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Tag: Akshara Haasan

  • ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    MUMBAI: R Balki’s films are described as novel by Shamitabh’s lead actor, Amitabh Bachchan. But the system of a Hindi-speaking person dubbing for South Indian actors or vice versa is age old reality. So is that of one person dubbing for another. There is nothing new in Shamitabh except that here a mute person aspires to be a star and a voice is found for him.

    Dhanush is a small time lad from Igatpuri in Maharashtra helping his mother sell batata vada at the local state transport bus stop. Whatever money he gets, he spends on movies. When the cinema hall is brought down he barters with a video library, giving free batata vada and pakoda in exchange for a movie. That is where he also gets introduced to Hollywood movies.

    Dhanush is mute but is convinced he is an ace actor and can somehow make it big in the films. He often tries to run away from his village to reach Mumbai but is brought back once by convincing him that he is still too young to become a film star and again when his mother pretends to be sick so that he stays back.

    There comes a time when his mother is really ill and passes away. The way is open for Dhanush to go to Mumbai and try his luck. After a couple of failures in entering studios and trying to reach the famous film directors like Raju Hirani, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty and so on, he finally makes it to a studio where he comes across Akshara Haasan, an assistant director who sympathises with this mute guy from a small town. She asks him to perform a scene and shoots it on her cell phone. Her director boss is duly impressed and decides to give him break. But what to do about his voice?

    Producers: Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Gauri Shinde, Abhishek Bachchan.

    Director: R Balki.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan and cameos by Rekha, Javed Akhtar, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty etc.

    The way out is to find a voice for him who will not dub for him but will playback his dialogue on his behalf. After some voice tests, they suddenly come across Bachchan, a weird character and a drunkard with a Christian cemetery as his abode. Bachchan has no solid back story for turning into what he has. The cemetery keeper charges him rent and also doubles up as his Man Friday. Now everybody knows about Bachchan’s rich voice, which does not quite match Dhanush’s personality. But, in the film’s story, that is what works for Dhanush since the film highlights mainly this aspect leaving aside his famous acting prowess which impressed those concerned.

    After some coaxing, Bachchan agrees to be the voice of Dhanush because he can get even with the entertainment industry; he had come to Mumbai forty years back to try his luck first in films and later on radio (the radio rejection happened to him in real life). Both rejected him because the filmmakers found his voice like that of a villain (no idea why he did not get a villain’s role!). He can now make a star out of Dhanush on the strength of his voice.

    Dhanush’s debut film makes it to the screen and in the very first weekend, he has become a superstar breaking the collection records of Aamir Khan as well as Salman Khan! He has taken the screen name of Shamitabh, combining his and Bachchan’s name as that makes him complete as an actor. But, no sooner does Dhanush become a star, he gets into an ego struggle with his voice, Bachchan: is he successful because of his acting or is it the rich voice he borrows from Bachchan?

    The voice acting conflict is introduced too early and goes on and on, becoming repetitive. If acting is what took Dhanush to the top, it is not emphasised on with most of the time the focus being on Bachchan and his booming voice. Finally comes a time when the ego clash leads to a parting of ways. While Dhanush attempts to prove himself with a film about deaf and mute love story, Bachchan tries to prove his point by lending his voice to another aspiring actor, who stammers and can’t deliver dialogues. Both fail in their respective efforts and realise that they complement each other. Akshara plays the mediator to bring them together.

    If Bachchan were to play only Dhanush’s voice, there would not have been much to do for him in the film. So there is extended footage on his lifestyle. Also, what he did very successfully for the first time in Amar Akbar Anthony, the mime in front of a mirror, and later in another film has been overused here. Bachchan is made to give multiple monologues which not only stretch the film but also bring negative returns. Director Balki seems to sell Bachchan more than his idea of a ventriloquist for mute actor.

    With a loose script which comes in bits and pieces as it moves from one artiste to another while also trying to build a romance between Dhanush and Akshara (one sided though from Dhanush) it leads to many tedious moments. The director seems to have little control thereafter stretching the film to 153 minutes with a story based on just three artistes. The music by the legendary composer, Illaiyaraaja, is mediocre, best of the lot being two ringtone kind of numbers in Ishq e phillum…. And Piddly si baatein…. Background score is fine. Dialogue, mainly Bachchan’s lines, are good. Editing is slack. Climax is abrupt and poor.

    It is an Amitabh show all the way though he is overburdened. Dhanush overacts at times and is just passable. Akshara fails to make a mark, her dressing may be contemporary youth kind but makes her lack femininity.

    On the whole, Shamitabh fails to deliver.

  • ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    ‘When two work together towards a common goal, it helps both’: Bachchan

    NEW DELHI: It is not right to equate a character he or she plays on screen to the person, and the film Shamitabh in many ways gives this message, according to megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

     

    Bachchan said that while Dhanush used his voice in the film, he took the character further by bringing his own originality to the character he enacted.

     

    Speaking at a press meet, Bachchan revealed that he recorded the entire voice-over of the film in the editing room under the supervision of the film’s director R Balki before the film was shot.

     

    Shamitabh, starring Bachchan and Dhanush, will see the debut of Akshara Haasan. The movie is about a journalist who comes across a good actor without a voice and then meets a decrepit haggard elderly man with a good voice, and tries to match the two. While she succeeds, the two men gradually are overcome by their respective ego problems, and she has to resolve that.

     

    Bachchan related a dialogue in the film to stress the fact that every person has his or her own value. He said there was a dialogue, which says whisky can be had with or without water. He said, “I do not drink. So, Dhanush is both whisky and water.” But when two people go together, they are bound to succeed, and the film also stresses this, he added.

     

    Asked about his writer-director Balki, Bachchan said he had worked with Balki in Cheeni Kum and then in Paa and had found the director gives a different touch to his style of filmmaking.

     

    Speaking about the difference between Bollywood and Tamil cinema, Dhanush said, “Except for the language, almost everything is the same. One difference however is that down in the South, we have to give just five interviews whereas here we have 523 interviews lined up for us.”

     

    Akshara, whose mother Sarika, father Kamal Haasan and sister Shruti are all part of the film industry, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity and an amazing experience for me.” She went on to say that she did not feel intimated because of any comparisons, since each of her family members have their own style.

     

    The song Piddly, rendered by Bachchan, which has become really popular, was brought in conversations frequently as it has been used to fight piracy.

     

    Bachchan also said that since the film is about the film industry, several other known personalities would be seen on screen. Answering a question about his stint in the industry, he said, “I have found that over the last forty-five years, filmmakers are becoming more impatient. However, they are more knowledgeable now about what’s happening all over the world, and this includes usage of new technologies.”

     

    Presented by Eros International, the film has music by Ilaiyaraaja and has been produced by Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R K Damani, Gauri Shinde, and Abhishek Bachchan. The lyricists are Swanand Kirkire, Kausar Munir for ‘Sha Sha Sha Mi Mi Mi’.