Rating: ***
Director: R. Balki
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan
Music: iIlayaraja
Duration: 2 hours 33 minutes
Typically, one goes to the movies, based on the appeal of the trailer, the songs, cast, or the director. But, some avoid movies based on these factors too! The trailer of new Hindi film ‘Shamitabh’ was a bit confusing and most people had already written off this movie.So, there were less hopes from this film. However, it turned out to be surprisingly good. It is a delightful movie for Bollywood fans, those who have grown up on Bollywood lore.
What happens when you combine a new actor (Dhanush) with a well-known voice of Amitabh? Well, you get a superstar called Shamitabh! As usual, let us not tell you the story, as it will spoil the fun of the movie.(Suggest, you don’t read any reviews before watching this film!)
The movie starts with the press show for the release of the superstar’s new movie and every question leads to a flashback, which tells about the rise, and rise of the superstar from a very humble beginning. Well, let’s reveal this much, the superstar in the movie is Dhanush! How he becomes Shamitabh from Danish, is revealed in 2 hours and 33 minutes. There are many similarities with Rajnikanth’s life. If you are not familiar with it, you may not enjoy those references.
The film is full of satire on Bollywood and how it functions. How actors choose films, how they succeed, and so many different nuances are shown and questioned. For instance, is the actor’s face more important or his voice for the success of the film? Even though the film is long, Balki manages to throw light on many aspects of Bollywood. By and large, he manages to grab our attention and entertain us throughout the movie.
Amitabh gives an outstanding, awesome, performance. Jokes about his voice too are repeated throughout the film. By the way, his voice is one of the main characters of the film and it is used brilliantly. Dhanush acts the part of Dhanush well (I am criticising him, and our Bollywood style of acting where Sharukh Khan acts like Sharukh Khan in every film!)! Akshara gives an interesting debut performance and is convincing.
Not a fan of illayaraja and was confused with his loud, over-dramatic, music score for this film. The Pidly song is brilliantly picturised and it takes guts to have such a song in the film.
The film is full of humour and satire, but only a class audience or one who is familiar with Bollywood (Amitabh Sir – sorry for using this word) would appreciate the movie.
The movie is surprisingly good and highly entertaining. Watch it!