Shamitabh Movie Review

R Balki always comes up with interesting story ideas and casts Amitabh Bachchan in interesting roles which almost always never fulfill the promise of the quirky premise and stay limited to the quirkiness of the premise. When we first heard about the cast of Shamitabh we were terribly excited because one of our favorite actors Dhanush was joining Amitabh Bachchan in the film. The trailers were, like most R Balki films, quirky and gave hardly anything away from the story. But it had us intrigued. So does Shamitabh manage to elevate itself from the quirkiness of its plot and transcend into a classic?

Story: Shamitabh’s greatest advantage is its story idea. It is about a persona called Shamitabh which comes together strangely and becomes famous in Bollywood. Daanish (Dhanush) is a lover of cinema growing up in a small town of Maharashtra. He harbours a dream of becoming a big star in Bollywood and eventually lands up in Mumbai to try his luck after working as a bus conductor in his home town (Rajinikanth reference). The only problem is that Daanish is mute, both metaphorically and literally a voiceless man stranded in a big bad city. He then meets a diminutive assistant director Akshara (Akshara Hassaan) who sees the talent in him and wants to cast him in her first film. With the help of some unconvincing sci-fi usage we see how he gets a voice. A transmitter and speaker are inserted in his throat and allows him to speak finally. Finnish invention, they say. Load of crap, you say. Anyhow, they employ a drunken failed actor called Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan, who else?) to use his deep baritone. Amitabh and Daanish come together and make a persona called Shamitabh who then becomes a star. When Daanish the mute actor starts getting all the credit for the stardom, naturally the ego of the old, haggard dubbing sidekick Amitabh is enraged and a ego clash starts. Things move on from thereon and Shamitabh ends with a rather predictable climax.

Shamitabh Movie Review

You can never blame R Balki for the uniqueness of his topics. Very few directors in Bollywood choose such unusual topics for their films. But what you can blame R Balki for is the lack of emotions in his films. He takes too much time in setting up the characters and the setting, and that leaves the emotions lagging. You go through the entire journey of the characters in Shamitabh having fun and being entertained all the way through but you don’t feel anything for the characters at the end of it. And that’s a failure on R Balki’s part. If we wanted to be entertained non-stop and not moved by the characters or the story, we’d rather watch the next installment of Hera Pheri. However, as a movie outing Shamitabh works well because of the way the movie moves forward with so many movie references. R Balki knows the cleverness and the comedy of his film and uses it to his advantage.

Shamitabh Review: Technical aspects and Music

Shamitabh has been made with a lot of care and innovation. The way the cinematographer PC Sreeram sets up the shots works well with the nature of the film and the production design is also top class. The editing, however, could have been a lot crisper as shots are stretched to their limit because the director and the editor get too indulgent.

The music of Shamitabh is by the master Ilayaraja. He does a good job with the soundtrack providing appropriate songs like Piddly and Shamitabh title song. With a lot of scope of music in Shamitabh, entrusting the responsibility to a Bollywood music composer could have been a cleverer choice, it can be felt. But the master cannot be blamed as his melodies are faultless.

Shamitabh Review: Performances

Shamitabh is as much of a acting driven film as it is a quirk driven film. Shamitabh can be described as an ode to India’s favourite voice and the biggest star of them all – Amitabh Bachchan. He gets to act his heart out particularly in the last few minutes of the film. He is sublime and uses the texture of his voice to convey all gamuts of emotions and expressions. His voice becomes a different character altogether. But Shamitabh could not have been what it is, if not for the acting genius of Dhanush. He shows his talent by not speaking a single word. His mannerisms, his body twists, his facial movements give life to Shamitabh. And he manages to steal the audience’s heart. Akshara Hassaan makes a promising debut playing a tomboyish Geek and her acting reminds us of her mother Sarika in its nonchalant nature.

Conclusion: Shamitabh has a fantastic story which in the hands of a lesser director would have faltered altogether. But R Balki manages to keep it together and delivers a good movie outing for the casual viewer and also for the movie buffs by putting in numerous movie references. If you can excuse the silly and random illogicalities which crop up, you will definitely have a good time with Shamitabh. Don’t expect too much from Shamitabh, and chances are you will end up liking Shamitabh for its lead actors. However, it is time Balki starts taking lessons from his wife Gauri Shinde about conveying emotions more convincingly in his films.

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Also Read: Shamitabh Critics Reviews