Begin the count....How many times have you seen and heard the story of the bechara struggler who leaves his home town with a tooth brush in his backpack and a bag full of dreams that can only be fulfilled in maximum city, Mumbai. And then, how many times have you seen him eventually rise like the Phoenix over a relentless period of struggle which has him being shunted out of producer's offices, battling with rejection slips, shedding a salty tear of desperation on the salty sea front or giving himself some pep talk when the going gets really tough.
Umpteen times. And that's where Ken Ghosh's film slips. For, it offers you nothing new in terms of the script which ends up as the weakest link in this entire show. Sadly, it follow all the predictable twists and turns that comprise the star-is-born story. Yes, super-talented Sam (Shahid Kapoor) does leave his dad (Parikshat Sahni) to sell saris in saddi Dilli, in order to become an actor in big, bad Bollywood, minus a godfather and a grand daddy. Yes, he bides his time making low brow lungi ads and pitching in as a courier boy, hoping the empty promises of stardom might just come true. And yes, they do come true, but only after a prolonged period of struggle which goes through the usual grind of hunger, a homeless and penniless state.
Yet, what makes this film watchable is the passion that Shahid Kapoor injects in his delineation of Sam, the struggler with stars in his eyes. May be, it's the autobiographical strains of the film -- the advertisements, the dance school, the chorus boy act, the no-godfather syndrome -- that stoke the fire in him. But there is a ring of sincerity and authenticity in his `Hi, I'm Sameer Behl and this is my number, Sir,' stuff during the sundry auditions that seem to be going nowhere. Also, the interactions with the school kids, when he tries to make a living as a dance teacher, has a spontaneity about it. Again, perchance spilling over from his days with Shiamak Davar. The initial I-hate-kids attitude is absolutely delightful -- and refreshing -- too. Add to this the effervescence of Genelia as Tina, the scooty-riding choreographer who thinks from her heart and you have an adequate medley of some moments of fun, fuzz and fantastic moves on the dance floor. Although, we do confess the audio track (Pritam Singh, Adnan Sami, Ken Ghosh, Sandeep Shirodkar) isn't much to boast about, considering the film is actually conceptualised as a musical.
Read more from HERE
Actually Om Shanti Om showed a struggling extra who dies struggling, and that as a superstar one has to be born into a star family!! Much more true to reality than the CPD and LBC scenarios that happen once in a blue moon but always happen to OUR HERO.
ReplyDeleteSo, can we count as a ppositive review??
ReplyDeleteTiming of this movie is pitch perfect, college exams over, no biggie in sight, I guess, 3i storm over, I hope, lets see how much Shahid power works here. This is his own territory.
Dance hai smokin',
dance hai moonwalk
na kar bheja fry, just give it a try
Naach bindaas, duniya bhaad mein jaaye
Shahid - the next superstar - NOT! ;-)
ReplyDeleteClass comment from Taran Adarsh - Parikshat Sahni is getting typecast as the father!! ROFL!!!
ReplyDeleteRaja Sen -
ReplyDeleteSchool of Schlock
A nothing movie with flashes of heart, Chance Pe Dance is a slow, indulgent watch -- meant strictly for the Shahid Kapoor fan.
Judging from the way over a dozen woman gasped as he appeared shirtless (and, naturally, six-packed) in the new film, this is a growing tribe. And while Kapoor might be likable enough to pull off a role in a film that goes nowhere at all, he still doesn't have the screen presence to shoulder a film on his own.
Director Ken Ghosh makes him try, though, setting up convenient loops for Shahid to bound through: he acts, he grins, he dances. Subtle Shahid makes an appearance, as does overdone Shahid, sucking in his cheeks as he pirouettes in front of the mirror. The pretty Genelia [ Images ] D'Souza, pitched over the top in a very weakly written character, just jars.
This is the story of a Bollywood struggler, and it initially feels refreshing to see the leading man be this clueless and this complete a loser. Yet success, which originally evades him -- making him sob -- eventually falls into his lap, and there's no great conflict for this boy who seems wonderfully comfortable living in his car night after night. Clearly, the Mumbai [ Images ] Police loved Kaminey [ Images ] and are letting him be.
Points should then be awarded, I guess, for unpredictability. The struggler doesn't struggle, the heroine doesn't once have an emotional showdown with him, and the smarmy director steps warmly aside to allow the lad a chance -- after all, he spoke about his dearly departed mother so well, didn't he?
Read more from HERE