Luck by Chance

The empathy for the everyday actress, the one who does not get to become the star - that is the USP of this movie. A very intimate portrayal - loving her just the way she is, with her weaknesses and her faults and still a basic goodness that she is able to keep intact, embellished with the confidence, courage and self respect that she finally finds.

"Luck By Chance" has most of the hallmarks of a typical Bollywood production: shimmering visuals, eye-popping colors and costumes, and gorgeous young performers all placed in the service of a slick-fiction melodrama, punctuated by elaborately choreographed song-and-dance numbers that play like glittery shampoo commercials on steroids. The difference here is that since it is Bollywood itself that is the subject of the film, writer/director Zoya Akhtar gets to indulge in some mild self-criticism aimed at a few of the weaknesses inherent in the industry. For instance, the movie questions why nepotism seemingly plays so large a role in the hiring of actors and actresses, an inside-joke, one assumes, since Akhtar chose her own brother, Farhan, to play the lead character in this film. It also makes fun of the fact that no self-respecting mainstream Indian film would be caught dead without at least a half a dozen musical sequences, even though they are rarely germane to the plot or integral to the theme. That doesn't, however, keep the makers of "Luck By Chance" from fulfilling their mandated quota of said sequences. Apparently, iconoclasm will take one only so far when there are box office receipts at stake.

"Luck By Chance" tells of an aspiring young actor named Vikram (Akhtar) who lands the lead role in what is described to us as "a big-budget thriller/musical love story." His sudden success becomes a cause of dissension between him and his girlfriend, Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), since she is herself a struggling actress and has been unable to pick up more than mere bit parts in unimpressive films up to this point. She also becomes jealous of Vikram's co-star, the lovely Nikki Walia (Isha Sarvani), whose over-controlling mother (Dimple Kapadia) was a famous movie actress herself in the 1970s.

In terms of dramaturgy and audience attention-spans, the story could definitely use some tightening, but it does capture some of the frustration, heartbreak and disappointment of trying to make it in the "biz." It also points out the capricious nature of filmdom success, making the case that it is often nothing more than sheer luck - of being at the right place at the right time or of having that indefinable "something" that sets one apart from all others - that ultimately determines who will make it as a star and who will not.

The romantic scenes are nicely played by Akhtar and Sharma, but there's no getting around the fact that the movie itself runs on for such an unconscionable length of time (over two-and-a-half-hours) that audiences (Western audiences, at least) are bound to lose interest in the story quite a ways prior to its actual completion. That's a shame because there's much that is likable and charming about "Luck By Chance."

Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut Luck By Chance is an insider look to the current generation Hindi film industry. Its a story of two persons, both struggling to become actors and make it big in the industry. It shows how ones fortune is favored when the other fades away into nothingness. The film is of a languid pace, but you aren't ever bothered by it due to abundant platter of colorful characters. Be it Romi Rolly(portrayed brilliantly by veteran Rishi Kapoor) or the ex silver screen siren, Neena Wallia(an amazing portrayal by Dimple Kapadia).

There are brilliant small cameo performances by the whos who of the industry, starting from Amir Khan to Karan Johar to Abhishek Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan. The film is a through entertainer, and even though the subject sometimes turns to the dark side of the film industry, the mood is kept light at all times by the quirky dialogs of the funny characters. The entire Rolly family for example is a bag of jokes. Veteran film producer Romi Rolly, played by Rishi Kapoor gives an enthralling and amazing performance putting a lasting memory to the character. Ranjit Rolly, the brother of producer Romi Rolly, played by Sanjay Kapoor, as the failed actor turned director, who is always making funny jokes and moves trying to convince himself and his crew about the next shot. Minty Rolly, the wife of Romi, played by Juhi Chawla is also a character to remember, as the superstitious wife. Mention has to be made of Hrithik Roshan whose small but astounding performance, as the superstar Zafar Khan, is too good to miss out. A lot of other small cameos by Anurag Kashyap, as the screenplay writer who plagiarizes Hollywood films from the DVDs to convince himself as one of the best in the business, Isha Shravani as the superstar daughter, who is too dumb and too pretty. Arjun Mathur, as the childhood friend of Vikram, also an aspirant actor is also brilliant. And lastly Dimple Kapadia as the ex- screen siren who is attempting to launch her daughter into super stardom.

The main protagonists of the movie, Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma have also been explicitly brilliant. Farhan Akhtar, gives a measured performance who "seemingly" uses every step in his way to reach to the top of the rung of the Bollywood ladder of fame. Konkona Sen Sharma, is brilliant as the aspirant actress who fails to make it big time, but instead helps giving Vikram JaiSingh,(Farhan Akhtar) the big break into the showbiz. The songs performed the the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is yet again a brilliant piece of job. The few number of songs in the movie, seems adequate and never forced.

Luck By Chance is that rare piece among Hindi films, which you will treasure for long and is worth a second see. It is a heartwarming experience for everybody. an impressive achievement at writing and direction, Luck By Chance is full of moments filled with sharp and witty humor. An 8/10 for Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance.

this movie has a great star cast. after farrah khan's 'om shanti om', this movie had shots of most of the celebs in billowed. yet, the storyline was not very new.

the performances by all the actors were really good which kept me watching the movie without getting bored. the characterisations of rishi kapoor, dimple kapadia and her on screen daughter were really good and the actors had done justice to their roles.

'fashion' showed the struggles and betrayals that a model would face in the fashion industry and now this movie shows the same of an actor (and an actress) in the Hindi movie industry.

even though the story line is very much predictable it is still worth watching...

Many films in the last few years have been centred around the Hindi film industry. Some have portrayed it as a bright world, some have portrayed it as sleazy, and some just used it as a way to tell a story. Luck by Chance belongs to the latter category. It is not as much about the industry as it is about young people who try to succeed in it. It is essentially about people who struggle to carve their own niche in some particular profession and the way they do it. In this case, it is acting. This is the story of Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) who arrives in Mumbai to pursue an acting career in the film industry. He starts dating Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), who is senior to him in the movie business but is still waiting for her big break. The film is decorated by many appearances by actors and filmmakers who play either themselves or some fictional characters, which is an obvious attempt to make the film more realistic (or maybe more appealing?). And these appearances are indeed very lovely. The film's concept of the rise of one young actor is a bit hard to believe considering he has made only one film after all, but it is quite a common standard today. I found the portrayal of the industry reasonably fair, satirically humorous yet somewhat inconsistent (well, any commercial cinema is really not that crazy about real talents as it is about commercial appeal, but filmmakers very rarely admit it). I did like, however, the way the film showed how complicated making one movie can be and how important (or disruptive) media hype can be. It was all nicely put together with a message: never forget who you are and where you come from.

Farhan Akhtar's performance was not completely consistent and although as a performer he is a natural, he fails to register the growth in his character. The film belongs to Konkona Sen Sharma who is as fine as ever in the great role of Sona. She is natural, convincing, and shows the struggle, disappointment, pain and later on the overcoming her character goes through without having to go to unnecessary extents. Rishi Kapoor is quite funny while Dimple Kapadia is wonderful and beautiful as always. Juhi Chawla, in quite an insignificant comic role, is amazing, beautiful and completely charming. Shahrukh Khan gets a brief but very pivotal role, but Hrithik is annoying as the less-witty-more-arrogant film star. All in all, I enjoyed the film for being basically not very negative as, say, Madhur Bhandarkar, would have made it. The story is narrated well and Zoya Akhtar makes an impressive directorial debut because she somehow manages to poke fun at the film industry and yet leave a nice impression of it. I think those who want to become actors will find the film a bit disturbing though. But as I said, Luck by Chance is essentially about people who struggle to carve their own niche in some particular profession, and it does show some ray of hope. Towards the end, the film becomes increasingly more interesting. We see how people don't let failure deter them. On the contrary, we see how they keep struggling indirectly and how they finally come to terms with what they are capable of doing and what they are just not.