London dreams

Cast Salman Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Ajay Devgan, Ranvijay Sing
Director Vipul Shah
Rating G

I thought I'd never say this - Salman Khan can act! Despite being in his mid-forties, Khan effortlessly romances a much younger Asin, headbangs to inane Hindi pop songs, cracks silly jokes and makes Vipul Shah's chaotic London Dreams endurable. However, his efforts aren't enough to save this movie from box office disaster. Shah conveniently ignores logic and clarity while chalking out his film, leaving us to painfully sit through this romantic saga.

For a movie that centres around musical aspirations, there's little harmony in its various compositions. Band members often sing to each other as opposed to composing music for their own concerts. Maybe a peek into Abhishek Kapoor's Rock On script would've helped Shah fine-tune this story.

London Dreams is probably the only film to portray a female band member Priya (Asin), who doesn't sing but does a good job of prancing around. She would've been a better fit for a dance troupe! Although Ritesh Shah's dialogue attempts to glorify the struggle that Arjun (Devgan) faces, we see him spend more time beating himself up and being insecure than working on his music.

Other struggles portrayed are also not convincing enough. Asin's fear of breaking away from her dad's conservative South Indian ways is quickly resolved after spiky-haired Arjun's insipid speech. It's ridiculous how easily her father becomes convinced of his daughter's pop star dream. And it's not only Priya who gets away easy, even Arjun achieves his musical dreams after bawling and going down on his knees! If only life were so simple, there wouldn't be so many struggling musicians.

In fact, Arjun even throws a tantrum in the middle of a concert, making us want to boo him off the screen. It's appalling to watch a man Arjun's age whining and crying because his friend Mannu (Khan) has more talent than he does. Ranvijay Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor play two inconsequential band members. While one is portrayed as being negative, the other desperately tries to evoke a few chuckles.

There's no real reason why anyone should opt to watch this movie. In fact, it's a bad dream that we should all wish away!