Aiyyaa

Plot synopsis:
The story is about a Marathi girl Meenakshi (Rani Mukerji) falling in love with a Tamil artist Surya (Prithviraj Sukumaran). She is a librarian at a college. She has five members in her family (including herself): A wheelchair ridden grandmother (Jyoti Subhash) who is blind and has gold teeth, her father who smokes four cigarettes together, her mother (Nirmiti Sawant) who is obsessed with Meenakshi's marriage, and her brother Nana (Amey Wagh) whose only love in life is dogs. To escape the craziness of her family, Meenakshi lives her life in dreams, and in her dreams the only thing she's doing is dancing and enacting her favourite actresses, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla etc. Her colleague Maina, nicknamed "Gaga Bai" (Anita Date), is an eccentric woman who dresses up in weird ensembles inspired by pop star Lady Gaga. Meenakshi's family is looking for a suitable groom but Meenakshi, who doesn't believe in arranged marriages, is waiting for her prince and wants her dream wedding. That's when Surya (Prithviraj) enters. Surya is an art student, and the moment Meenakshi looks at him she falls in love with his tanned skin and a mysterious fragrance emanating from him. By this time her family has found the 'right guy' Maadhav (Subodh Bhave) for her, and are rushing with her wedding. The rest of the film involves Madhav running around after Meenakshi, and Meenakshi following Surya. Nana gets engaged to Maina under bizarre circumstances when Meenakshi goes missing on her engagement date when she actually was following Surya and ends up in his incense sticks factory. Meenakshi learns that Surya's fragrance, that she got enthralled to, was actually because of his involvement in the factory. In the end, Meenakshi eventually succeeds in winning over Surya's heart and they get engaged in a traditional Maharashtrian ceremony.

Tags: psychedelic, romantic

Review:
It's leading lady – a librarian in an Art College in real, and a Bollywood Diva in her fantasies - Meenakshi (played uninhibitedly by Rani Mukherjee) and her acute sense of smell and by connection, unfathomable attraction to the tall, dark, and handsome art student Surya (a delightful Bollywood debut by Malyalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran) and maddeningly Bollywood fantasies drive not only her, but also those around oscillating between sanity and the puerile.Be it her motor mouth mother who keeps laughing and telling all and sundry about how perfect a bride her daughter will be, her father, surrounded by innumerable mostly dysfunctional telephones who has the quirky habit of smoking 4 cigarettes at the same time, her jobless class 10 failed brother 'Nanu' who loves dogs and is dogged in his hate for humanity, or last but not the least, her blind grandmother with her golden dentures who keeps zipping around the house in a motorized wheelchair and passes expert comments on everything.Add to that a crazy co-worker 'Mayna' who is a cross between Lady Gaga and Bugs Bunny.
She really is as whacky, if not more than Meenakshi's family.The only sane person in her life is her forced fiancé – Madhav Rajadhyaksha (played aptly by Marathi actor Subodh Bhave) whose logicality almost threatens to overpower the smelly attraction Meenakshi has for Surya.
The story and plot are as weak as Meenakshi's knees every time she spots Surya.
The funny lines, superb acting, excellent choreography, and beautiful music are somehow thrust at the background every time you desperately hope and wish to hear the mostly silent Surya speak.
His body however speaks, rather screams, every time he enters a fantastical dream of Meenakshi and ends up displaying some groovy dancing, a chiseled body complimented by a shaved chest, and six pack abs that stand out in stark contrast to his unkempt chest hair ravaged painter avatar in the real portions.
But for the most part your heart might actually go out to the more earthy suitor of Meenakshi with his love for the kind of romance exemplified by Farroukh Sheikh and Deepti Naval.If you shirk your nose every time you catch a rerun of MTV Fully Faltoo, this film might be the smelliest thing to have entered your nostrils.
If a great story and plot are those that drive you, this film is likely to be a huge let down.
Though a better script/story/plot rounded with some crisp editing would have done this film a world of good, it stills holds its ground for several reasons.
Watch it for its characters, presentation, dialogues and crazy sense of humor (thanks to National Award winning director Sachin Kundalkar), whacky lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya), fantastic music (Amit Trivedi), exuberant choreography (Vaibhavi Merchant) and last but not the least, for Rani Mukherjee.Be it her enacting of iconic songs and dialogues of Sridevi, Madhuri, or Juhi, her attempts at learning Tamil, her overpowering melodrama about everything happening to her, and for her trio of terrific dance performances - a luscious Lavani, a Silk Smitha inspired 'Dreamup Wakeupum', or her fantastic Kamasutra inspired Belly Dancing in 'Aaga Bai'.
The dialogues are funny (provided you like / get the raunchy humour) and aren't dumbed down under the assumption that the entire audience consists of five year olds with an IQ of 10 that need everything explained to them at least three times.
The main character in the movie (Meenakshi) is actually someone most urban women can relate to (when they are being honest and not self- righteous) especially cos the main eye-candy in the movie (Surya) is quite capable of getting women to lust after him in that way :).
Jokes about women lusting after men tend to disturb a lot of insecure men so, women, don't go watch the movie with one of those chaps!
Meenakshi Deshpande (Rani Mukherjee) loves to dream herself as Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi and Juhi Chawla (the ladies who ruled Indian cinema in the 90's).
Meenakshi's dream is perhaps every (middle class) girl's dream and this is where an instant connection takes place between the audience and the gripping narrative of this girl.Rani Mukherjee with all her gusto gives a live wire performance as Meenakshi on-screen.Before one could settle down with the vibrancy of this girl, another aspect about her comes to surface.
The bin here works as a complete metaphor to showcase the innate quality of this girl to live life just the way she wants to!The story develops further.
A beautiful expression indeed!!Gyrating dance moves and raunchy make-ups are nothing but an expression of her fantasies that plummets the moment real life strikes.Meenakshi's marriage gets apparently fixed up with the 'Farooque Sheikh' admirer Madhav which she couldn't impede even after a forceful horrendous rendition of a Tamil song.
Almost a fairytale story told in a fairytale fashion, 'Aiyaa' wins your heart with its softness, unique expression of love and ever so pure "smell" factor attached to it.
'Aiyaa' other than being a fun to watch movie is also very profound in the message it inadvertently conveys.
With some comic relief in the form of the 'golden tooth of the grand ma' and Meenakshi's pro-PETA brother (which I honestly feel the script did not need at all), the film fulfills all the quotients of entertainment.
After Sridevi's powerful performance in English Vinglish, its Rani's exuberance that comes our way this time round.
Much like Sridevi's Shashi, who ends up completely transforming herself as an expert in English, Rani's Meenakshi too coverts from speaking "aiyaa" to "aaiyo".
She meets her dream man finally and becomes "Meenakshi Deshpande Iyer".P.S- Extra ordinary dance prowess showcased by Rani (especially the belly dance).
A special mention also goes out to the brooding and macho leading man who doesn't need to speak much as his body language does all the talking.I had a great time watching this flick and give it a 10 on 10 based on it's out of the world(bollywood) sense of humour and the terrific acting ability of it's leading lady..
Aiyyaa was a major critical and financial failure, but having seen the nice trailer and liked it, and considering the fact that Rani Mukherjee is in it, I most willingly decided to watch it.
The humour is indeed very different from what we are used to watching in the usual Bollywood fare, and the basic concept of a woman just going 'aiyyaa' over a stranger whose mysterious fragrance attracts her the most may be quite weird at points.
The portrayal of Meenakshi's Marathi family is very amusing, and the songs are quite fun to watch.
South Indian actor Prithviraj is for the most part a mere presence on-screen, but he does pretty well and is good foil for Mukherjee.
its a dreamy twist to an ordinary love story with scenes from every day life which any gal from middle class can relate to.
Rani's look, choice of cast and scenes was very natural and real, which allows the audience to focus more on the story and acting.
I saw the earlier movie which Aiyya's story was taken from (the smell).
Even though Pritviraj role was not as visible as Rani's but it was unique in the since that it was not exaggerated as in most Hindi movies where even if the hero keeps to himself, he would have been shoved in more scenes till the audience screams "we get it!".
But, Rani Mukerji really shines as a nut job and really makes this movie laughable fun.
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.
Rani khaki has a lot of screen-time to a point where its almost like watching a stand up comedy of Rani Mukharji.
Plot is quite simple might come a bit slow and the climax of the movie is very nice and hits you like a cloud.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A brave experimental Bollywood movie for all those who may be getting a bit bored of all the normality in their life.
This isn't typical Bollywood, and this isn't something Rani Mukerji or any Indian actress has done in the past.
This is a brave experimental Bollywood movie and I highly recommend it to all those who may be getting a bit bored of all the normality in their life.
A howling granny trying to act chick, a mother trying to hold the controlling rein over the family, a moronic father fumbling with telephones, a brother trying to be funny all the time and a transvestite looking thing with no relation to the story make a jokers ensemble.Why and how we have a hordes of eligible bachelors who are all imbeciles is beyond me.
Over all this movie not even worth wasting the time trying to write a review, let alone seeing it.
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.
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..
I've never watched a movie with less than 5 stars, and only a few under 6.
unlike lots and lots of nonsense Hindi movies in the past few years without any story whatsoever and a few catchy songs and a bit of salman and shahrukh.
Rani Mukerji is really looking hot and the acting is good too.
Incohorent,inconsistent and even unbearable at times.Characters and caricatures as loud as possible.But there are quite a few moments and allegories in "Aiyaa" which stand out so much that you might even doubt whether all these loudness andincoherence were actually intended and involves surrealism.Doesn't seem so, once viewed till the end yet for a film watched with almost -ve expectations "Aiyaa" is exceptionally brave and original.Female fantasy has rarely been excavated before in mainstream Hindi film like this.Some of the dialogues are so good that it is difficult to associate them with the rest of the film.Rani is good while nothing to stay long.Nothing much to say about anyone else as far acting is concerned.Amit Trivedi's music is the best thing about the movie."Aiyaa" is as whacky as it can be with the execution going wrong terribly every now and then.But the moments where the deliveries are on line and length,its difficult to resist.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2255934/.
The script is horrible, the dialogues are cringeworthy, jokes are painful to hear and at times the scenes are stretched too long for their own good.
The loudness and over-acting by most actors also works against the movie.
It seems like everyone tries extremely hard to make you laugh, including the scriptwiter who has added scenes in the film that have nothing to do with the story.
The item songs done by Rani are small moments of relief in otherwise unbearable film.
And in fact, that was the main reason for me to watch this movie in the first place.
I don't understand how one can think like Rani Mukharji.
I am sure if Rani ll be on her top at the time movie released, it ll have the same impact on box office as well as people.
You ll hit your head on wall after watching this.you must be wondering about the movie title 'Aiyaa'.
and thats the name of movie.now come to the acting , Rani hadn't done justice with the role.
its seems like overacting all the times.So if you want to sleep and you don't have sleeping pills, I am recommending his/her to watch this movie..
The writer needs to take a reality check and every other factor in this cinema is rubbish.South star Prithviraj was completely wasted, having seen almost all his Malayalam movies.
real bad .Dunno why some people have posted excellent reviews..may be those comments are from Rani Muk. herself...as no one in their real / normal mind will like this bakwaas...If you have watched preview / trailer of this movie..
thats all you need to watch as those are the only good scenes in movie..
Maina played by Anita Date looks as nasty as she was supposed to be.In all a one time watch..
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.
I'm a big time Rani fan, and expected Aiyyaa to be the dark-horse of 2012...
It was absolute rubbish.All the actors look like they've been drugged while shooting for Aiyyaa.
This could have been a good movie given the basic idea of the plot and the talent of Rani Mukherjee.
C'mon there are loads of amazing movies out there based on the common middle class family depicting their life (and dreams/nightmares)in a good way.
All said and done, it wud still be better if there was more of a story build up between the leads (rather than Rani's brother finding her soul mate equally abruptly) and an alternate ending to the movie.
Neither could understand why Rani just forgot to act maybe time for her to retire.
I would rather recommend go for some other movie rather than spending time watching it and make your headache.
Rest the only worth watching part of the movie was the two signature songs of the movie.
Then there is no need of learning Tamil by Meenakshi (Rani Mukherjee).
Performance wise Rani Mukherjee did well but only in dancing.
struggled to complete watching it.the worst movie in 2012.infact the worst i have ever seen.wasted ma money.and wasted ma time.
senseless story.The movie is a waste of time and money...nothing in it ...Prithviraj is a silent machine who walks around here and there ...and Rani who follows him all around ....complete waste ............bt at least two item dance song was worth a watch, i gave 1 out of ten rating for it....