- SPOILER ALERT -
Okay, so here's the good news: Shahrukh Khan is hot, hot, HOT in this movie. All of the lead-up with concerns that he's too old for this kind of part, and that the girls would look like his daughters: once he rides into the very first scene, it's easy to put all of that out of your head. While he's not exactly believable as a 28-year old, he's not the only one trying to pull that off (yes, Aamir Khan - I'm looking at you and your other 2 Idiots), and frankly, he's better at it than most. And, the world-weary SRK of the present is totally, totally workin' for me. The girls are both absolutely lovely: Katrina Kaif looks as beautiful as I've ever seen her, and Anushka Sharma looks amazing with a body to die for. And great hair. That's important for me - everyone has great hair.
The other high point: the dancing and music. The dancing, while not the technically challenging thing I've seen from this crew, was entertaining and appropriate for the film. Katrina finally shook off some stiffness and really seemed natural in much of the dancing, which is a nice change from Ek Tha Tiger - still can't work out what the hell was going on there. Most of the songs have this great acoustic vibe that works for the movie and for a modern music audience. The song Jiya Re is fabulous: I car-danced like a big fool all the way home from the theater after I bought it on iTunes while the credits were rolling.
So, now the bad news: The story is fairly insane. Now, Yashji, God rest his soul, was never known for the most realistic of stories. A snow-shoveler/street musician/waiter falling in love with a "daughter of the gentry" corporate executive? Okay, fine. Let's go with that. It is, after all, SRK. He's pretty damn hard to resist even as a day laborer, right? That's not the problem. The problem lies in the bargaining with God, then breaking up because God told me to, then I can't come back to London because she thinks I'm cursed, then I really AM cursed because I get hit by a car AGAIN, and then I lose my memory....come on now. I'm tired just typing. The totally overwrought story made it hard to get invested.
And a personal problem for me: I'm just not lovin' Katrina Kaif. It's not her fault, really - it's not like she's done any one thing that I watched and thought, "Oh, Lordy, this is bad, bad, BAD." And there is some naughty chemistry there: it was a little steamy, that's for sure. But I just don't dig it. When the big shocker on-screen kiss happened, I couldn't help but think to myself, "You broke the no-kiss streak with HER?" Totally unfair, I know - it's not as if SRK said to himself, "Yep. This is the one. I'm goin' for it". (Well, at least I HOPE he didn't...) On the other hand, I LOVED Anushka Sharma in this film. Her enthusiasm just lit up the screen, and the chemistry between her and SRK seems sort of soft and gooey, like a hot fudge sundae. I found myself throughout the film futilely rooting for her character Akira. So, while the end was certainly expected, and fitting for the nature of the sweeping "love conquers all" them of a Yashji romance, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that he was crying delicious SRK tears for Katrina. I know, I know! Totally unfair. But there it is.
Having said all that, I'll end with this: it was big, it was fun, it was sweet, and it was chock-full of wide-eyed, lower-lip nibbling, dimple-flashing, sexy beyond words Shahrukh Khan. It's hard to complain too much....there's too much wistful sighing going on. So for that alone, this movie gets an "I'm MUCH too easy to please" two thumbs up.
No comments:
Post a Comment