Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Madhur's Heroine...or Kareena's?


This was the mellow view from my suite at Ganga Kutir. Lovely, isn't it? A gently receding monsoon... Baul singers in the courtyard, and pretty fishing boats making their way up the narrow creek. *************** This appeared in Bombay Times today..... What went wrong with ‘Heroine’…. “I feel happy when you hate my film….then I know it will be a hit,” said Madhur Bhandarkar to me recently… and we both laughed at the irony. I like Madhur a lot - he is gutsy, self made and his movies are his own.Importantly, he doesn’t clone anybody else’s style. Madhur has created his own genre, his own brand - take it or leave it. Madhur’s movies follow a simple, or rather, a simplistic path – he picks a field ( fashion, society, corporate life, bars ) and constructs an unwieldy narrative around the central character – generally a luscious lady. Sometimes, this singular approach, devoid of complexity or insights, works big time ( ‘Chandni Bar’), sometimes it collapses on itself. In his latest, ‘Heroine’ , Madhur has overplayed his card, in that he has cannibalized his own. Dangerous! Very dangerous. You don’t devour your contemporaries and not pay the price… remember the old dog-eat-dog theory? This, in an industry that is known for its lopsided loyalties and absurd protectiveness. Fraternity is fraternity, howsoever hypocritical that sounds. Madhur has ruffled far too many feathers in ‘Heroine’. No problem… had the movie been a super hit. Success silences detractors like nothing else. Since the boast was that ‘ Heroine’ would be the first female-driven Bollywood movie to crash through the 100- crore ceiling, its lukewarm box office performance has Madhur’s rivals on a rampage. The knives are out … and that is how the cookie crumbles in this business. Madhur’s a tough guy and he’ll take the attacks in his stride. He has seen worse. But it would be worth asking himself where he went wrong. The starting point for the required introspection should be the clumsy script, the loose story line, the lack of attention to details ( Chateau Margaux on ice ???? Ouch!), and an over indulgent , almost arrogant approach to the subject. Had it been any other actress but Kareena Kapoor, the film would have collapsed on the first day itself. If people are still watching it with interest, it is for Kareena. Her stellar performance as Mahi keeps viewer interest afloat and frankly, it is too heavy a burden for any single individual to bear. The rest of the characters are almost laughable in their one-dimensional, caricatural monotony.Take away Kareena’s incandescent beauty and passionate, almost flawless interpretation of a really poorly written role, and what do you have? Cartoons babbling away in a movie that’s defined by incoherence and ineptness. By the end of this over long, over wrought,tedious exercise, one feels like groaning, “ Babes…. please spare us further torture!” *************** After a really bad spell of cop baiting, our Mumbai Police have finally redeemed themselves a little in the eyes of citizens. On the fifth day of the ongoing Ganesh Festival, several people called to compliment the efficient handling of traffic and other arrangements. It goes to show that with the right leadership, our vardiwallas are capable of excellent results. Well done! *********** The best way to celebrate Gandhiji’s birthday on 2nd October is to put on your running shoes and head towards the BKC complex for Mumbai’s first 10 km walkathon ( fitter individuals are free to jog the distance). ‘Footsteps4good’ is driven by the diminutive Jill Beckingham, who has succeeded in benefitting several NGOs through this initiative. 700 supporters ran last year. Many more are expected this year. All it takes is a big heart and a small donation to a charity of your choice. Go for it, Mumbaikars!

13 comments:

Divya (Virmani) Chadda said...

Mrs. De, I was waiting for your article on Heroine. I didn't like the film that much. It was so not a Madhur film. The previous films have raised his bar and he fell flat with this one. Main reason could be that Ash walked out of the film. I'm sure he wrote the script with Ash in his mind. Kareena did play the role well, but of course Ash would've made this movie a blockbuster hit!
And, I was highly disappointed with the ending. I mean com'on, what was he thinking?
Here's my blog on Barfi and Heroine! http://divyavirmani.blogspot.com/2012/09/barfi-heroine.html
Would love to see your comment on it! :)

goodluck said...
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goodluck said...

Anti Kareena people had a field day pulling down the movie and gloating. Inspite of collective vitriolic treatment, the film did decent business. Itis not a failure per se. It shows the ugliness of fans who want their Vidya, their Ash, their Priyanka. This reminds me of Mera Naam Joker which was teared down by every streetside yokel just to laugh at late Raj Kapoor. It is ironical that his grand daughter is facing the same situation now.

goodluck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I Agree It was only kareena who did her job best.I ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ you kareena

ekta khetan said...

This heroine was reduced to vamp by its own script.

Read my review at- http://ektakhetan.blogspot.in/2012/09/heroine-movie-review.html

Website and Printing Solutions said...

I haven't seen the movie, but i have heard its a mixture of fashion, page3 and previous madhur bhandarkar movies
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WhencutGoddamn said...

I didnt like the movie at all. I thought it was quite a disappointing film!

Read my review here:

http://gaddamvenks.blogspot.com/2012/09/heroine.html

ekta khetan said...

Kareena was madhur' heroine who he just badly utilized in this sordid movie...More on my review here-

http://ektakhetan.blogspot.in/2012/09/heroine-movie-review.html

Arjun Narayanan said...

The first female centric film to crash into the 100 crore club was The Dirty Picture and later, there was Kahaani as well, which raked in 104 crores. Even if Heroine had well, it would have been the third film to do so

Shantheri Mallaya said...

Very well said, Ms De.. some of my views here http://compashan.blogspot.in/2012/09/heroine-classic-gone-awfully-wrong.html

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

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