Aiyyaa

I was quite excited about this one as I'm curious about any film Rani Mukherjee does outside her comfort zone (cough cough minus Khans and Chopra). Moreover the film is produced by Anurag Kashyap which further peaked my interest. However, 'Aiyyaa' fails to deliver. The two major problems were the pacing and the script. Some serious editing was required because it seriously drags. Perhaps about an hour of the film could have easily been left out to make this at least more enjoyable.

The key part of the film, the relationship between Surya and Meenakshi is not explored at all. We see Meenakshi stalking him as she's seduced by his smell but why? What's so powerful about it that she finds herself stalking him? The Surya character is cardboard and Mynah is among the most annoying supporting characters. She really is intolerable. Moreover she even gets a song number which is the worst part of 'Aiyyaa'. Speaking of songs, most of them appear randomly and are shot like those horrible Tamil item numbers (except that here they look more expensive).

Rani has proved in the past that she has a knack for comedy which has been wasted in silly films. Sadly, 'Aiyyaa' isn't an exception but that doesn't change the fact that Rani is exceptional (whether it's her acting or dancing) despite the poor writing. She's full of energy. I thoroughly enjoyed her rendition of Sridevi, Juhi, Madhuri and Silk Smitha in those song sequences. Those are perhaps the funniest sequences, along with the possible suitors. Nirmiti Sawant too provides some laughs as Meenakshi's obsessed mother. Subodh Bhave delivers a sincere performance.

'Aiyyaa' does look quite expensive. Too bad director Sachin Kundalkar hasn't put the money to better use.

It was Times of India that voted this one amongst the worst movies of 2012 and it didn't get a lot of love in the reviews either. I am surprised about that.

Rani Mukerji is one of my favourite actresses in general. Her comic talent is phenomenal. As a dreaming librarian who smells the world, sees through the eyes of a romantic movie and lives amongst a range of quirky but adorable characters she reminds me of an Indian Amelie poulain. Menakshi is a little awkward, carefree and full of good intentions with an indestructible faith in the power of love.

Of course the story is nothing new and for Non-Indians it might be a little over the top.There are a few characters the film could do with out for sure, one being the librarian and Menakhis colleague. She brings the rating down with at least 2 points on IMDb. How did they come up with the idea to pair the lovely Rani with this creepy caricature?) But when you take that lightly you want to follow Mukerji's Meenakshi in her pursuit for love and the adventures of her chaotic family are worth every minute of your time.

OK, this is a goofy movie (the tag line is: Go Wakda (wacky)) so if you are expecting superb entertainment, you are out of luck. But, Rani Mukerji really shines as a nut job and really makes this movie laughable fun. I vote for her to star in the next Houseful 3 as her wackiness would work well in that series. You need to appreciate the wacky humor that comes with the Golmaal, Houseful, or Masti/Grand Masti series to enjoy his one. If that is not your style of humor, look elsewhere. Meenakshi's family is truly dysfunctional and adds to the humor. Meenaski's friend and co-worker Mynah comes across as an Indian Lady Gaga and is somewhat funny, but a little annoying at times. When Meenakshi dreams about being her favorite actresses is probably the funniest parts, so it helps to have a good background on some older Bollywood hits and veteran actresses to get a laugh at those scenes. The music is catchy, though some of the dance sequences are a bit risqué which is slightly unusual for Rani. Nothing terrible, but slightly not family safe for younger members. Prithviraj's character is played well especially in the end. Not a hit, but good goofy fun if you are looking for a good laugh.

Too long and uneven pacing weren't helped by a problematic script. That said we really enjoyed our first look at this really popular actress and the view of how Northern Indians view Tamils. The dance numbers are great and we never laughed harder than at the little fantasy where the romantic lead gassed up the motorcycle. Some things work in every culture.

Promoted as a fun filled love story mixing the Maharashtrian and South Indian backdrops, AAIYYA was also considered to be the comeback film for Rani Mukherjee returning after a long gap. But the promos were not able to generate the right amount of curiosity as there was a clearly visible loud kind of effort put in by Rani herself in all those sensual dance numbers using some new distorted words. Moreover the promotional campaign was safely stressing too much on "The Dirty Picture" style of strategy to bring in a wider base of audience which didn't really work as expected.

Therefore if studied from that angle AIYYAA can also be taken as one of the after effects of "The Dirty Picture" which was not a good choice of subject by its makers. Actually TDP worked majorly due to its novelty factor, full of boldness which is difficult to click again in a second similar attempt. So, where the catchy songs of AIYYAA, sound great when played in the DJ dance parties, the same is not the result when we see them on the screen coming in as the usual fillers.

The film offers a good enjoyable 20-25 minutes in the start, when all the characters are being introduced and the narration seems to be fresh as well as interesting. But after those initial fine moments, the viewers keep waiting for some entertaining twists or sequences in its basic storyline which refuse to come and it all goes on at a very uneasy pace. As a result, all those weird but amusing mannerisms of its various characters gradually turn into repetitive, ridiculous and irritating leading to an avoidable mess.

Being an experienced professional, Rani Mukherjee works hard for her unusual role and she does well too to portray the character in the best possible manner with a little over-acting where ever required. But she also looks a complete misfit in few songs and her sniffing act starts getting on your nerves after a while. Frankly, I also found the same quite odd & silly, since Rani is purely in love with just the smell of Prithviraj in the whole film, without knowing anything about him or his nature personally. And if that was an innovative idea thrown in, then it was certainly a first on the screen, thoughtfully penned by the writers literally going out of the box. May be, the phrase "Love is Blind" should be now replaced with a new one saying "Love is Smelly" – courtesy AIYYAA.

The male lead, Prithviraj, the actor from South is impressive in his silent act (wherein he only gets to speak towards the end) and so is Subodh Bhave as the official fiancé. But there are more than one hamming stars in the rest of the cast lead by the actors playing Rani's parents, brother and grandmother. And on top of all is the girl playing Rani's office colleague, posing as the Indian Lady GaGa. The writing is quite patchy since there is no clear indication of what Rani actually wants to become in her real life as per her ambition shown in the first scene. Her passion for films and the dream of becoming a heroine suddenly takes a back seat once the love story starts off and then she is only interested in getting married and nothing else.

But despite of all the above mentioned flaws, the film continues to hold some ground until a sick song "Izzat Paapad" suddenly breaks in all of a sudden and ruins it completely. It simply pulls the film down in the bracket of below average ventures and the viewer starts looking left & right like a lost person. Further it goes on a stretching mode offering a pretty weak, lackluster climax without any exciting or entertaining moments which force you to just leave the theater at once without any further thinking.

As a matter of fact, AIYYAA talks about some strange characters coming from the imagination of director Sachin Kundalkar who remains drowned in his own world or script, forgetting the truth that the film was basically being made for the viewers alone. His unconventional and uninteresting narration not only lets down the hearty effort ofRani Mukherjee but it also affects the brand name of Anurag Kashyap presenting the film as a producer.

In all, few enjoyable tracks of Amit Trivedi and a passionate performance of Rani Mukherjee are the only two merits in AIYYAA. And if these two excite you well, then do watch it in the theater or else wait for its DVD release in the next few weeks.