Review: Luck By Chance- It Smiles! review
There are some stories that we all have heard, yet we like to hear them again and again. Especially if the stories are that of fairylands such as Bollywood. Debutante director Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance is one such story of an ordinary boy and his meteoric rise in the world of Hindi cinema that's as novel as a fable.
Hindi film industry likes to look back at itself, at least on the screen. We've recently seen two such films-director Farah Khan's "Om Shanti Om" and Sudhir Mishra's "Khoya Khoya Chand". While OSO was a boisterous celebration of Hindi cinema narrative and characters. Mishra was preoccupied with people and their psychological landscape. Luck By Chance, attempts to be an incisive look at the film industry and capture the human side of it, as expected from the producer duo of Ritesh Sidhwani-Farhan Akhtar, the film succeeds to quite an extent.
The protagonist of Luck By Chance Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar), is a Delhi boy who has come to Mumbai to act in films. Bubbling with confidence and craving for success, he looks at every knock at the door as an opportunity. At the other end of the spectrum are two women-a star kid Niki (Isha Sharvani), every frame of whose career is scripted by her ex-star mom, Nina Walia (Dimple Kapadia) and Sona Mishra (Konkona Sensharma), a Kanpur girl who is doing "B" and "C" grade films in the hope that her "producer friend" will make a film casting her in the lead role someday.
The story of stardom glitters with stars. In the very first scene post opening credits we see Amir Khan enacting a role in a period piece against aspiring Sona, who says later that since this role offered three shots against Amir, that is why she agreed for it! Towards the end Shahrukh Khan appears as himself, giving pearls of wisdom to Vikram, who is soaked in his newly found success. Vikram has got the role that reining star Zaffar Khan (Hrithik Roshan) has left midway to act in a Karan Johar flick. Karan comments "Every time a star refuses a role because its against the conventions, a newcomer gets a chance."
Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor and Ranveer Kapoor appear as themselves. The ensemble of guest stars does one thing, we are convinced that it's a "real" story of the real film industry.
Characterization and casting are the strong aspects of the film. Rishi Kapoor is a big ticket producer of the industry, who represents R&R Banner. Dimple Kapadia is star of yesteryear, with a past much talked about. Sanjay Kapoor plays an actor who wasn't much successful hence is now trying his luck in directing. Anurag Kashyap plays a scriptwriter and Hrithik Roshan is a superstar-Zaffar Khan.
Despite moments of slackness, the film has been crafted well and editing is tongue-in-cheek.
Rishi Kapoor delivers a terrific performance as a film producer, who is both almighty and vulnerable.
A major strength of the film lies in the script. Zoya Akhtar follows the rulebook (or probably consults her father; iconic writer Javed Akhtar) and presents a script that's convincing. Characters are well crafted with their back stories. However, often it seems Zoya follows scripting conventions with such a precision that it's not difficult to guess what follows next in the film!
There is as interesting scene in the film where a Bollywood producer meets the new age corporate studio for funding. The executive asks for "property", that leaves the poor producer befuddled, this is when he is explained that in Hollywood, script is referred to as property. In the second encounter, the studio executive has learned the ways of Hindi film industry and asks for stars instead of "property".
Well, Zoya's debut film is rich in "property" and it has plenty of stars that makes it definitely worth a watch.
[rating:3]
Comments( 16 )
Great review Bikas..will watch it and
Great review Bikas..will watch it and comment more tonight/tomorrow.
A very good review Bikas !! Really
A very good review Bikas !! Really liked it.
Hope to catch the flick asap.
Interesting! I am looking forward to
Interesting! I am looking forward to watching this film after ur review...Its afterall one of the few ones thats managed to pass through your critical judgements unscathed:-)
Nice review Bikas...Although the film
Nice review Bikas...Although the film is simple and predictable, it has some funny moments...Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia have done a very good job....Like Pinki (Rishi Kapoor's sister in law in the film) Zoya Akhtar has done a fantastic casting job in Luck By Chance.
Thanks Anu, Pranjal, Narain, Payal,
Thanks Anu, Pranjal, Narain,
Payal, good to know you've restored faith in my "critical judgment". The film is definitely worth a watch :smile:
Aniruddha, Pranjal, do write back what you think of the film once you've seen it.
Vikas ( I insist on spelling your name
Vikas ( I insist on spelling your name correctly---unBongly)
We saw this delightful , yet meaningful, realistic movie yesterday.
Your review is comprehensive, except that there is no assessment of the most lingering character---ISHA SHARVANI. She has indeed poured life in the character she plays & given a stellar, plausible& laudable performance.A promising addition to the new breed of young actresses indeed .
BTW Is she really the daughter of daksha Sheth the illustrious Gujju danseuse?
Yes Ramesh, Isha Sharvani delivers a
Yes Ramesh, Isha Sharvani delivers a wonderful performance. She's also rightly cast. I think acting is one of the high points of the film. Yes, according to wikipedia, she's the daughter of Daksha Seth.
BTW, the correct spelling of my name is Bikas, bongly or unbongly :smile:
Nice movie. Got some real light stuff
Nice movie. Got some real light stuff every now and then, but breaks out of the conventional bollywood film industry stories through some extraordinary direction.Zoya does not look like she is a newbie at all!Way to go gal.
A good review Bikas. This movie
A good review Bikas.
This movie gives more of an insight regarding the industry and a struggling new actor who knocks on doors.
The characters, I think are also very believable in this and a movie that was worth watching. Another thing that I did notice was the name of Amit Paul as a playback singer. He did participate in Indian Idol as contestant previously and it was only last week that I had heard that Javed Akhtar, also a judge on the show, had given him this opportunity.
I think that Zoya Akhtar has done a very good job with this - her directorial debut and she is another "feather in the cap" as a female director in this industry.
hey Bikas...really liked the crisp
hey Bikas...really liked the crisp review. But why did u give three stars only:-( . dying to see farhan in the movie.
A talk point has been inserted in the
A talk point has been inserted in the Forum section, under "Bollywood."
http://dearcinema.com/discuss/?forum=6&page=1
@Pratik, thank you. Thank you
@Pratik, thank you.
Thank you Rachna, three stars because its a good film. Farhaan does a good job. Watch out for Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. Especially Kapoor who delivers a great performance.
A delightful film.. and a
A delightful film.. and a straightforward and fair review.. I only wonder how budding aspirants to the film world will take this rather no-holds-barred look at behind-the-scenes Bollywood.. for us somewhat jaded and distanced and reluctant insiders it is deliciously tongue in cheek and also shows sparks of true talent.. some moments are indeed memorable..
Joy
A wonderful review Bikas! Here, I'm cut
A wonderful review Bikas! Here, I'm cut off from the buzz of Bollywood and mostly watch them if you/Dear Cinema recommends them and the trailers make sense. It was a good debut, the thinking touches and the stars playing themselves would fetch audiences and hence money. Rishi Kapoor takes the cake though. Such a cute character! I think it's his most memorable performance since his first appearances in Bobby and Mera Naam Joker. Coming to think of it, it's pretty poignant that the film is made by a star kid herself and has a parade of star kids too! Quite a downer for starry-eyed Bollywood aspirants.
@Joy, thank you for your comment. The
@Joy, thank you for your comment. The behind the screen stories of Bollywood are part of now urban lore. So though through films and gossip columns but every aficionado knows quite much about how industry works. Luck by chance, will surely help aspirants learn better the ways of the industry :smile:
@Ritu, thanks for your comment. Completely agree on Rishi Kapoor's performance, a truly memorable one. Star kids know the industry better because they've better access to it from an early age, no harm laughing with them :lol:
True:)
True:)