Movie Review: Lalit Marathe’s Shabri (2011)

Shabri is a painfully dull and shallow film that fails to engage on any level

Zakir Hussain is the only actor in Shabri whose presence can give the viewer some respite, but what he and the guy who will forever be remembered as Ghajini are doing in this painfully dull movie is something even they might not be able to answer. Lalit Marathe tries very hard to recreate the magic of RGV’s gangster flicks, but there is only one RGV, and there is zero hope for Shabri.

Neither do you feel anything for Shabri nor does her coldness intrigue you, and the other characters are limp and lifeless like the story. The premise sounds exciting, no doubt – Mumbai’s first woman gangster, but the lady ain’t no Satya (or Bhiku Mhatre, if there can be another one), and Shabri is bogged down by the shallow plot and the director shoving close-ups of the actors in your face to make you feel their… whatever they’re feeling.

The screenplay is frustrating, the dialogues have been written thoughtlessly, the acting is directionless, and the twists are laughable.

A drunk cop shoving a rod up a boy’s ass or a matka king ripping an errant subordinate’s ear off with a supari cutter won’t excite anyone in 2011. These things don’t shock anyone when they’re inserted in a movie so low on substance.

Isha Koppikar (or however she spells her name now) barks at people when she’s not expressionless. She is Shabri: an uncouth, gun-toting woman in a tattered saree – a character so ghati unappealing that even RGV might not get turned on by her. Shiney Ahuja might like her, but he’ll lose the erection when this bai lifts her saree and points the gun at him and growls, “Mai tereko boli thi!”

I feel terrible for the filmmaker because this movie should have been released and forgotten when it was made, because multiplex goers won’t want to touch Shabri, and she would’ve stood a better chance with single-screen audiences had they not been gearing up for Salman Khan’s next atrocity.

RATING: 1/5

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Music Review: Ghajini

Film: “Ghajini” (2008)

Actors: “Aamir Khan”, “Asin”

Music: “A R Rahman”

AR Rahman has a knack of hitting just the notes you want to hear, and the tendency to make music that is slightly ahead of its time. The genius’ work was last heard on the soundtrack of Subhash Ghai‘s ambitious Yuvvraaj, which had a couple of memorable songs.

There are six tracks on the music CD of Aamir Khan‘s Ghajini, and one can’t help but notice that many Bollywood soundtracks nowadays have only half a dozen songs or less.

The opener Guzarish is very good modern Bollywood music, very AR Rahman. Javed Ali has sung this (very well!) and Sonu Niigaam is the ‘guest vocalist’. Operatic vocals by Kavita Baliga and mandolins add the required weight to Guzarish. Little wonder then, that this tiny gem from Ghajini is getting heavy rotation on all music channels.

Rahman has made good use of the electric guitar on Aye Bachu. Sung by Suzanne, it has English words inserted in Hindi sentences. The music sounds fresh, but there isn’t anything that makes you come back to the song for a second round.

Kaise Mujhe is an excellent track! Not something that’ll hit you instantly, this song is one of those that grow on you after a few listens. Benny Dayal sings well, and Shreya Ghoshal is even better. Rahman displays tremendous control here, he lets the song spread over time and it’s definitely good to let things settle down on their own instead of being anal about them.

Karthik gives the ‘south Indian film music’ feel to Behka with his vocals, but even the innovative music does not ensure any kind of repeat value to this.

Latoo is alright…Shreya Ghoshal sings this decent but forgettable number.

The instrumental version of Kaise Mujhe is even better…no words being sung here, but Shreya Ghoshal‘s vocals are the perfect layer for this thoughtfully-crafted piece.

The thing with Rahman is the music is always good, but he often fails to hold your attention, and this could be because of his work coming across as half-hearted at times. His control over his art is undoubtable, and his genius undeniable. With Yuvvraaj and now Ghajini, fans of the maestro will just have to wait a bit for him to come up with yet another few masterly pieces of music that’ll blow us away.

Rahman’s score for Aamir’s Ghajini has fresh, innovative modern music and quite a few moments, but it’s not something that will stay in your CD player for too long.

RATING: 2.5/5

[One of my most popular and most hated music reviews on Buzz18]