Happy New Year

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2014)

The magical combination of a Farah Khan directed potboiler and the king of hearts Shahrukh Khan in a Diwali generates a lot of nostalgia.7years back, this combination gave us the humongous hit 'Om Shanti Om' which also introduced the talented Deepika Padukone on the silver screen. This time, it has got bigger and grander with Happy New Year. A heist plotted in the garb of participation in an international dancing championship, the film assembles the typical Bollywood clichÃ©s. With a plethora of self-deprecating humor and self-referencing, Farha employs all stereotypes which is sometimes funny and sometimes tiring.
The introductory scene in which our protagonist, Charlie(Shahrukh) decimates a well-built musculature in an unsanctioned fight evokes Deja vu,resonating with the voice-over of the Royal Stag 'Make it Large' endorsement. Within no time, we get to systematically know the Ocean's 5,rather 'Loosers' who must transform themselves into Charlie's angelic dancers since the only route to steal the diamond from the treacherous Dubai-based diamond magnate , Charan Grover(Jackie Shroff) is through the World Dance Championship. Amidst a lot of visual dazzle, you get familiar with the Parsi bumbling safe-breaker, Tammy(Boman Irani), the ex-army man with a defective ear, Jags(Sonu Sood), the cyber-hacker Rohan(Vivaan Shah)and the best of the lot, tapori Nandu Bhide(Abhishek Bachchan)who must team up for the mission. Enter Magic Mohini(Deepika)the bar dancer besotted with English and English- speaking men, who teaches them some killer dance moves without knowing their 'undercover' intentions.
The drama unfolds through a routine of countless dance sequences and sometimes the humor seems too feeble to sustain the momentum of the plot.The template is decidedly of a heist, but Farah,being such an ace choreographer,fails to cash-in on the opportunity to make us root for the dances.Things shape for the good post interval when the narrative switches to the scenic Dubai which is ravishingly captured with all its glorious and sprawling sky-crappers.It goes without saying that the writers must have kept the school-going kids in their mind when scripting the heist plan.It's too simplistic and over-explanatory.Equally un-cool are the racist digs at the Koreans who compete with our India-waale or the way this team hacks into the voting results and beats a children's' team.Farah degrades the quality of the jokes with too much of crassness.
While Farah Khan focuses on delivering entertainment not compromising on the budget, the movie seems a long drag.But yes,there is a generous dose of laughter which gets more effervescent with the camaraderie projected by the six oddballs,romance which is fueled by the sparks between Charlie and Mohini, melodrama which is stirred by a backstory spawning the revenge and lastly, a climactic dash of patriotism evident in the form of the spirit of dance.
Considering her earlier works like the regressive Tees Maar Khan,Happy New Year is a conscious improvement and relies on the enviable ensemble who pump a lot of energy into the proceedings. At the helm of affairs is SRK whose evergreen charm and eight-pack abs do the trick.Deepika looks gorgeous and oozes dollops of sensuality despite going overboard with her emotions and 'engliss'.My heart goes out to Abhisek Bachchan who is delightful in his comic avatar and tickles your funny bone with the goofy Boman Irani.While it appears that the lad Vivaan Shah has a long way to graduate as an actor, it is Sonu Sood who holds on to sanity despite showing off his well-chiseled torso. Cast in a negative role, Jackie Shroff is convincing and adds a suave streak to his persona. Farha also gathers her routine fav-boys for cameo including brother Sajid,Dino Morea, Vishal Dadlani and even Anurag Kashyap.
At a long running time of 2 hours and 59 minutes, Happy New Year is meander of a journey - only meant for the SRK-crazy fans and the optimists who feel that Farah Khan sincerely carries the legacy of the Manmohan Desai brand of cinema !