Daanish, a movie buff from rural Maharashtra, makes a living by helping his mother in a tea-shop. His dream of becoming a Hero in Bollywood, that instigates him to runaway to Bombay, is put on hold as his mother falls sick. With her passing away, Daanish leaves to Bombay to try his luck in Hindi Cinema. With Akshara and Amitabh catalyzing his ups and downs in the industry, Does he shine like a superstar or fade into oblivion like thousands before him?
Language:
Hindi
Running Time:
153 min
Rating:
U/A
Release date:
06 February 2015
Directed by:
R. Balki
Produced by:
Sunil Lulla
R. Balki
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
R. K. Damani
Amitabh Bachchan
Written by:
R. Balki
Starring:
Dhanush
Amitabh Bachchan
Akshara Haasan
Rekha
Abhinaya
Rukmini Vijayakumar
Rajeev Ravindranathan
Music by:
Ilaiyaraaja
Shot by:
P. C. Sreeram
Editing by:
Hemanti Sarkar
Distributed by:
Eros International
MAD Entertainment Ltd

What’s Hot

  • The current industry believes in stars to give a grand opening but its the content which holds the fort till the end. Balki, the man who knows his forte so well chooses to pursue his novel idea from paper to silver-screen and has succeeded to a very great extent as a movie-maker.
  • The buzz that the cast-ensemble created when the trailer released seems to comply with the performances that we see them deliver. All characters share a common sentiment of ‘WANNA-BE’ who strive to perfection and this has driven the actors to push their limits and showcase their capabilities. Dhanush‘s skill is nothing short of surreal art and it goes on to show that he knows when to grab an opportunity that comes his way. Akshara does not stick out as a newcomer and knows where to step down.
  • The music from the Isaignani adds soul to the film. “Stereophonic Sannatta”, a reprise of his earlier work, has a touch of techno and dash of choir singing which makes the tune and song sound so catchy. No wonder Balki chooses to work with the Maestro having a Midas Touch.
  • Though a fully colored feature film, the art direction department explores the color of black, white and shades of yellow a lot. The actor’s house stands testimony to the eye for detail that Niko Kyöstiö has and it looks as if the house has a personality of its own.
  • When two strong personalities compete for greatness, it becomes mandatory for one to put down the other. Though there are multiple scenes where it is conveyed as a physical fight, the clincher is a scene where they write down their part of names on a napkin in different font-size. A simple tongue-in-cheek idea which translates well visually.

What’s Not

  • The supporting characters fizzle out due to the stardom present in the movie. The character of Akshara‘s father is too convenient for the plot to fall into place. The journalist on the other hand is shown to pursue the lead like police-trained sniffer. The necessity of the characters swings between being absolutely deficient and utter exaggeration.
  • Cinema as a medium brings out the best way of storytelling by holistically working out the balance among various departments. With all due respect to the concept of the movie, it has its drawbacks in terms of preposterous movie names and surreal marketing strategy. While a lot of it can be true, having who-who’s of the industry in the kitty, these things could have been portrayed better.
  • A movie-buff would sniffle as the movie reaches the conclusion. Yet somewhere inside this crazy cinema lover, a deep voice would be wrangling the whole team for making few things so outright predictable and taking away those Woah- I-did-not-see-it-coming moments. Sometimes a risk taker falls into this predictable puddle and is painted blue forever.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Shamitabh is yet another promising Balki-Amitabh-Ilayaraja combo, flavored with desirable performances from actors and effort from all departments, yet falling short on its Awe factor by a whisker.