Dilwale - gangsta romance tries to be comic caper but fails

 

Image Source: hahaquotes

First things first. It warmeth the cockles of the heart to see Raj and Simran, sorry Rahul and Anjali, oops, Raj and Meera, together again. This is one of the craziest phenomena and I will not try to understand it rationally – it does feel like the world is well again! He looks all vulnerable and real and she is, well, she is Kajol and the best actor we’ve produced in a long, long time.  She is funny, she is smart, she is refreshingly real even in killer heels (pun intended) and she burns the screen with her smoky eyes.

But that’s about all that can be said for this movie that could have done so much more with such a promising story of love, trust, betrayal and redemption but that is handicapped by a conflicted vision of the Director to make this a ‘romantic action musical.’

It makes one wonder why those with access to precious resources – both human and material – can’t do enough homework and critical editing, and if they don’t have anyone who can give honest feedback while making the movie! 

I think the general idea was to make a ‘comic caper' with the younger generation and a sizzling gangster romance with the older couple. The gangster romance sizzles enough thanks to the Kajol-SRK chemistry (and the fortuitous absence of any attempt at OTT dialogue). But the comic caper is more like a disaster. Varun Dhawan looks like he’s been told to play a cheesy almost-good-for-nothing younger brother, without a script. Speaking of which, much of the Sajid-Farhad screenplay is uninspired. The brother sentiment falls flat. The laughs are so passé, you only laugh because you don’t want to ruin the experience for yourself and you decide to be a sport. The comedy track with Boman Irani as the local gangster has you feeling really sorry for him. Also, it beats me why Johnny Lever would agree to do a horrible ‘Madrasi’ stereotype (another ‘Madrasi’ stereotype in an SRK movie)! 

Kriti Sanon is pretty much arm candy. At times, you wonder if Raj and Meera’s mandate was to shelter their siblings not just from their past but from any semblance of normal intelligence. There’s a corny rant where girlfriends are cited as the reason for a guy stealing. I am surprised it hasn’t drawn much flak so far. The guy pretty much says that in the olden days, you could ‘get your date behind the tiles’ with corn-on-the-cob and roadside tea whereas guys had to spend so much today. Leaves you wondering what his definition of a ‘date’ is. What’s worse, the said girlfriend hearing this outburst simply looks guilty-as-charged and helpless.  And the so-called elders seem so understanding of his ‘plight’ that his thieving ways are forgiven and forgotten. Really, Mr. Shetty?

The India sets are so garish it frays your nerves that have so recently been wooed so delicately by the grandeur and beauty of Bajirao Mastani. Someone seriously misinterpreted 'colourful.' What is with a white and blue cakey house with red and green cars outside? It looks like a lego kit got mixed up with a Barbie set! The hardest cut was to have the snazzy Meera walk in and say ‘nice house’ – but perhaps that was the point, that she was so blindly in love. And so must we be, blind to everything else except Raj and Simran, sorry, Rahul and Anjali, oops, Raj and…