiful in a second, and she becomes their obsession. Where Ranbir was believable in the role, Ayushman does not strike the chord. Perhaps my knowledge of his previous movies interfered too much with the innocence shown here, and so I was simply not convinced, even less so during his weeping scenes. As the film progresses, Ayushman´s over the top act gets actually really annoying. The exumberant, forced smiles, the constant shaking of the head and stubbornly repeated sentimental lines – Shivy with his head of artificial curls has nothing on Ranbir´s Raj. Pallavi Shardha is a girl who I think is destined to be lost to Bollywood viewers soon, simply because she just has hardly any screen presence. Unless luck smiles upon her, I don´t think she will stick around for long as a lead actress.

Then there is of course Mithun Chakraborthy, a man grossly underrated because once upon a time 80s happened to him. I cannot say a bad word about him, and if there is any failing with his character of Shastry, just pin it on the screenplay please.

Clearly, the film was meant to boost some patriotism, being after all set at the time of British dominance over India. And so you can be sure there are petty English officers (awful actors) speaking awful Hindi - even among themselves, and some big patriotic speeches and mottos. I like patriotism, just in films it sometimes gets too much. Hawaizaada does overstep the line, more dramatically as it goes on. Furthermore: I am not keen on technical aspects of building planes, but the movie made it look as easy as nailing few boards together. It takes one particularly harmless bomb to set free and flee with a prisoner right from a courtroom, and the British only find out hours (days?) later. Well, no wonder, since they also apparently have no idea where to look for the guy, even though he lives on a big-ass ship that keeps the lights on and is clearly inhabited.

Better, tighter screenplay and more emphasis on the conflict between love for a girl and dedication to a teacher and friend could have made Hawaizaada a very good film in spite of the blatant ripping off of Saawariya. As it is, it does not deserve more than an average rating.  

Nautanki Saala!

Directed by: Rohan Sippy

Starring: Ayushman Khuranna, Kunal Roy Kapoor

Released: 2013

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Not too long ago Sonali Bendre said she is not vying for lead roles since quite often the most interesting part is of somebody else in the film. While I sense Sonali might have said that simply because she is no longer offered lead roles, there is some truth to her statement and Nautanki Saala is a clear proof of the same theory. After winning accolades and hearts as Vicky Donor, Ayushman Khuranna was one of the most watched out for newcomers. Sadly his second big screen venture did not really go according to plan at the box office. And you can´t really blame the audience. People do not buy tickets to the bored.

A successful theater actor and director RP saves an unknown young man from commiting suicide by hanging, and to prevent him from trying again he takes him home, thinking everything will be fine by morning. However Mandar – the saved one – not only has no interest to move on from the tragedy that struck him (girlfriend challi gayi. Blah. And here I was rooting for something really depressing), but it also turns out he has nowhere to go, nothing to do and basically actually is as useless as he claims to be. RP is determined to help, much to the protests of his girlfriend, who, unlike him, can see Mandar for what he really is – a whiny baby, selfish and absorbed in self-loving. RP gets him a job in the theater (and as a lead actor in his own play – talk about confidence) and lets him live in his own flat. After a while even he is tired of Mandar, who is failing in every single department of life, and decides to put him and Nandini, the girl behind the suicide, back together. But dil to paagal hai and RP falls for the girl himself....

It all starts on a rather promising note. The first twenty or so minutes I found genuinely funny, but after it starts slowing down more and more and more.... so after what feels like an eternity, during which your head keeps dropping and eyes keep closing, you FINALLY reach a climax, that just happens, no explanations needed apparently. The greatest flaw (if you have not noticed from my complaining already) is the snail speed, which result in excrutiatingly boring wait for things to move on. Considering the running time is only 2 hours, this is just unforgivable. While it was really funny in bits, the boredom ultimately overpowers all.

Ayushman was my favourite new comer last year, but Nautanki does nothing to support my liking for him. He doesn´t really have that much of a role when I think about it, does not go through any development as a character. As I have mentioned above, he is a lead, but everybody else is more interesting. Kunal Roy Kapoor looked extremely ...... dirty and sleazy. And Abhishek Bachchan´s appearance is one of the most lukewarm cameos ever. Even the music is average - with the exception of So Gaya Yeh Jahan and Dhak Dhak, which are both just copies, and now even incorporated in the film. Waste of time, really.