Entertainment | Film & Cinema
Hardly strikes a chord
Music saves Yuvvraaj from the tag of a complete failure
- By Abdulla Mahmood, Special to Unwind
- Published: 00:34 December 1, 2008
- Salman Khan (left) and Anil Kapoor in Yuvvraaj
- Image Credit: Supplied photo
Subhash Ghai, Bollywood's showman from the 1980s and the 1990s, is back with Yuvvraaj — a multistarrer musical extravaganza. The film has an erratic storyline with ingredients harking back the Eighties and Nineties.
The novelty comes only in the form of opulent musical set-ups and lavish choreography set against picturesque Austrian locations.
After delivering three back-to-back duds — Yaadein, Kisna and Black & White — Ghai may have redeemed himself to a certain extent with Yuvvraaj but the film just cannot be called a satisfying watch.
Scheming entry
Deven (Salman Khan) is madly in love with Anushka (Katrina Kaif) but Anushka's father, Dr Banton (Boman Irani), is opposed to the relationship due to the status difference.
When Deven's father passes away, Deven gets in touch with his long-forgotten family to get his share of his father's property and teams up with his wayward younger brother Danny (Zayed Khan) to schemingly extract the bounty from their autistic stepbrother Gyanesh (Anil Kapoor), who has been left the lion's share.
The story, despite being clichéd, has the potential of being a great musical drama but just manages to score in a few sequences.
The screenplay is weak, with too many loose ends and unconvincing moments. The bonding between Danny and his brothers looks fake; Deven and his troubled relationship with his father isn't convincing; and Deven and Anushka's love story takes a backseat in the later half.
The film, on the whole, misses the mark and it is Ghai's inconsistent direction that is to blame to a large extent.
Salman Khan's is the same carefree attitude but he gives us glimpses of his latent talent in the scenes he is reminded of his troubled past and the climax, when he breaks down.
However, he should try to get more into the skin of the character rather than just being himself on screen.
Kapoor has played a similar character in an earlier film, Eeshwar, and he goes about his job effortlessly.
Kaif looks pretty and makes few attempts at serious acting in the film. She shares a crackling chemistry with Salman Khan and it is definitely fun to watch the man make a dig at her Hindi-speaking ability in one of the scenes.
Zayed Khan can't do justice to his role, though he looks every bit the selfish and arrogant brother he plays.
Irani is OK; Mithun Chakraborty, as an attorney, looks stupid with artificial long locks; and Aushima Sawhney, as Kaif's friend, pitches in a confident performance, though in a half-baked character.
The remaining cast looks like they have walked straight out of one of Ekta Kapoor's TV dramas.
Poor editing
A.R. Rahman's music is the film's biggest strength, followed by Kabir Lal's brilliant cinematography and Shiamak Davar's vibrant choreography.
The editing isn't up to the mark, as 20 minutes of the film could easily have been chopped off.
Yuvvraaj is Ghai's best attempt since Taal but is nowhere close to his earlier entertainers. It is the music that helps Yuvvraaj be a notch above average or it would have been just another rehashed product of the Eighties and Nineties.
— Abdulla Mahmood is a UAE-based freelance writer
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