Shaandaar
Director: Vikas Bahl
Writers: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur
Strength: Acting, Locations
Weakness: Story
Runtime: 144 minutes
Rating: 3/5
Plot: In the backdrop of a destination wedding in London, two families try to save their respective empires, unbeknownst to each other.
Review: Shaandaarstarts off with a cartoon animation narrated by Naseeruddin Shah, wherein he 'introduces' the audiences to Bipin Arora and his adopted daughter Alia. The animated narration then moves on to a real life 'accidental meeting' between the wedding organizer Jagjinder Joginder and Bipin Arora, when Jaginder's bike crashes into Bipin's car. The story then moves to Isha's destination wedding named 'Shandaar' in the exotic countryside of UK. The whole wedding is nothing but a 'financial arrangement' between Bipin Arora's mother and the 'richy rich' Sindhi family helmed by Harry Fundwani. While everybody is really busy with the wedding preparations, Jagjinder and Alia leave no stone unturned in making Isha feel special. What is the actual relationship between Bipin and Alia, does anyone bother to listen to Isha and her feelings, does Isha ultimately get married into the Fundwani family for her family's sake, what ultimately happens to Jagjinder and Alia's insomnia and do they find a cure for the same through love, is what forms the rest of the film.
It is a genre drama laced with enough wit and sharpness to keep the audience interested in the shenanigans of its likeably goofy characters. While it does not live up to its title as a package, it fulfils much of the expectations that the audience might have from a film produced jointly by Karan Johar on the one hand and Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap on the other. It brings together two different worlds and succeeds in striking a balance between the two. For that, and for much else, Shaandaar deserves hearty ovation.
Reviewed By Intisab Shahriyar
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