DDLJ Reloaded!. Review on Veer-Zara

DDLJ Reloaded!

Yash Chopra returns after a long gap to bollywood in a style that he is identified with over the decades! Also, it's the style he is most comfortable with! After making classics like ‘Silsila’, ‘Kabhi Kabhi’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Darr’ and ‘Dil To Paagal Hai’, he is back this time with ‘Veer Zaara’.

Boasting of a starcast consisting of Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Manoj Bajpai, Bomman Irani, Kiron & Anupam Kher and others; Music from the Great Late Madan Mohan, recreated by Sanjeev Kohli; Story, screenplay and dialogues by Jr. Chopra (my namesake) and all these talents directed by the Living Legend Yash Chopra, expecting another classic is normal.

But ‘Veer Zaara’ falls flat in the delivery except for the last 15 minutes. Every frame is inspired by DDLJ. Probably, Aditya Chopra's screenplay had something to do with this.

The immensely famous and stunning SRK-Farida Jalal scene where SRK says,‘Ek pal main beta bana liya, aur doosre hi pal main paraaya bhi kar diya!’ has been tried again here. That's just one of the scenes. So many of the scenes remind you of DDLJ, that you begin thinking that you are about to see ‘Mehendi Laga ke rakhna’ anytime now.

SRK is an orphan brought up by his uncle (Amitabh) and aunt (Hema Malini). Amitabh looks like he has walked onto the sets directly from the sets of the Pepsi advertisement. Hema Malini is good. Now this concept could be branded as innovative if you chose to forget that the hero in DTPH was an orphan and in DDLJ he didn't have a mother! I am wondering what's next?

You can compare this movie to solving a mathematics paper. In the paper, you use formulae in succession to come to your answer and it's the same here. Yash Chopra has used one formula after the other to make this a blockbuster. And every formula is more hackneyed than the previous one and the next one!

I think that Yash Chopra directly set out to make a classic. Instead he should have concentrated on making a good movie, which the people hail as classic... You can never make a classic, you can only make a good movie!

SRK and Preity Zinta and share a chemistry which comes across in patches. I guess the direction is to be blamed here. The pair looked electric together in 'Kal ho na ho'. The direction, however I may not like to believe it, has imbalanced the near perfect equation SRK and Preity showed in KHNH. That's disappointing again.

But SRK has delivered a performance which will be remembered among the best he has. He delivers well as the young Air Force Pilot, but overacts the legs-trembling bit when he has to look old! But that's excusable because the King of Bollywood is handling this part for the first time in his illustrious career spanning over a decade! Isn't that also a pointer to the stereotyping this talented actor has allowed himself into?

Preity is lovable, cute and delivers an intense performance. She shows the necessary depth in the scene with her father and bebe. And shows the chirpiness she is known for in the romantic interludes with SRK which are very few again. Overall, Preity does a good job of what's expected out of her!

Every other actor is wasted in miniscule roles and insignificant dialogues. Characterisation is non-existent beyond SRK and Preity! Rani Mukherjee does well to hold her own in this star-studded cast. She comes across as an extremely natural actor. Kudos to you Rani! Direction well, in the case of Rani Mukherjee, why has the corridor (of the jail) been used as a fashion ramp for Rani? There are atleast three scenes showing her walk from SRK's cell in different angles. Probably, manish malhotra said that these angles would show his costumes the best! And Sr. Chopra thought this is essential for the classic he was making!

Amitabh has been reduced to a caricature. Anupam Kher looks a joker especially when he changes the principles on which he lives life in an instant! Kiron Kher keeps crying throughout. Never got a chance to see her act. Manoj Bajpai is wasted in an extremely miniscule role.. He has a maximum of ten dialogues of one sentence each and he is just given a passing mention in the account of Preity's life. That's a colossal waste.

The music is good in parts. Probably a Jatin-Lalit or a Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy would have added much more freshness to the script. With due regards to the Late Madan Mohan, I didn't find the music even a wee bit enchanting when you compare with the music that Yash Chopra's movies usually have!

The cinematography by Mr. Anil Mehta is good! He captures the picturesque scenery brilliantly! This alone should ring the cash registers in the NRI market!

The screenplay is heavily influenced by DDLJ. Aditya Chopra is still not out of that mode. Dhoom was very good. He probably just produced it and didn't influence the script! I call 'Veer Zaara', DDLJ Reloaded... I am also inspired by Matrix. I guess that's a better thing to be under the influence of!

If you still want to go and watch the movie, then please accept my condolences in advance for the 150 bucks you are going to waste! Instead, please donate it to some charity fund. Atleast some souls will be benefited! Otherwise, ask the ticket counter person if he can give you a ticket for only the last 20 minutes. That's when the whole story starts and begins. Before that its all chitrahaar and Hum aapke hain koun!!! On the whole its DDLJ with the Indo-Pak background.

I read the review at indiafm.com. I must say Yash Chopra has the financial mite to get good reviews! I wouldn't mind some money for writing review for any other yash chopra movie. This is not upto his standards!