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Saturday, May 4, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD LONDON DREAMS
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating:
**
Two friends Arjun and Manu from childhood share a common dream - they both wish
to see Manu become a big singing star.
Arjun migrates to London with his sullen uncle, runs out of the airport and
becomes a a rocker almost overnight! Small and very accommodating world.
The sequence where Arjun, now grown into a punk-styled Ajay Devgn sings at
Trafalgar Square and within few minutes acquires three band members, could be a
self-defining advertisement for opportunities for Asians in Britain.
British soil never seemed more welcoming. Although Salman Khan playing the wild
and warm Manu is allowed to make innumerable digs at the Indian revenge on their
old colonisers, London seems to say namastey (hello) most warmly to all the
characters in the film.
How is the city to be blamed if the characters hide a deep, dark and negative
side to their personality that bubbles to the surface in toxic fumes burning and
destroying the music and harmony of the spheres?
Vipul Shah`s "London Dreams" aims for a more penetrating and profound
look at the life of Asians in Britain than "Namastey London". The
characters here are far more complex and dark. But their presence is constantly
challenged by the predictable and often banal narrative.
From the first few frames, when we see the two friends in rural Punjab share
Arjun`s international musical dreams, we know exactly the way this story is
heading. And that includes the love triangle that grows in London among the
intense self-flagellating Arjun, the carefree Manu and the happy-go-`lanky`
girl-next-door Priya.
One of the film`s seven-eight truly warm sequences shows Asin practising
Bharatnatyam in front of her conservative Tamilian father. The dance steps
transform into jig the minute dad ain`t looking.
Such moments are far too few in Shah`s sombre-and-straight narrative.
Spontaneity is at a low premium among these wannabe rock stars.
No matter what the length of the rock band members` hair, no one is in a hurry
here to let their hair down. They`d rather let each other down. The dramatic
confrontations work when they`re done unselfconsciously. Some of them, like the
confrontation between the two Pakistani brothers in a back-alley of London after
the one tells the other about Arjun`s treachery and betrayal, is plainly
mawkish.
Because the film forever has its pale heart in the right place, the length
(nearly three hours) is largely excusable. The meandering atonal music score by
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is not.
Why would stadium filled with the whites be screaming at our rockers singing
these listless songs? And what does the dream of the band London Dreams really
mean?
Move on to the wider questions of jealousy, insecurity and over-ambition and the
film delivers wispy wallops in a steady and honest tone. Though the music is
plainly awful, the background score by Salim-Suleiman fights a pitched battle
against the mediocrity of the songs.
Sejal Shah`s cinematography is outstanding, often capturing the characters in
various phase of emotional breakdown against the quaint neat London backdrop.
Among the cast, Ajay gets to the heart of his troubled and overreaching
character and pulls out a well-balanced performance, though he hardly looks like
a rock star - the multiple earrings and other exterior preparations make us
cringe. The curly-haired newcomer Aditya Roy Kapoor is an interesting presence.
They were childhood friends with little in common except for the musical background of their respective families. While Arjun was consumed by a passionate drive to get on stage and realise his grandfather`s unfulfilled dream, Mannu had little interest in his music tutor father`s instruments and was content with remaining a child at heart with no higher ambition than enjoying the good things in life.
But little did they know as they grew up that someday it would be music that will bring them together - and drive them apart.
While Arjun ends up in London and works his way up from the streets to forage a band - London Dreams - with Zoheb and Wasim, two Pakistani brothers, and Priya, a music enthusiast from a conservations South Indian family, far away in Punjab, music becomes just a mere survival tool for Mannu, who takes to playing at weddings in the village.
Then Arjun does what good friends do - brings Mannu to London to become a part of London Dreams - and soon regrets it.
Overnight, the irreverent Mannu, with his inherent musical gift, effortlessly achieves the adulation and glory that had taken diligent Arjun years of struggle and sacrifice.
But when Arjun also loses Priya, the giirl he secretly loved to Mannu, he battles his inner demons to devise a sinister strategy to destroy his best friennd. As the band goes on a three-city tour of Paris, Rome and Amsterdom, Arjun meticulously sabotages Mannu`s career and love life...
Finally, at Wembley, one of Europe`s largest stadiums, where he hopes to have his moment of glory, a rude shock awakens Arjun - at the expense of his band, his friendship and his credibility - a humbling experience that teaches him the true meaning of acceptance in life.
Salman Khan fans queue up for a glimpse at Delite theatre