Besharam Movie Review

Read the Exclusive Besharam Movie Review by Nikhil Arora

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Star-Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Pallavi Sharda, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh

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Director: Abhinav Singh Kashyap

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Producer: Sanjeev Gupta, Himanshu Kishan Mehra

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Duration: 2 hours 22 mins

There is only one section of the audience that could like this movie - Ranbir Kapoor fangirls. If your estrogen is not pumped at the sight of this golden boy, just don’t watch this movie and ruin the image of Ranbir Kapoor in your head.

He is now a bona fide superstar. Then again, he reached here with almost no masala film to his credit (barring a rather mainstream Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, 2009). He has created a niche for himself that transcends to the masses. If you take a look at all the 100 crore grossing films, only 3 Idiots, Bhaag Milkha Baag, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Barfi stand out and don’t look like a superhit formulas on paper. Besharam on the other hand, looks like a formula designed for a box office winner. It is surely going to get a good opening and with no film to compete till Boss releases a fortnight later, it won’t have a dismal total.

Usually a big film that is utter trash (Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara or Himmatwala) fails at the box office after a good opening. If Besharam succeeds, it will be a matter of good timing and/or will prove Ranbir Kapoor’s status as a superstar. Why am I discussing its business prospects more than the film? Well because this is a product, not a film.

I’d still like to believe bad content does not sell. Discuss the film, we must.

When I saw the trailers of Besharam, I liked the way it began with the name Babli flashing on the screen thrice (I chuckled) and the title track announcing a fun masala entertainer. But as the trailer progressed everything just seemed to go wrong. The jokes weren’t funny, the film looked stale and apart from the presence of the Kapoor family, nothing made me want to watch the film. But then there was a part of me that wanted him to succeed with a masala film. I thought he was making a smart move but I wanted to see the film to confirm it. For what it’s worth, at least the trailer does not mislead people. The film is exactly like the trailer. It begins okay, the title track is fun and Ranbir has the chops but then it just goes into a ditch.

The biggest problem with Besharam is the non-existence of a plot. You can’t stretch out a situation and call it a story. The second big problem is the songs. Not just that, there is an overload of songs which act as fillers after every 10 minutes and not a single one of them is good. There are a few funny moments and the character is not a total blunder. He is a cheap sadakchaap, jidda naa haiga Babli. He shows his butt crack openly but uska dil nahi hai, jigra hai jo tootega nahi. In one scene he says “Besharam gaali hai kya?”. His friend replies “Nahi compliment hai”. They both laugh. If anything this means that it doesn’t matter what the the film is about, everything being said about it is redundant. The makers and Ranbir could be laughing their way to the bank. While the classes will entirely reject it, the masses could embrace it. Morning glory, anyone?

Pallavi Sharda is another weak link. The Dabanng director thought he could copy the same formula and make this film work. The newcomer actress is a fail. It could easily be ascertained that it was Salman that made Dabangg work and not Abhinav Singh Kashyap. It could but it doesn’t end there. It’s not that Dabangg had Salman (Ranbir is also a big star) but what Dabangg did, is it used Salman’s assets - what makes him a “hero”. Here, Kashyap is not aware of what makes Ranbir a “hero”. It just doesn’t go with his image. Sorry, Rishi papa and Neetu mummy - yeh aapko bhi shobha nahi deta. I wish Ranbir had done Phata Poster Nikhla Hero. That film’s funny quotient would have doubled and it would have worked.

It’s not that Ranbir can’t do a commercial film. His films have been hits without being full of masala. His audience expects that from him. They don’t want him to beat the other stars at their own game, they want to see him up his game and not succumb to mindless competition.

At the beginning of the review I mentioned that there is only one section of the audience that will could this movie. Although, I believe there is another section, the one that made Grand Masti a big hit. It could happen but I wouldn’t count on it. I guess every actor needs a few failures along the way to contemplate on where you went wrong and reconsider your assets. Till then, we can only wait for Ranbir Kapoor to return to doing what he does best – acting.

Overall Review Verdict: Besharam is boring, banal and just plain bad. A complete misfire.
Ratings: 2/5