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Film: Superstar
Director: Rohit Jugraj
Cast: Kunal Khemu, Tulip Joshi, Reema Lagoo, Aushima Sawhney, Sharat Saxena
Rating: ****
Running at: Inox (Forum, City Centre)
On a good day, Superstar is what I will call a cinematic equivalent of a brat:pampered, craving attention, and somewhat smelly thanks to all the formula passing through it. On a bad day, I will not sit through it at all. What else can one say about a “Bollywood struggler” film that dutifully follows down the genre’s preordained path, which has already been successfully trodden by gems like Rangeela and Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, rather than ever taking off on its own? And no we will not take the flimsy double-role angle as an innovation. Seriously, Mr Jugraj, you make Don meet Main Madhuri...and then claim originality? Pfft!
Kunal Khemu hopes to make it big in tinsel town. He is talented and good looking (well, the camera sure seems to love him), and obviously has what it takes. Unfortunately, no one seems to be buying. So our long tressed hero does what legions of heroes have done before him- struggle. And now what exactly that entails is not very clear. A few shots of him dancing behind paunchy, over-the-hill heroes and being strategically placed in a queue of fellow “strugglers” is supposed to establish him as a veteran struggler. So our heart is supposed to reach out for him. Sadly, his meticulously straightened hair proves to be a bit of a distraction. But worry not, our hero has a support network- a filmi ma (Reema Lagoo), who stops short of offering him gajar ka halwa, and a pining girlfriend (Tulip Joshi) who simpers as he cavorts in front of the billboard where he hopes to see his face someday. Yawn. Om Shanti Om anyone? But then fate has other plans for him. His amazing likeness to a producer’s non-actor son ( Kunal Khemu yet again, with a mop of curls this time) ensures that his dreams live on and come very close to being realised.
One would have thought that after a disaster like the Nisha Kothari-starrer James (shudders), Jugarj would have at least learnt one lesson —— style is not a replacement for substance. But obviously we expect so much. So swish cuts, and overhead shots makes up for dramatic content. And innovatively-lit sets are supposed to help us turn a blind eye at the obvious loopholes in the screenplay.
All said and done, it will be unfair not to recognise Khemu’s obvious charisma. The boy sure has potential. But when he chooses to retain the mannerisms and voice modulation of one character for another one, how can he be expected to taken seriously? Please guys, that’s the thumb rule of double rule films - make the two characters seem as different as possible.
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