London Dreams Movie Review

This is an average film for those who don’t mind a bizarre story, sitting through a long (almost three hours) film and Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, the two lead characters. For those who shy away from Bollywood kitsch, this film is bad.

The major problem with this film (directed and produced by Vipul Shah)  is the mismatch between the actors and the story. The story is about two young aspiring youngsters, Arjun (Ajay Devgan) and Mannu (Salman Khan) who enter the world of pop music and form a band which plays Indipop. What is completely unbelievable is to see two middle-aged men playing this role. They look middle-aged, particularly Salman. This is a film which called for young actors. The days when middle aged actors in the film industry played young men in their twenties is long gone. Thankfully Asin, who plays the role of Priya, a part of the band, looks her part. However her characterisation is woefully inadequate. She comes across as a paper cut-out. Not that the characterisation of the other two is anything special. They come across as unbelievable characters.

Another drawback of the film is that although the film is about music, it isn’t really about music. One keeps getting the feeling that Arjun, who wants to make it in the music world, wants success, and it is not music that he is passionate about. This is so unlike Rock On, where all the characters’ lives revolve around music! I am sure that the director wanted to convey the impression that the film is about music, but it didn’t come through, not through the characters. And then, when a film is about music, one expects awesome music. While the music is good (Shankar Ehsaan Loy) , it is nowhere near awesome. Again, I couldn’t help comparing it to the music of Rock On.

The theme of this film is a good one. It’s about how the relationship between two friends changes once they grow into adults and enter the same profession. It is also about how one can sabotage one’s own success because of one’s own insecurity and jealousy. Being successful is all about concentrating on one’s success, not destroying another’s. The film is also about the self-centeredness of one friend and the selflessness of the other. The theme is an interesting one, but executed poorly. Sure, the film is not an absolute bore (again, if you don’t mind Bollywood) but it did drag in several places. It was too long.

I don’t know why directors continue to make films where the “hero” acts in a crass way with women, even in 2009. Sure, the “hero” who does this in the film is a village bumpkin but why portray villagers this way? I mean, making lewd remarks, staring up their skirts (even in adulthood), staring at their bodies in an obvious way and propositioning every good looking woman? There is also another guy in the band who refers to women as “butter chicken” and this is supposed to be humour, but when will directors realise that women don’t find this type of humour funny. The scene in which Mannu is shown misbehaving with an airhostess, in real life, the airhostess would have complained to the Captain and the person would have been offloaded or perhaps cuffed to his seat.

All in all, this film is an avoidable one. The most stupid thing about it is the story. Yes, there is a story, but it’s too ridiculous to even mention.

(Movie poster is from bollywoodworld.com)

Related Reading: All Movie Reviews