There’s a famous, clichéd Bollywood film scene, which involves a heroine riding a rebellious and out-of-control horse. Following close behind is a good-looking, brave hero who jumps to her rescue. This sequence has been adapted frequently in 1990s cinema, buying into the stereotype of a hatta-khatta boy falling for a damsel in distress.
Barely 10 seconds into the trailer of Vikas Bahl’s Shaandaar comes the big reveal that the audience is getting none of that. We are introduced to Jaginder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor) — the film’s hero, and Alia (Bhatt), the baby of the family. The setting is a destination wedding in Leeds, UK.
The story revolves around Alia’s elder sister’s wedding, where Joginder is the wedding planner, and we are shown snippets of the crazy family during an even crazier wedding journey. Pretty much like a big-budget Band Baaja Baraat.
The trailer grabs your attention within seconds, and it soon becomes clear that this isn’t the same old love story albeit slightly repackaged.
While Shahid still looks like the brave hero with chocolate-boy looks, and Alia still has glimpses of the glamorous, but cute heroine, what works in the film’s favour is how everything just seems so effortlessly put together.
But most of all, what is commendable about the trailer is the sparkling chemistry between Alia and Shahid, and more so between Shahid and real-life father Pankaj Kapoor. The affable chemistry between the lead pair will make you wonder why they were never paired together before. And even though Shahid and Pankaj don’t play father and son in Shaandaar, their interactions will make you laugh out loud.
We’re just hoping there are more scenes between Alia and Pankaj. Meanwhile, Sanjay Kapoor makes an appearance in the film too, but we’re not too excited about that. The director has set the bar quite high for Shaandaar, especially since it is his first film post-Queen.
Shaandaar is set to release on 22 October, 2015. Watch the trailer here:
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