Shamitabh

At one point in SHAMITABH our hero Danish (Dhanush) blows onto screen as LIFEBUOY (I am not kidding) - a special forces appointee of the BMC (Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation).  His job is to clean the city of all its mess. Ergo Lifebuoy.  That's just one of the over the top segments of the 3rd movie from a certain R Balakrishnan or Balki as we know him.

In another sequence we have Danish, better known as Shamitabh to the rest of the world,  recording a song called "Piddly si baatein". He gets a brainwave and gives the director and idea for the picturisation of the song. Set on a snow clad mountain the heroine hugs the hero and says, "if you really love me then find me a toilet".

But that isn't the best part. Our hero actually breaks into a jig to the same song and builds a snow toilet (like a snowman). Thus begins the first ever song in Bollywood to be picturised (definitely the first is have seen) totally on the humble Western Commode. Simply sensational as quoted in some of the glitterati interviews during the movie.

But at the end of the day you realize that Shamitabh is just Balki's way of poking fun at an industry that pretty much works on such crap (no pun intended).  And of course there is much more to the movie than these two instances of the dearth of ideas in the film industry.

Shamitabh is the story of a young dumb boy called Danish who cannot speak from birth.  He grows up fantasizing about being a Bollywood superstar someday. When he does reach Bollywood he finds that being a star is easier said than done. Luckily he bumps into an assistant director Akshara (Akshara Hassan) who turns out to be his good luck charm.

With the help of some hi-fi technology that involves Akshara's uncle,  our hero can get a voice but needs someone to speak for him. The search for a voice lands up with Amitabh Sinha (Big B) who is a no good drunk with a voice that is described by the man himself as, " Mere awaaz ka vazan tujhse zyada hai" (you don't weigh as much as my voice). The partnership takes Danish to great heights and the relationship between voice and person forms the story of Shamitabh.

When Balki comes up with a concept for a movie then one can be assured of something different.  And Shamitabh fits the expectation from an R Balakrishnan movie to that extent. But there seems to be something amiss this time. Or should I say something extra that one would not associate with Balki? Probably the latter. Cannot quite decide between the two or place a finger on what precisely wasn't right.

Nevertheless, Shamitabh is a watchable movie for sure. Make a call if you would like to watch it on screen or not. Doesn't make a difference.  The lead performances are superb and the story definitely worth it. Akshara is supremely confident and promises a lot in the days to come. Have a dekko. You will not be disappointed but you may not be thrilled either.  6 on 10.

Watch the trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJfGRrHlxY