Shaandaar Review : Long and boring

Ameet Bhuvan

It takes intelligence and a unique sense of quirk (of the good kind albeit) to imagine fairy tales against the grain they are imagined in generally. With Shaandaar, Bahl attempts just that; only lot more in intent and a lot less in actual content. Shaandaar prods through its running length like an over-decked shaadi ka ghoda that just cannot bear the weight piled on it.

The film takes every single trope of a Disney fairy tale and turns it upside down, almost mocking at their relevance to society and our insistence on adhering to it despite these years. There is a quintessential adopted girl who no one likes except the king, err, the father. A grumpy evil queen of a grandmother and her trusted right hand of a step mom make life miserable for the little princess. So does insomnia. So turning sleeping beauty onto its head, we are presented with a damsel in distress waiting to be put to sleep by her prince charming.

The prince, a commoner- wedding organiser here- does come at the step sister’s wedding and thus begins a love story woven into a destination wedding in some bespoke palace in England no less.

Scene through scene, the writers deconstruct and make fun of every cliché possible in this set up- the damsel dismisses her unwanted status with a shrug and a naughty smile, her mandatory escape into la la land to avoid the discomfort of reality is replaced by a know all awareness and sprightly spunk. Alia Bhat suits this brief perfectly bringing her own brand of vivacious energy to the part.

A good foil to her is the good at heart Shahid who plays the commoner lover’s role perfectly too. He is the one with whom she falls in sleep and dreams for the first time. He is the one who stands up for her sister against her groom, who makes the Princess aware of her origins. He is also the one who cannot even ride a horse well and is afraid of the dark.

Then there are the typical Dharma film tropes that are meddled here with- loud rich families, palaces for homes, destination weddings, sangeet, mehendi and the works. Homosexuals who are stylists, muscle men with empty heads, and a wedding that does not happen- there is even a cameo by KJo himself.

Yet, none of this works cohesively as a single entertaining narrative. The direction is sloppy, the pacing excruciatingly languid, the writing lazy, for most part of the film it seems like one is watching a string of making of videos from the film’s shoot.

That is sad, since the principal actors are a hoot to watch. Alia and Shahid make a good pair, a tad less on chemistry but given a better script that should be taken care of. Pankaj Kapoor is his usual competent self as the soft hearted father. Debutant Sanah Kapoor too impresses. In fact, every one save for the ghastly Sanjay Kapoor are a delight to watch. If only there was something for them to do more than fill silences in seemingly never ending frames and scenes via improv.

Lacklustre songs, uneven editing, weird animation sequences and an inconsistent pitch to the narrative make Shaandaar squander away all its strengths. The most important one of which was the last film of the director Queen, which set expectations high for this one. There were people who walked out right in the interval never to return. There were those who sat through with hand to the forehead, while there were others who were mildly amused. Let me know which category you fell into after you have seen this will you?

Rating: 2.5/5