Beginning with a one line review straight away, this latest offering from Karan Johar’s production house is nothing but a cleverly made rehashed version of the cult trendsetter DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE released in 1995. So if you were willing to see something new in the name of content, execution or storyline then the film has simply got none other than the good looking faces nicely performing their roles as expected.
Therefore instead of a detailed review I would like to directly address the team with some frank questions regarding this soul-less, repetitive attempt once again made to fool the people in the name of entertainment. But before going into that, I would first like to explain the actual logic behind this commercial replica of DDLJ made after almost two decades by the producers playing a clever yet cunning game with the innocent viewers.
In reality, this logic is all about a generation change which more or less happens in a society in around two decades. In exact words, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA has been specifically made for those young viewers who were all born in the early or mid-90s and haven’t seen or been a part of that magical euphoria witnessed around the original DDLJ post 1995. Now every boy or girl born in those years would be around 18-25 at the present, willing enough to enjoy the 2014 remake due to its perfect young casting, two enjoyable songs and some entertaining sequences too giving you a reasonably good time. And even if only these youngsters go to watch HSKD in the multiplexes excluding all the other age groups completely, still the film can easily become a good earner through a killing weekend in the major cities, as planned. So in business terms, Karan Johar once again plays it pretty safe and should be able to earn a decent profit too from this mediocre venture as usual.
However on moral or quality terms, this trend of making successful business oriented, weak remakes of all the old classics is pretty sad, because then these makers would become habitual of following this easy path of earning money, where they neither have to work on some new concepts, plots or scripts nor have to do an extra hard work on the making due to an already available ‘Hit Template’ to copy from.
Plus this is not an appreciable way to make the younger generation familiar with the past classics, since those path breaking films need to be seen, studied, enjoyed and cherished in their original form only and the storytelling in cinema should keep on progressing as per the social changes around with each new decade resulting in much more intelligent and aware youngsters ideally.
But unfortunately since today neither the young ones are interested in watching the golden classics in their original form nor most of the makers are willing to try something fresh & risky exploring some new avenues. So such kind of average, seen before and clichéd films are regularly becoming box office earners since last few years and this mutually accepted downgrade arrangement between the makers & the viewers is constantly affecting the quality of our Hindi cinema negatively.
Now coming to my direct messages for the team members, firstly for Varun & Alia I would like to say that now that you have both proved your individual talents as well as the onscreen charm loudly, so please choose few great scripts offering something new to we starving audience of Hindi Films, progressing wisely. And in case all the youngsters today are more interested in following the footsteps of the self-made star Shahrukh Khan, then please don’t forget that the man actually reached this stage by taking some huge risks of doing completely unconventional projects at the most crucial stages of his career, which are all now considered as landmark films of Indian Cinema widely. SRK’s career is more known for these difficult, experimental roles apart from the lover boy image to be precise and that’s exactly what makes an actor into a King Khan as they call him lovingly. So please take some time to read scripts and give us something new to applaud whole heartedly in your coming ventures for sure.
Secondly addressing one of biggest producers of Hindi film Industry today, I would like to ask Karan Johar a few honest questions as mentioned below that :
A. How many more versions of DDLJ and KKHT we will be forced to see in the coming future and how many more years you are willing to follow this sick but easy route of making such quick and safe remakes featuring the young stars?
B. As a producer and director, you have all the possible resources in abundance at your disposal so when we can expect some great films with exceptional scripts to cheer for coming from Dharma Productions?
C. Why there always has to be a reference of Gay Community in your films, expecting some obvious laughs from the audiences like a comic insertion?
D. Most importantly, right from your first film KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI released in 1998, Punjabi language, Punjabi characters and the Punjabi feel has been there in your projects making the best out of it undeniably. And in HSKD also you have bought the rights of two hit Punjabi tracks which were already released a couple of years back to give the film a required boost in the market as per its Punjabi theme.
So when you have already earned so much money and success depending upon these Punjabi insertions only then why not make a full-fledged PUNJABI FILM paying back the community, the language, the region and its people, their long awaited due instead of repeatedly exploiting it in your Hindi films as in HSKD.
E. Lastly addressing the director Shashank Khaitan too, please let me know that what kind of Punjabi Families you have or assume in mind, while depicting them on the screen. Do you think that all Punjabi families are full of drunkards wherein their daughters also are habitual of drinking like big tankers? Or its just your poor imagination and you have not even seen or met a real Punjabi family of Punjab?
Apart from the above questions, I strongly felt that had Amrish Puri not passed away a few years back, he surely would have been there playing Alia’s father in HSKD too, giving a perfect tribute to DDLJ as required. But the director could only think of Ashutosh Rana, a man who is known for his flawless Hindi to be cast as Punjabi father living in Ambala (Punjab??) quite surprisingly.
As a concluding note, I have seen many people who repeatedly go to the same hill station every year to spend their summer holidays, even when they don’t have any permanent residence there to give that desired comfort. These people have no excitement or willingness to explore some new places, new people, new environment for a change, stepping into the unknown and just keep on enjoying the same, safe place in a repetitive mode, strangely. Now HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA might be liked by this particular section of viewers who can enjoy the same seen before sequences again & again served with few new faces or backdrops designed cleverly. But for the ones, who wish to experience some new stories, meet fresh characters enacting a novel kind of script offering a rejuvenating experience, the film would be a big drag with only few entertaining sequences in the first half.
And since I belong to the second set of people, who wish to experience much more of the unseen, unheard and unexpected in the undisclosed remaining years of this gifted life, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA wasn’t a great film for me at all, as I refuse to act like a fool laughing or getting entertained at the same joke cracked twice.
Rating : 1.5 / 5 (And that too for Alia Bhatt and the two friends of Varun emoting well.)
