Post "Jhankaar Beats" Sujoy Ghosh was the new whiz-kid on the block. One should give due credit to Mr. Ghosh for his product which was innovative ( a la "Dil Chahta Hain" in its own right). When he announced Aladin the expectations were riding sky-high on deliverables. Hailing from the land of "Harry Potter" one was expecting Alladin nothing short of Bollywood's answer to Harry Potter/ LOTR. And with due respect, Alladin does deserve brownie points for the look and feel of the fairy-tale neatly complimented with the CGI. And then... there ends the bag of goodies.
The plot/ storyline is lame and wafer-thin. Taking a classic and attempting to set it in the contemporary times, it takes a maverick to pull off the feat. Should have waited for Anurag's "Dev D" before kick-starting this project. Having said that, have you heard of Baz Lurhmann? Fiction/ non-fiction or fantasy/ reality, by either benchmarks the use-up of first two wishes was a plain day-light robbery. The ragging of Alladin is sooooo "Oh nooooo". The song in the climax was so very 1970/80's. Even the name of the town "Khwahish" gives away how ill-conceived the whole project was.
Mr. Ghosh, now I am pretty sure "Jhankaar Beats" was a fluke and goes to show the results of big decisions over a cuppa in a coffee shop!
Big B:: Brandish is perhaps the only word that comes to my mind. Well the stature Big B has reached, only he can afford to experiment with the roles. And in all honesty, at the cost of fulfilling the dream to work with their childhood matinée idol these newbies cannot justify/ utilise the opportunity of the goldmine.
Ritiesh:: Would not say perfect for role but unwise to say miscast too. So safe to comment that he was just OK. His blind-love for Jasmine was not fleshed out well.
Jacqualine Fernandes:: She was gorgeous and must improve on her acting skills to stay afloat in the industry.
Sanjay Dutt:: Well I was expecting a "Joker" performance and sad to say, he was a letdown. Kay Kay in Drona was much better. The background to his character was insufficient and there was no justification about the "Ring Master" miffing with the "Genie". And btw- his sidies were robbed from X-Men.
Ratna Pathak Shah:: Completely wasted.
Victor Banerjee: Again completely wasted.
Nonethleless, it is a golden opportunity gone amiss and why? Because my 5-year old dozed off to sleep mid-way and that speaks volumes, so least to speak.
