Ghanchakkar (28 Jun 2013)

Cast: Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Rajesh Sharma, Namit Das

Director: Rajkumar Gupta

It is a common practice amongst the filmmakers to add an unnecessary but high impact item song in an upcoming dud movie and market that entire movie around that song, so that at least the movie receives a decent opening and considerably recovers the making cost within the first week of its release. But, to do this whole marketing drama around a ‘character in the movie’ is unheard of. ‘Ghanchakkar’ breaks all conventional norms by doing so, and sadly only therein lies the innovative effort of this movie! The entire movie hype is created around Vidya’s character i.e. of that of a boisterous and voluptuous Punjabi woman who is highly into so called (read weird) fashion wear and who cannot cook well. But this character is of no pivotal consequence to the movie. It neither defines the pace nor serves the climax of the movie! In fact the movie’s climax and ending make no sense at all.

In recent history, both Vidya and Emraan are known to give sure shot hits and their last venture together ‘The Dirty Picture’ received both commercial and critical acclaim. Announcement of their next venture with an experimental and hit director like Rajkumar Gupta (‘Aamir’ and ‘No One Killed Jessica’) created a lot of expectation as both the actors are known to do wonders with a little offbeat commercial movies. But it seems that even during their golden phase, actors cannot create a hit out of a half hearted script and direction. In spite of Vidya’s trademark acting, you do feel that a Huma Qureshi or a Parineeti Chopra would have done a better justice to the role. Reasons – a) because Vidya’s Punjabi accent doesn’t appear effortless or consistent, and b) her recent marriage to the movie’s producer (Siddharth Roy Kapur of UTV Motion Pictures) and over exposure due to her impeccable Sabyasachi clad presence in award shows and Cannes Film Festival, kind of weighs heavily over her make believe character in the movie. Rajesh Sharma’s acting and characterization are both consistent throughout the movie. Namit has acted well but characterization is not so clear.