MOVIE REVIEW: Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone,
Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani
Producer: Gauri Khan
Director: Farah Khan
Music Director: Vishal-Shekhar
There’s nothing new in Happy New Year. In fact, at every step, you find a scene or a sequence that you’ve seen before, in Farah Khan’s own earlier movies and all the others it borrows from. It’s a cross between Ocean’s Eleven and Flashdance. What salvages the film, however, is the visual opulence, the earnest performances by the ensemble cast despite the very mediocre script they are saddled with, and a few genuinely funny moments.
Happy New Year is basically a revenge drama set up against a heist plot and an international dance competition in Dubai. Charlie (Shah Rukh Khan) gets together a bunch of losers—Boman Irani, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood, and Vivaan Shah—to help him steal diamonds from a tycoon (Jackie Shroff) who had earlier wronged Charlie’s father.
Among the cast, the two who stand out are the beautiful, ‘greatly improved in all departments’ Deepika Padukone and the underrated Abhishek Bachchan who shines here as a drunk, unfocused lout. Vivaan Shah, Naseeruddin’s son, holds his own as a bright young hacker. And Shah Rukh Khan? Well, his eight pack abs are given more footage than his histrionics! For a film where dance is so integral to the story, there is nothing particularly fantastic about the dance moves. The music is good enough. "Manwa Laage" is sweet.
So suspend your logic for three hours (yes, that’s how long the movie is), sit back and try and enjoy the nonsensical goings on. After all, this is a Bollywoodian extravaganza!
TOP 10 SONGS
1. Manwa Laage (Happy New Year)
2. Meherbaan Hua (Bang Bang)
3. Tere Hoke Rahenge (Raja Natwarlal)
4. Samjhawan (Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania)
5. Sawan Aaya Hai (Creature 3D)
6. Pussy Cat (Happy Ending)
7. Abhi Toh Party (Khoobsurat)
8. Ziddi Dil (Mary Kom)
9. Aata Majha Satakli (Singham Returns)
10. Kill Dil (Kill Dil)
TOP 10 MOVIES
1. Happy New Year
2. Bang Bang
3. The Shaukeens
4. Haider
5. Super Nani
6. Mary Kom
7. Khoobsurat
8. Singham Returns
9. Finding Fanny
10. Rang Rasiya
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