Movie Review of the Week
"Lucky"
You tend to expect the moon when a keenly-anticipated film hits the marquee.
And if the film is produced by an actor's production outfit, with the
leading
music
company as partners, the expectations are enormous, gargantuan, gigantic.
LUCKY, directed by debutante
Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, is amongst those films that is expected to bail
the film industry out of its crisis. With millions invested in the
enterprise, a lot is at stake for sure.
LUCKY has its share of plusses and minuses…
You do encounter roadblocks as you embark on the journey called LUCKY, but
despite the obstacles [in the first half specifically], the final outcome is
fulfilling enough.
Mercifully, LUCKY works primarily because of four factors -
-
>> Breath-taking locales of Russia. The film makes a
tremendous visual impact.
-
>> Adnan Sami's music. The mellifluous tunes linger in
your thoughts even after the show has concluded.
-
>> Fresh pairing. The on-screen chemistry between Salman Khan and Sneha
Ullal is endearing.
-
>> Vibrant action [Mahendra Verma, Sergei, Oleg]. You really don't mind
the gun-shots and blasts, for a change!
Most importantly, LUCKY
heralds the arrival of two talented names - Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru.
Yes, the duo falter in the writing department [the screenplay could've been
taut and the dialogues classier], but the impact they create in the
post-interval portions deserves praise.
Set against the romantic and majestic backdrop of St. Petersburg, LUCKY is a
tale of love that brings together two people who probably wouldn't have met
if not destined.Lucky [Sneha Ullal] is the quintessential dreamer - soft,
beautiful and gentle. Her one big belief is that if you search from the
bottom of your heart, you will find not just the rainbow, but also the crock
of gold at the end of the rainbow.
One fine morning Lucky is riding to school, praying that she clears her
test, scheduled on that date. But her journey to school becomes her
desperate journey of survival.Caught unawares by an unexpected wave of
insurgency in St. Petersburg, Lucky tries to reach for safety. As dread and
fear overtake, she meets a stranger, a fellow countryman Aditya [Salman
Khan], who's smart, wicked, charming.They have nothing in common. She's
excessively naïve and he blasé. They are bound together by just one common
goal - to reach home safely.
And now begins an unforgettable journey, from burning highways and moldy
cemeteries to abandoned theaters and icy snowdrift.
A
journey where violence and tragedy stalk them constantly…As they march
through savage ambushes and the icy wilderness of a foreign land, they
discover the limit of their endurance. Amidst all commotion, an Intelligence
guy, Colonel Pindidas Kapoor [Mithun Chakraborty], helps them reach
home.It's common knowledge that a love story works if and only if it's high
on emotional quotient. And the moments linger in your memory. LUCKY walks
into your heart gradually!
The film starts off well, but the story comes to a screeching halt the
moment Salman and Sneha find themselves stranded in a cemetery. The
conversations between Salman and Sneha at this juncture are dull and boring,
which is a glaring flaw from the writing point of view. The grip is clearly
missing! But the pace picks up gradually in the post-interval portions. And
it gets all the more engrossing the moment Salman and Sneha are held
captives by the terrorists. From thereon, right till the finale, LUCKY goes
higher and higher on the graph.
If Radhika and Vinay score as technicians - the film wears a Hollywoodish
look all through - they don't deserve as many marks as writers. From the
writing point of view, Mithun looks more like a buffoon than an intelligence
officer. Also, you often wonder how Mithun reaches the right place at the
right time - there're no explanations offered!
Besides, what is the idea behind making the characters talk in Russian to a
large extent? Fine, it has to look authentic, but sub-titles for such
sequences are a must. How do the makers expect the Hindi-speaking audiences
to fathom what's being discussed time and again? Even the dialogues [Milap
Zaveri] are pedestrian at times and oft-repeated at places. The dialogue
writer is at a loss while penning some mushy, romantic, sensitive
one-liners.
Despite the hiccups, Radhika and Vinay have handled most parts of this
'offbeat' love story well. Every frame looks well worked upon and the two
principal performances are worth noting. Adnan Sami's music is
soul-stirring. 'Jaan Meri Ja Rahi Sanam', 'Sun Zara', 'Lucky Lips', 'Chori
Chori' and 'Shayad Yehi To Pyaar Hai' are tunes that you'd want to hum again
and again.
The impact of the music is elevated thanks to the lavish picturizations.
Cinematography [Sudeep Chatterjee] is award-worthy. The locales of Russia
enhance the impact to a major extent. Background music [Monty] makes a
valuable contribution as well.
Salman Khan goes over-the-top in the first few reels, but he delivers a
knockout performance in the second half. Looking dapper [as always!], the
actor handles the emotional part with amazing maturity. Sneha Ullal is
photogenic, acts confidently and most importantly, looks the character - a
school girl. Her sequences with Salman, in the post-interval portions
especially, are cute. Mithun Chakraborty does not deliver. His portions seem
forced in the screenplay. Kader Khan is wasted. Vikram Gokhale, Navni
Parihar and Ravi Baswani are adequate.
On the whole, LUCKY works for the aforesaid four reasons [fresh pairing,
soul-stirring music, vibrant action and breath-taking locales]. And with
terrific promotion undertaken by T-Series, besides no major opposition for
the next two weeks as well as commencement of summer vacations, LUCKY should
keep its investors in the plus, from the business point of view