R Balki recently mentioned in an interview that the 'most
want to touch person' in this country is a 72 year old. Of course, that 72 year
old is no ordinary thespian but has a legacy of his own behind him. Among the numerous
characteristics that have defined Mr. Bachchan over the years, his voice
remains one of the strongest, which when combined with visuals go on to form
what we call cinema. And it is this characteristic that Shamitabh uses to form
it's premise & tries to lure audiences. And it could have done so easily,
if only the voice had an equally capable personality to match itself.
Shamitabh starts off on a good note. The craze of young
Daanish (Dhanush) for Bollywood & anything that spells F-I-L-M indeed induces a smile on your face as he can
even scare off his school teacher despite being mute. From imitations of The
Godfather to Nana Patekar's deaf & dumb act in Khamoshi, Daanish grows
up on cinema, earning, learning & yearning for the time when he would go to
Mumbai to pursue his celluloid dream. After his mother's death, Daanish decides
to finally go ahead & pursue his dream. On arriving in Mumbai, he goes
through the grind any struggler goes through with stars in his eyes. From
sleeping in celebrity vanity vans secretly to trying to reach out to numerous
directors (quick cameos here by Rajkumar Hirani, Rakesh Mehra & Karan
Johar), Daanish goes through it all, until assistant director Akshara (Akshara
Hassan) spots his talent and despite his handicap, decides to kickstart his journey
into Hi-Fi. Off they fly to Finland, where advanced technology comes to
Daanish's rescue (another medical angle in Balki's film post Paa)
and then the hunt begins for a voice that can define Daanish's personality as
an actor. That voice comes from a drunkard Amitabh (Amitabh Sinha) lying on the
corner of a street. As Amitabh understands what he can do for Daanish & how
powerful his voice is, he uses it as a weapon against an industry that didn't
give him his deserved chance under the spotlight 40 years ago. What follows is
the creation of Shamitabh, an actor with some incredible acting chops & a
voice to match. The combo of Daanish's acting & Amitabh's voice is a smash
hit in B-Town. But while Daanish climbs up the ladder of success like playing a
great round of snakes & ladders, Amitabh is relegated more & more to
the background as a valet first & then an almost unknown entity. He
realises that his voice which was to be a weapon against the industry has
instead backfired on him. Ego issues crop up which affect both the artists'
lives. Whether they resolve these issues & come back together as the
unstoppable Shamitabh forms the rest of the story.
Let me share an interesting bit of trivia I heard while
looking for the story. It was said that initially, Shah Rukh Khan was
approached to play the role Dhanush has essayed. While it surely would have
been a casting coup had that happened, the King Khan still could not have
carried that commanding voice that Mr. Bachchan has. So, considering Dhanush's
slender physique, watching him talk with that Bachchan baritone looks like an
odd case of syncing the audio with the video. It's like those funny videos
where you see a muscled man talk with the voice of a girl. Bachchan's voice not
only sounds way too older for a younger Dhanush but is hardly complemented with
Dhanush's personality. Also the story tends to get predictable after a while.
You know what's about to follow after almost every scene ends, you can predict
the climax almost 3 scenes prior. Cinematographer P C Sreeram (who recently
shot 'I')
doesn't look as much in his element as expected. The zooming-in shots of the
actors' close ups tend to look a bit untidy. And the length of the film can be
brought down by a few minutes. Despite that, one can't deny the presence &
the performance of the Shehenshah as he delivers yet another stellar &
dominating performance, much like his famed baritone. Southern heavyweight (no
puns here!) Dhanush does a commendable job of being able to stand next to
Bachchan & deliver a performance that gets him noticed. Debutante Akshara
Hassan is a spitting image of elder sister Shruti and has the acting genes from
her famed parents, however she doesn't have much scope here. Her potential can
& should be tapped by other film makers. The actor playing the landlord of
Amitabh brings in good comic relief. The song Piddi is entertaining
& catchy. Director R Balki, from whom expectations were high, underscores a
bit after Paa with this one. Overall, Shamitabh is a one-time
watch for the great performance by Mr. Bachchan, a commendable attempt by
Dhanush & as a tribute to 'The Voice Of Indian Cinema'.
Rating- 2.5/5. The 2 is purely for Mr. Bachchan & 0.5
for Dhanush's efforts.
P.S- Watch out for the
scene where Bachchan talks about his being rejected by a radio station. Art
imitating life, almost slyly as if Bachchan is having the last laugh. Also
Dhanush's bus-conductor montage, supposedly a page taken from the Thalaiva's
book. J
