movie review

Sweeping locales, classy music, good performances and good story line(after a long time) work in Yuvvraaj’s favor. Yuvvraaj is a movie high on drama and visuals. After three back to back debacles in Yaadein, Kisna and Black and White, director Subash Ghai seems to have found his old, classic touch.

Story of Yuvvraaj:: Yuvvraaj is a movie which upholds the good old virtues of brotherhood, love and family ties. Deven Yuvvraaj (Salman Khan) is a chorus singer who is in love with Anushka (Katrina Kaif). Her father Dr. P. K.Danton(Boman Irani) does not approve of the relationship because Deven is penniless. The reality is Deven had been shunned by his rich father since 12 years and he was trying to create an identity separate from his father. Later, Deven comes to know that his father is dead. He meets Anushka’s father and tells that he will return a billionaire (because he knows he can get a stake in his father’s property).

Deven has two brothers Gyanesh Yuvvraaj [Anil Kapoor] and Danny Yuvvraaj [Zayed Khan] whom he meets after 12 years at his father’s home. The family’s legal guardian(Mithun Chakraborthy) states that the father before dying had drafted the will in which the property would go to Gyanesh Yuvvraaj. Gyanesh is an autistic patient, mentally incapable of making decisions. There is a clause in the contract that in case Gyanesh dies naturally or through accident or murder, the property will go to a charitable trust.

The ambitious brothers Deven and Danny try various means..threatening, manipulating and buttering up Gyanesh so that he would give in the wealth to them. Deven brings Gyanesh to Austria where he meets Anushka; who finds that Gyanesh has a keen talent for music. Slowly and surely, Gyanesh begins to trust in Deven and in the process; Deven also realizes that his brother is an innocent person who cares more for music than money. Danny on the other hand, becomes trapped in a credit trap, and there is no one to save his financial doom. He feels insecure and runs to his brothers. He vows to leave his philandering ways and becomes one with his brothers. The relatives who have their eyes on the property are not interested in the brothers’ union. They plot to kill Gyanesh so that the blame of the murder would fall squarely on the two brothers. How the two brothers manage to steer clear of the crisis and save Gyanesh’s life form the rest of the plot.

Plus points of Yuvvraaj:

1. Excellent music by A.R.Rahman. The numbers take the movie on a different high altogether especially the three songs “Tu hi meri dost hain”, ” Tu Muskura” and “Dil Ka Rishta” towards the climax. Choreography by Shiamak Davar for the Shano Shano number is also impressive.

2. Subhash Ghai has a penchant for larger than life cinema, and never misses a chance to shoot the grandeur and opulence.He along with cinematographer Kabir Lal catches Prague and Austria in all its beauty. The picture perfect image of Katrina Kaif playing the cello stays in your mind, even after the film is over.

3. Performances are top notch, especially by Anil Kapoor and Salman Khan. More on that below

4. Regal looking sets and interior design by Omung Kumar.

5. The ending credits a la Om Shanti Om.

Minus points of Yuvvraaj:

1. The screenplay is average at places, in fact, the story may not be outdated, but the screenplay gives the feeling. Dialogues are sadly not upto the mark, and in some cases they make you chuckle. For instance, there is a scene in which Salman Khan tells the cop that his brother is an “Indian brother” That was totally not necessary, uncalled patriotism on the play.

2. Villains Anjan Shrivastava and assortments of vamps look like they have come straight out of Ram Lakhan. Typical Subash Ghai stereotype. He needs to make some changes here.

Performances in Yuvvraaj:

Anil Kapoor pitches in with yet another power packed performance. He plays an autistic patient really well. He has worked on getting everything right, from his body language, his get up and also every single line that he mouths. Salman Khan looks inconsistent, looking super handsome in one scene and bloated in the other. But he holds the audience in awe in a couple of scenes, mainly in the last scene; where he has an emotional outburst. Katrina Kaif has not much to do, but does a neat job in whatever little she has got. One must admit that this gal is really lucky, without much of performance oriented roles, she still has managed to get hit after hit in the last couple of years. Zayed Khan tries to impress, thankfully his voice has some bass; otherwise you normally hear him squeaking in every film. Boman Irani is amusing, especially the last jig he does in the operation theatre.

Verdict: Yuvvraaj will not suit people who get their high on movies like Dhoom and Dostana. But if movies like Beta(1992) and Bhagban(2004) are something that you like naturally, then Yuvvraaj is your cup of tea. Watch Yuvvraaj in big screen purely for its aesthetic delight-visuals and music

My wife and I started last nights date with a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant, we took in a movie, and finished the evening with a little shopping. A movie can make or break a great evening and in this particular case it was a nice addition to the evening.

Vantage Point starring Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Forest Whitaker was a refreshing new take on the often overused subject of a presidential assassination. The movie started out like most with an assassination of the U.S. President, and a couple of explosions by foreign terrorists. The view of the incident began through they eyes of a news crew lead by Sigourney Weaver. However, after the assassination scene rewound about five times, each time replaying the scene through the eyes of a different character, we and everyone else in the theater were threatening to leave. I must say though that once the movie continued through the eyes of main character Thomas Barnes - Dennis Quaid, and after the final rewind, we were left with a pleasing mix of several views that all blended and came together nicely to produce a clear picture of what had happened and how it happened. The only thing in question was why it happened which I guess we can live without.

Final assessment….If you go to see this movie remember to be patient, don’t get frustrated or discouraged after what seems like a billion reviews of the same scene. It offers a lot of good action, chase scenes, and just a little suspense. Just remember that it all finally comes together nicely and you’ll be glad you stayed for the end product.